Video Marketing for Doctors – In-Depth Guide & Expert Tips

Video Marketing for Doctors - In-Depth Guide & Expert Tips for 2022

The time patients spend in digital is increasingly dominated by video. Most physicians know that video should be a part of their marketing strategy, but where do you start?

In this article, we’ll answer these questions and more. We’ll provide all the essential elements you need to build the foundation of a video marketing strategy that helps you build your reputation and attract more patients.

More like this: 41 Ways to Attract New Patients to Your Practice in 2022

Ready to Get More Patients?

Request a consultation with a RUNNER medical marketing expert and get a FREE practice marketing plan.

Why Should Doctors Create Videos for Marketing?

Two of the essential things your marketing must do is:
  1. Educate patients
  2. Build trust
And video is far superior to text at both. Potential patients will process and recall educational information better via video. Because a video is the next best way for them to meet a physician, video is ideal for building trust. In addition to being a better way to educate and build trust, video is just more noticeable than static images, especially in paid advertising. When doctors ask us how to get more patients, paid advertising is a crucial strategy we rely on.
A recent client of ours saw a 300% increase in new patient leads from video ads compared to static images.
If you’re looking to get more out of your medical ads, video should be a part of the creative mix. More like this: Make Your Messaging Stand Out With Empathy [Video]

How is Healthcare Video Marketing Unique?

The educational element of healthcare video marketing is what makes it different. As a physician, you have to explain very complex conditions or treatments in a way that is easily understood and still engages the viewer. This is a challenge that marketers in other industries don’t face. Video is one of the best ways to educate because you can create far more empathy through video’s visual and auditory nature than you can with written content. Video is much better at evoking “empathy,” which is a critical element of your marketing that can differentiate your practice from other physicians. Suggested Watch: Make Your Messaging Stand Out With Empathy [Video]

What Types of Videos Should Doctors Create? [With Examples]

Here are a few of the most common types of video marketing for doctors:

1. Physician Introduction Videos

Introduction videos from a doctor establish authority and build trust. Ideally, you want to create these for every one of the physicians in your practice.

2. Educational Videos

Educate potential patients about the conditions and treatments that are most relevant. These videos should emulate the conversations you have each day with patients. Remember to create them for BOTH conditions as well as treatments. Patients are often researching both, and we believe you should have separate site pages for each on your website.

3. Patient Testimonials

Patient testimonials establish social proof from patients about their experiences. These videos are essential for turning prospects into patients. Remember that there’s a method to collect the best patient testimonials – getting them to tell a story. It should be clear the journey they went through before and after treatment. While these are the most common, there are several overlooked videos that doctors could create for their practice.
  • Physician FAQ videos
  • Practice tours
  • Video ads for Facebook and Youtube
  • TV ads for traditional TV or OTT Streaming (i.e., Hulu)
  • Videos for email
  • Videos for recruiting
We assembled a blog post outlining the wide variety of videos we recommend our clients use in their medical marketing efforts. More like this: Online Reputation Management for Doctors Your 2022 Guide

What Common Video Mistakes Do Doctors Make?

The most common mistake is not investing in video at all. Still, when doctors try to create videos, we see several common issues that can compromise the effectiveness of video marketing for doctors.

1. Low-Quality Audio

This is the issue that viewers are the least forgiving about because it keeps them from understanding the story or message you are trying to deliver. When audio quality is low, potential patients will stop watching. You can purchase good microphones for less than $200. It’s worth the investment.

2. Poor Lighting

Visually, poor lighting is most often the culprit. But unfortunately, this is also one of the areas where doctors can most efficiently increase the quality of their videos.

3. Unnecessarily Long Videos

One thing we see commonly is physicians creating unnecessarily long videos. While it’s ok to have a long video if you’re posting the replay of a 45-minute webinar. However, posting a 10-minute bio for a physician is not okay. Attention spans on digital platforms are short, and ALL short or long videos must grab and hold attention. When educating the patients, it’s ok to go long, but when you’re talking about yourself or the practice, keep it clear and concise.

4. No Distribution Plan

We see the gravest error in not having a distribution plan for your videos. If you plan to spend time and money creating a great marketing video, you need to have an intent to distribute it. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen an excellent video with no views because a practice added it to a buried page on the website.

How to Create Doctor Videos – Understanding Your Options

There are several options you have for creating videos for your practice. Each of them requires a different investment in time or dollars.

