Video is an essential marketing tool in healthcare today, thanks to its ability to educate and convert viewers into patients. The latest survey data supports this. We know that 72% of people prefer to learn about a product or service by watching a video, and that 95% of video viewers retain information, compared to only 10% of those reading an article.
If you’re in charge of marketing for a specialty healthcare business, such as a clinic or independent practice, you need to be leveraging video in all of your campaigns. But we know video also raises a lot of questions, especially for smaller teams:
- What kinds of videos should I use to promote our practice?
- Does our marketing video need to be professionally produced?
- How do we incorporate video into our content marketing plan while also staying HIPAA compliant?
As a full-service firm specializing in content and media for specialty healthcare clients, we’re here to help answer all of these questions—but also make sure you’re consulting your legal counsel to ensure you’re complying with all relevant regulatory requirements.
Best Practices for Healthcare Video Marketing
Before diving into specific types of videos you can use to promote your practice, there are a few best practices to keep in mind:
Know Your Audience
The best content is tailored to the specific questions and needs of a defined audience. Consider the age of your target viewer, their specific health concerns, and the platform where they are most likely to view your video. If your practice serves various age groups or demographics, you’ll need multiple strategies to communicate effectively with each one.
Learn more: The best ways to target your audience online by age.
Be Brief
We know that 5% of viewers will not watch a video longer than one minute, and at the two-minute threshold, 60% of the audience is lost. Keep most videos under three minutes if you want viewers to watch them all the way through. The "Mayo Clinic Minutes" video series on YouTube does a stellar job of briefly addressing important healthcare issues (with over 1,000 episodes to date).
Be Clear
If your video campaign is intended to connect with potential patients, it would be classified as B2C (business-to-consumer). B2C videos should avoid medical jargon and intimidating vocabulary. Make it easy to understand and welcome new people into your world. This interesting video from the Wall Street Journal explains the push to simplify medical jargon so more people follow their doctors' medical advice.
B2B companies, such as medical firms that sell directly to hospitals or clinics, may benefit from displaying more domain expertise in their videos. Emphasizing your product’s technical features, safety standards, and clinical efficacy can be more persuasive with your target audience; also consider using high-quality visuals of your products or services in use.
Optimize for Mobile
The majority of videos are now watched on mobile devices. Failing to optimize for mobile viewing is a failure to understand your audience and where to reach them. This includes capturing the right size of video for the specific platforms you’re posting to (horizontal for YouTube, vertical for Reels, for example).
Additionally, consider the viewing environment; mobile users often watch videos without sound, so including clear and concise subtitles or captions is crucial. High-quality visuals, a clean and simple layout, and easy navigation can enhance the user experience on mobile devices.
With the rise of mobile and online video, the acceptable standards for certain types of videos—first-person testimonials, candid cultural videos, fast explainers, and other more informal content—have lowered. However, this all needs to be filtered through your brand's identity. If your brand prides itself on its glossy, peerless image, self-produced mobile video might not fit in.
On the other hand, if there are opportunities for fun or insider content that reflects a more welcoming brand or culture, these kinds of faster, less-produced videos can offer authenticity and build trust with patients.
Remember, that while the video quality can be more relaxed, the audio quality must always be high. Avoid videos with muffled or poor audio, as viewers are likely to leave immediately if they can't clearly hear the content.
By focusing on mobile optimization and maintaining good audio quality, you can effectively engage your audience where they are most active and improve the overall impact of your video content.
Add Value for Viewer
A cardinal rule for content marketing is to provide value. The content you provide should be more educational than promotional; anything overly pushy about converting patients and customers can be off-putting. Video introductions to specific providers within a practice or explainers on common health concerns can provide valuable, sharable content.
Promote It
Once you create compelling content, promote it in the places where your audience is likely to find it: your website, social media, and e-newsletters. Uploading to YouTube is always a great option, considering that YouTube is now the second-largest search engine in the world, and many younger generations now start there when conducting a topic search.
