The truth is that with the advent of social media, most of us spend the majority of our time on social networks. A recent review suggests that of the seven billion people in the world today, approximately 56% of the population uses various social networks. According to numerous experts, the majority of the time spent on the digital space is usually on video content.

A recent review by Statista states that video marketing has become one of the best and most effective digital marketing techniques for capturing the attention of various audiences globally. This is because there are over 3.1 billion digital video viewers globally, making it an ideal platform for individuals to market their work.

As a physician or health practitioner, you may have considered incorporating video marketing into your marketing strategy but have no idea where to start. What kind of online videos should you create? Where do you post them? These are some of the questions most medical practitioners often grapple with. Luckily, below is a brief elucidation of everything you need to know about video marketing for health practitioners.

Video Marketing for Medical Practitioners

As a medical practitioner, the main aim of your healthcare marketing strategy should be to educate and captivate your patients. Video marketing helps you achieve this since audiences usually respond better to video than text.  Videos help to humanize the patient experience since they allow patients to see you and thus build an emotional connection with their physician. Therefore, through video marketing, you can build a certain trust and rapport with potential patients who watch you, which is a huge plus for your business.

Unlike other forms of marketing, video marketing is considered a very unique and suitable marketing strategy for those in the medical profession. Working at a healthcare organization, you often have to explain complex health conditions and treatments to your audience, and adding video marketing to your overall marketing plan gives you a platform to do this in a way that is easy to fathom and engaging to the viewer.

Types of  Videos for the Healthcare Industry

According to the Content Marketing Institute, videos for any kind of business are broken down into three main categories:

• Corporate videos: These are branding videos that are meant to generate awareness about your practice and healthcare facility. This includes videos about company events, internal training, and other activities.
• Marketing campaign videos: These videos mainly focus on the products and services you offer and tend to resemble advertisements.
• Content marketing videos: With content marketing videos, physicians can share educational content alongside a call to action that encourages patients to either subscribe to your content or book an appointment with your office.

When beginning your video marketing journey, it is fundamental for you to first align the purpose of your videos with the respective category. Once this is done, you can proceed to take a deeper dive into the type of video production, such as:

• Educational videos: Videos that contain news and information on various medical procedures, health conditions, and patients' FAQs to build trust with existing and new patients.
• Success videos: These videos contain patient testimonials- various patients share their success stories before and after undergoing medical treatment.
• Welcome videos: Videos that contain office tours and other content that introduces patients to your practice.
• SEO videos: Videos are starting to rank better and better on the search engine. Creating high-quality videos can help you rank better for competitive SEO keywords and get you more internet traffic.
  

How to Make the Best Marketing Videos for Your Medical Practice

Once you decide on the type of videos you want to make, the next step involves making the videos. Whether you decide to hire extra staff members or make the videos yourself using an app, these are some vital tips that will help you record the best videos.

• Brevity is key: Short videos are the best way to go since people tend to have short attention spans, especially on social media channels. You should make videos that are brief and to the point.
• Optimize the videos for mobile use: Although most of the editing will be done on your desktop, ensure that you optimize your videos for playback on various mobile platforms, just like your website. Of the five billion mobile phone users in the world, approximately 85% of them are active social media users. Therefore, it is fundamental for you to ensure that your videos are optimized for mobile use.
• Act naturally: Although there may be nerves at first, ensure that you relax and just be yourself. The key to successful video marketing is to ensure that you are as relatable as possible, and thus it is fundamental for you to act naturally. In addition, ensure that you have an outline of the topics you plan to discuss since this prevents confusion and helps you relax.
• Branding is crucial: Branding your videos is highly beneficial since it gives your videos a consistent look and informs your viewers who are speaking to them. Similarly, branding gives your healthcare business a sense of credibility and helps distinguish you from other medical practitioners in your field.
• Call to action: Ensure that you include a call to action since this encourages patients to visit your website or schedule an appointment with your office as soon as they can.
• Manage and optimize your videos: If you're looking to build a Youtube channel, make sure it's organized by playlists and has information about your medical practice. Optimize your videos even more by adding transcripts, captions, and an interesting title.
  

Common mistakes doctors make during video marketing

Some of the common mistakes most medical practitioners make in their videos include the following:

• Poor lighting: Poor lighting significantly reduces the visual quality of a video, making it unappealing and boring to look at. Therefore, you must ensure that your video has proper lighting, thus attracting a larger audience.
• Low-quality audio: It's no secret that poor audio is a major turn-off for viewers. Without proper audio, you can't communicate and interact with your viewers. If your audience cannot hear you, then the chances of successful marketing are slim. Therefore, ensure that you invest in quality audio equipment to promote audibility.
• Extremely lengthy videos: It is crucial to note that most audiences in the digital space have very short attention spans. Therefore, you need to ensure that your videos are short and straight to the point since this enables you to captivate your audience.
  

Where to incorporate videos in your marketing

A common mistake doctors tend to make is getting into video marketing without a proper distribution plan. If you are planning to spend money and time creating a perfect marketing video, then the least you can do is ensure that you have a proper distribution plan.

That said, there are several distribution platforms through which you can share your videos:

• Social media: With almost four billion social media users globally, social media is undoubtedly the most suitable platform for you to share your videos. However, the trick is simply finding the most appropriate social network for your medical content. According to experts, Facebook is the best social network for healthcare marketing.
• Your website: It is advisable to place your videos on your website pages. Your homepage can contain your welcome and introductory videos, while your landing pages can contain educational videos on the various treatments and conditions you deal with.
• Email signatures: Video marketing can also be adopted into your email marketing strategy. You can incorporate the videos into the emails sent from your staff to the patients- such as reminders or updates.
  

Final Thoughts

As a medical practitioner, do not hesitate to incorporate video marketing into your marketing strategy since this will undoubtedly enhance your brand. To grow your medical practice smarter, DearDoc designed personalized marketing solutions to guide you on how to effectively market your healthcare practice. Contact DearDoc today to learn more about using technology to transform your marketing effectiveness and patient experience:

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