Option #1: Shoot & Edit Video Yourself

Unfortunately, many doctors take this approach with predictably bad results. A harsh reality is that your internal staff lacks the equipment and expertise to produce quality videos. I’ve only seen this work when a practice brings an experienced staff resource dedicated to creating content like video.

Option #2: In-Person Shoot With a Traditional Video Production Group

While this process usually results in high-quality video, it’s also the most expensive option for your practice. Due to the cost, you may only be able to afford a single video, rather than the amount you need. It’s a common mistake to believe you need a Super-Bowl quality video for digital marketing. Unfortunately, this is not the case, and traditional video production work is often overpriced.

Option #3: Remote Video 

Remote video is a new option that allows you to create high-quality videos without an in-person shoot. The benefit is that you can create high-quality videos at a fraction of the cost of a traditional in-person shoot. This is done through software that allows a remote team that directs and controls video shots through your mobile device or computer. In fact, at RUNNER, we offer a turnkey “done for you” remote video production service that even includes the audio and lighting equipment you need to separate yourself from other practices. Here’s an example of a remote video we created.

Learn more about our remote video service and reach out with any questions you may have.

Creating a Video Distribution Plan

Before you create a single video, it’s essential to have a plan for how you will drive views and your video’s objective.

Below, we’ve included 4 primary methods of distribution you should consider for the doctor videos you create.

1. Video for Your Practice Website

One of the primary places that most doctors use the videos they create is on their websites. Therefore, a quality video added to your website can significantly impact the amount of new patient leads you generate.

For a recent client, we saw an increase of 25% in the site conversion rate after adding video.

It’s essential to make sure the video content you create is tailored to the page you add it to. For example, You should add an educational video about a particular condition to the specific page on your site for that condition. In addition, most physicians should have a plan to create videos for all of the conditions and treatments they offer.

More like this: Medical Practice Website Design: 5 Must-Have Features for 2022

2. Video for SEO

Video can significantly impact the free, organic search traffic you receive. One of the biggest reasons this happens is due to something called “dwell time.” It means how long a visitor stays engaged on your site and is one signal that search engines use to determine rankings. For example, we saw an increase in dwell time of 26% for a client we created and added video to the site. This translated into an increase in search engine visibility for those pages.

In addition, 65% of searches on Google are now “zero-click,” meaning that Google is trying to answer questions without making people click. The videos you create and upload to platforms like Youtube can be indexed by search engines.

More like this: SEO for Medical Practices: 12 Strategies for 2022

3. Video for Your Practice & Physician Listings

Many practices often overlook the importance of their listings, including both Google Business Profiles and healthcare directories like Healthgrades and Vitals. As a result, medical practices will see the highest number of leads coming from these channels in many cases.

We recommend distributing videos to these listings to separate them from competitors.

4. Video for Social Media

One of the easiest ways to distribute the video you create is through social media platforms like Facebook and Youtube. However, it’s essential to understand that when you post “organically” (without paid ad spending), your reach will be limited and will not be targeted towards only those you want to reach. Therefore, you should not expect your video to go “viral.” Hence, we also recommend allocating a paid advertising budget for the video you create.

More like this: Think Your Content Doesn’t Need Paid Social Promotion? Think Again.

5. Video for Paid Advertising

The best way to drive views of your video content targeted toward your ideal potential patient is through paid advertising. We recommend social media advertising on Facebook and Youtube – they’re two of the most effective ways to drive new patients to your practice.

Video is key to this strategy. We’ve found that video ads drive a much lower cost per new patient lead than static image ads.

More like this:

How Frequently Do You Need to Create New Content?

There are no rules for how often you should be creating content.
A high-quality video that’s important to potential patients can last you for several years.

However, suppose you’re committed to creating video content as a part of your content strategy. In that case, you should create a repeatable plan to generate a high volume of content rather than a one-time shoot.

In addition, if you’re creating video for medical ads, it’s essential to know that video ad creative “wears out.” Therefore, we recommend that your video ad content be refreshed every 90 days.

Getting Started

The strategies above will help you decide if video marketing is right for you and how much video content you think you might need. Once you’re ready to build a plan, you must have the right partner.

Request a free consultation with one of our video marketing experts, and we can help guide you through the process.

Ready to Get More Patients?

Request a consultation with a RUNNER medical marketing expert and get a FREE practice marketing plan.
John Keehler

John Keehler

Chief Strategy Officer

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