9 Ideas for Specialty Healthcare Videos
Keeping the above best practices in mind, here are nine types of videos that could engage your current and future patients:
1. Explainer
Break down common conditions, treatment options, and preventative care measures using animations, diagrams, and demonstrations to enhance understanding. This explainer video from F. Learning Studio uses simple animation with striking movement, clear language, and concise answers to educate viewers about heart failure.
2. Meet the Physician
Introduce your healthcare providers, their specialties, and their approach to patient care, whether through interviews or narrated storytelling. This personalizes your practice and builds trust.
3. Product of Service Demonstration
In the age of telehealth, a healthcare product demonstration can be invaluable in convincing potential patients to choose your practice or platform. This can also save staff time by providing instructions through video rather than one-on-one.
4. Procedure Explainer
Video is one of the best ways to show a patient exactly what to expect during a medical procedure. Some procedure videos generate massive curiosity, even from people who may not need the specific procedure. Dr. Pimple Popper, for example, is a dermatologist with over 8 million YouTube followers. (Not for the squeamish, however.)
5. Live Q&A Session
Host live or pre-recorded Q&A sessions with healthcare professionals to address common patient concerns. Hosting other subject matter experts can boost your domain authority, and your practice will benefit when they share the content through their channels.
6. Facility Tour
Take viewers on a virtual tour of your practice to showcase your environment, people, and services. This tour from UCLA Mattel Children's Hospital supports live elements with animated effects and graphics for a visually stimulating experience. Creating a tour with 4-K drone footage can also showcase your facility with smooth pro-grade camerawork.
7. FAQs
Highlight your knowledge of your audience and their most pressing questions by addressing their problems in a clear, concise, and visually appealing way. On-screen graphics, animations, and captions can be an effective way to communicate this information in a way that multiple audiences appreciate.
Learn more: Create animated videos with these five essential steps.
8. Community Activities
Highlight your practice's contributions to the community, showcasing your commitment to patient well-being beyond the clinic walls. This humanizes you with potential patients and can increase shareability.
Not unlike the very act of corporate giving, there can ultimately be a sales-based ROI when you create content that is not explicitly focused on selling. Highlighting other organizations and community members can increase the video’s shareability.
9. Testimonials
Showcase positive patient experiences to build trust and demonstrate the value of your services.
Testimonials often focus on a single patient experience, like this one from WRHWeCare:
They can also curate multiple experiences and stories, like this one from the Leukemia Foundation. Always work to ensure HIPAA compliance when featuring patient information.
Regardless of the form your testimonial visit takes, this is where some healthcare practices might have complications, because HIPAA concerns demand that patient information be vigorously protected.
HIPAA Considerations for Video Marketing
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) was created to safeguard sensitive patient information, including:
- Demographic information
- Medical histories
- Laboratory results
- Physical and electronic health records
- Mental health records
- Insurance information
Legal counsel should always be consulted to ensure your videos are HIPAA compliant, but following these steps is a good start:
Obtain Patient Consent
Obtain written consent from patients before filming any videos that could identify them. Planet HIPAA has a free authorization for available to download, and a quick Google search reveals other templates. Any third-party template should be reviewed by your attorney.
De-identify Footage
If using patient footage, take steps to remove identifying features like names, faces, and birthdates. Techniques include blurring faces, altering voices, and using generic backgrounds.
Secure Data
Store video content on HIPAA-compliant platforms with robust security measures. Vimeo is a popular video hosting service that offers HIPAA-compliant solutions.
Install Password Protection
Secure any videos containing patient information with strong passwords and restrict access to authorized personnel only.
Train Your Staff
Educate all staff involved in video production on HIPAA regulations and best practices for protecting patient privacy.
Just like healthcare itself, video content marketing can have powerful results when done carefully and with expertise. When it comes to HIPAA compliance, remember to "first do no harm." Once your processes are in place, professional video can cure almost any ailing marketing plan. Contact the experts at Informatics to start rolling today!
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