Here’s Why You Should Include Video In Your Marketing Strategy

More than 40% of consumers say that information found online affects the way they deal with their health, which is why many healthcare providers are creating educational resources that can be shared online.

Video, in particular, has become a growing resource for many hospitals and medical clinics. According to Google’s Think Insights,

So why does this matter?

As the number of consumers looking for information grows, healthcare professionals face an increasing need to create online (shareable) educational content that can help point consumers in the right direction. And video is a near-perfect tool to accomplish that task.

Don’t miss these 7 video marketing tips for healthcare professionals.

Why Video Marketing Matters in Healthcare

Around 61% of businesses incorporate video as a marketing tool, and 76% of those that do say that video provides good return on investment.

Diode Digital found that video promotion is 600% more effective than print and direct mail combined. They noted that 60% of site visitors will watch a video if available before they read text.

Considering that video has been shown to increase landing page conversions by 80%, and studies show that 74% of users who watched an explainer video about a product subsequently bought it, it’s no surprise that video marketing is taking over the business world.

But how does that impact healthcare? Research shows that informational, educational and “how-to” videos are the most popular videos consumed on YouTube, second only to product reviews.

Because potential patients often do medical research online before they speak to their doctors or other healthcare professionals, this makes online videos the perfect opportunity for educating and instructing patients on their health before they step into your clinic.

In one Google/Compete Hospital Study, 84% of patients used both online and offline sources for research. Of those patients who used offline media, 32% of patients used TV for research compared to less than 20% that used magazines or newspapers. This goes to show that even offline, consumers are hungry for video media.

Video marketing also builds trust with consumers and patients, which is a key component to positive healthcare experiences.

Types of Medical Video Content

But what type of content should your clinic or hospital produce? There are a variety of ways you can engage with patients using video. A few of the most popular options include:

• Doctor and staff introductions – While not as attention-grabbing as other types of videos, providing the opportunity for doctors and staff to “meet” patients before they’ve actually met can build trust and rapport and ease nervousness during first-time patient visits.
• Medical interviews – Doctors and other medical professionals can also give interviews regarding commonly asked questions or other information that patients may find necessary to improve their healthcare (these are sometimes called “Doc Talks”).
• Office overview – It can be helpful for first-time patients to have a virtual tour of the office or receive information about where to go and what to expect when they come to the clinic.
• Procedure information – Details about common (or complex) procedures can help reduce patient anxiety and answer questions, helping patients stay informed before and after speaking with their doctor.
• Patient testimonials – Case studies, testimonials or reviews of healthcare experiences can help grow trust with patients and provide information to those who have similar conditions or are seeking medical help.

Educational content, like the examples above, can be a great resource for potential and current patients, and can help keep your online presence active. But there are also more creative ways you can use video to engage patients, including:

• How-to home care tips
• Pre- and post-op care instructions
• Illustrated or animated videos detailing surgeries or other procedures
• General health tips or (HIPAA-compliant) medical advice
• Short documentaries on unusual cases
• Live events or lectures
• Awareness of a cause, campaign or charity
• Medical news or developments in medical technology

You can also use videos to benefit your clinic’s visibility. Saint Francis Hospital’s Orthopedic Center, for example, coordinated a video dance sequence to Pharrell Williams’ song “Happy” as an entry to the Pink Glove Dance contest, which raises funds for breast cancer research.

When it comes to creating videos, there are plenty of paths you can take. They key is creating a successful strategy that meets the needs of your clinic, your patients and your overall marketing goals.

How to Create a Video Marketing Strategy

While video can be a powerful tool for healthcare, videos don’t get made or promoted on their own. If you want to add video marketing to your tool belt, you have to develop an effective strategy.

You first want to identify the reason for your videos to exist. It’s important to ask questions like:

• What message are we trying to convey? Do we want to educate patients on important topics, answer questions, or simply promote our clinic?
• What type of video would work best? Do we need to interview medical staff or is an animated video enough?

Once you have a general idea of your video’s purpose and the types of content you want to produce, you will need to look for:

• Which channels will house your videos (your website? YouTube?)
• Who will produce your videos (freelancers? Third party videographers?)
• How long videos will take to produce (your producers should give you a general idea)
• Your publishing deadline (how soon do you need content to be live?)
• Who will participate in videos (doctors? Staff?)
• Whether or not videos will be posted or updated regularly or if they are simply one-time uploads (will you start a YouTube channel with regular content or produce a video that simply sits on your site?)

If you’re not already producing videos, you may feel overwhelmed by the prospect. It’s important to take the time to plan out video content and make the effort to produce something high quality. Studies show that 62% of consumers are more likely to have a negative perception of a business that published a poor quality video.

Marketing Land has some tips for creating a video content marketing strategy here.

Final Thoughts

While it’s not mandatory that every hospital or clinic produce videos, it’s still a good option for those wanting to engage or educate patients in new ways. Video marketing has been shown to be an effective tool for helping patients make decisions about their health as well as which providers they choose to provide them health services.

You don’t have to create needlessly complex videos just to impress patients either. Simple videos, like doctor introductions or answering FAQs, can improve engagement and help patients make decisions (but if you wanted something more complex, you certainly can do it).

Just keep in mind that a good video marketing strategy doesn’t happen by accident. If you want to produce content – especially if you want to produce it on a regular basis – you will need a strong plan in place to create content that’s high quality and effective.