video marketing healthcare
They told me I need a video on my medical website. Where do I start?
Video on a medical website has tremendous power so let’s go over the consumer habits in healthcare video marketing, inspiring examples and some key aspects to get started in the most effective way.
They told me I need a video on my medical website. Where do I start?
Els Van de Veire
December 14, 2021
Do I really need videos on my private practice website?
video marketing for healthcare stats
Marketers unanimously agree that video is a necessary asset on anyone’s website. The numbers don’t lie:
- By 2022, online videos will make up more than 82% of all consumer internet traffic — 15 times higher than it was in 2017 (Cisco).
- In 2020, 96% of consumers increased their online video consumption, and 9 out of 10 viewers said that they wanted to watch more video content coming from brands and businesses.
- 84% of people say they have recently decided to buy a product or service after watching a brand’s video (Optinmonster)
Just looking at these video marketing statistics proves that online video is a very powerful marketing tool. It makes sense that the private medical practice and the typical medical website for a clinic are following the same trend.
So how do you get started? Here’s an overview of some of the tools you will need if you want to start embedding video content on your medical website:
- Camera: If you have a good video camera on your phone and a fair bit of memory you’ll be set. Did you know that some top-rated Netflix films have been entirely shot on iPhones?
- Tripod: A tripod reduces camera movement and is a wise investment to enhance image quality. Stable video also uses less bandwidth and creates less pixellation.
- Lights: Use natural light or buy a couple of LED lights online or at your local photography store.
- Microphone: Your smartphone microphone will often pick up too much environment noise and reverb. We recommend the Clipmic Digital by Apogee simply because it’s plug and play, fits into your iPhone lightning connector and allows you to sound like a pro without following pro training.
- Editing software: If you are using an iPhone, you can edit the top and tail of your videos in your Photos app. For more advanced video editing we recommend iMovie or Final Cut Pro. Android phone users have plenty of choices too. Even Canva.com offers simple video editing solutions to stitch smartphone footage together, add a few graphics and overlay stock photos, so you can produce some pretty amazing DIY video with your practice team.
Styles and examples of great healthcare video marketing
video marketing healthcare styles
As a medical professional, using video is one of the best ways to build trust for your practice as an online brand. Here are the 8 different types of video marketing that work well in healthcare:
- Educational videos
- FAQ videos
- Relatable videos
- Passionate videos
- Documentaries
- Animated videos
- About videos
- Corporate videos
In a previous Grow article, we have discussed each type with a tangible example used by a healthcare professional.
Authenticity
tips video marketing healthcare
"You are a physician and you are sharing educational information with your patients. It’s all about sharing your knowledge and adding a little personal flavour as you do that."
Let me share how I evaluate videos. It is actually very easy. When I watch my clients in a video, I ask myself one question: Was the person I just saw in the video, the same person I know from my meetings or from a conversation in daily life? If the answer is ‘yes’, then my customer has just done a great job in authenticity!
In short, here is my healthcare video marketing take-away message:
- Do not wear clothes you wouldn’t wear in daily life either (the same goes for make-up and hairdos – stick to your usual looks)
- Talk like you would do in a consultation or imagine being in a bar and explaining to a stranger what you do. This is the tone of voice we’re after.
Authenticity is really all about being you. The moment you’re not true to yourself, you’re no longer authentic.
Exposure and backgrounds
more tips for great healthcare videos
To put things in perspective: I have always found exposure, colours and backgrounds really important, and yet, I have come around to prioritising authenticity when we talk about medical video marketing.
That is why the video below by Dr Tamara Hunter is still one of my favourites. It’s not the best video when you look at the technical details like exposure, background, the sound and even the format.
- Exposure: as you can see this video is overexposed. Ideally you capture your video with good light settings.
- Background: ideally, you create some depth of field so the background looks blurred which helps us focus on the subject.
- Sound: ideally, you don’t use the built-in microphone on your smartphone and use an external mic for better sound quality.
- Format: ideally, you would use your phone’s landscape mode instead of portrait mode.
But despite all of these details, I still absolutely love this video, simply because it nails the hardest aspect of making healthcare videos, authenticity, as you can see.
About sharing, repurposing and making video work for you
video marketing for doctors
Healthcare video marketing works best if you have a clear strategic framework. In other words, think about the why and the how before you hit that record button.
This is how a digital marketing strategy for your practice will turn your videos into highly effective tools:
- Keyword Boosters: Videos produced around your essential Google search terms, your keywords, are now boosting your overall visibility for your chosen keywords. If your main goal was to rank higher for ‘ACL reconstruction West Sydney’ then it would make sense to also weave this into the video title. This is how you will make your video marketing strategy work for your practice so it’s not just a gadget.
- Call-to-action Classics: Videos added to a content page on your medical website or in a social media post can help people take that first step. Use a short video as a call-to-action to book a consultation, check out another web section, follow you on social media. If your video has an attractive call-to-action, with the patient’s benefit in mind, it might even develop some viral power so people start sharing it with a friend who they believe needs your help.
- Rapport Rockstars: Videos are great to build rapport and you can easily repurpose them several times: The video that populates your YouTube channel is embedded on your medical website’s About Page, the one that explains your main treatment or surgery type is posted on social media, and the one that talks about the latest research goes into your Featured section on your LinkedIn profile for all your referring general practitioners.
I like to think of a video as a multipurpose object. With a little bit of extra thought, your video objects keep working for you in the background, and once you have developed an efficient workflow to produce those objects, you will see the combined effect of your content push your online profile forward. That is why we strongly believe that healthcare video marketing is a failproof leadership tool for ambitious doctors.
Can we help you in any way?
meeting about your video needs
As the founders of Digital Practice, we tap into our background in online video marketing every day. Furthermore, tapping even deeper, we build on our broadcast experience as television journalists. The combination: a no-nonsense approach to video, allowing us to train you or your Practice Manager to make better use of video marketing strategies. Book a (video) call now and we’ll talk about your video success story!
- Tags: Video marketing
