Many practices would love to incorporate videos into their marketing, but assume it’s time consuming and expensive to create them; and that it might not be worth it.
But video can be a powerful tool that can help you stand out among competition, and build a connection with potential and current patients. And there’s an easy way to get the most value out of the time and money spent on producing video: create templates for different scenarios, so one video can be repurposed into separate ones.
Whether they’re professionally produced or homemade, what matters most is you show patients—prospective and existing—genuine concern for your patients, and who you and your practice are.
Here’s what short videos can accomplish for you, and the types of video you can create from one longer one.
Stand out among competition in search results
People are 80% more likely to click a video search result than a text search result. In order for a practice’s videos to appear in video search results, it needs to use videos frequently in its online strategy.
Here are two types of short videos (that can be broken out from a longer one) that will help potential patients distinguish your practice from others.
Patient Testimonials
When people search online for a new dental office, they usually make a decision after evaluating two to three practices.
Our marketing data shows that the testimonial-video page (of a practice’s website) is one of the most visited types of page before a practice is contacted. Most patients appreciate their dentist, so don’t be scared to ask for a testimonial!
Get to Know Us
If a new patient searching for a practice sees your videos at the top of a Google search (video search results) with doctor, staff, and patient testimonials and clicks on them, he or she will get a sense of what your practice is like—something not possible with text alone.
Let existing patients know you care about them—and their well-being.
Every touchpoint before and after an appointment directly impacts acceptance and return rates. Here are four kinds of videos (that also can be broken out from one longer one) that can help your patients feel taken care of between visits and after procedures.
Make-an-Appointment
Videos can be used to remind patients why they chose your practice, and remind them to schedule their next appointment. You could take a bubbly “we miss you” approach, or go with a “schedule your next visit” message.
Pre-Op/Post-Op
It’s frustrating when patients forget to take pre-meds before coming to their appointments, or call the office asking questions because they didn’t read post-op instructions.
Short videos sent with your appointment reminders can truly help your patients prepare. Longer ones can serve as guides after procedures. Pre-and-post op videos are most effective when sent to the patient as a text message that links to the video.
Consultation Follow-Up
Consult follow-up videos are a strong way to increase acceptance rates for larger cases. They’re similar to pre-op/post-op videos, but work better when the video is customized to a patient.
For someone who received two implant consults, it may be difficult to determine which office is better. But he or she can determine which practice cares more. Sending a custom video recapping a consult and offering to answer questions will go a long way towards acceptance in high-value cases.
Random Act of Kindness
A happy-birthday video sent via email is more memorable than an email or card. You’ll find that patients will mention your birthday video, and how nice it was.
Customizing each is unrealistic, so it’s best to make a fun and genuine but generic video. Sending celebratory videos for a newborn or graduation is a nice touch, too.
Injecting video into your marketing and patient communications will strengthen your practice’s presence to potential and existing patients. If created with heart and honesty, you’ll likely find creating your video was well worth the investment.