Demystifying Video Content: Why and How You Use It

Video is everywhere. It’s on phones, tablets, and laptops - whether it’s something people record themselves or find online. People watch goofy videos their friends share and how-to videos to learn skills. It’s not all just funny cats and how to tie a tie, either. Everywhere you look, you see more and more professional businesses creating and posting unique video content—and doctor, if you’re serious about improving your online marketing, you should do it, too.

It’s Definitely Not a Waste of Time

Believe it or not, video marketing is a valuable way to provide content to current and potential patients. Videos are a visual kind of content that provide valuable information in a different medium than your traditional blog post or FAQ. They allow you to reach people who might not otherwise pay attention to your content. It’s estimated that 80% of people visiting your website will watch a short informational clip, while only 20% will read text. These couple-minute clips are easy to share through social media, too, allowing you to reach a broad audience cost-effectively.

What You Can Do with Your Videos

These days, all you need to make a decent video is a smartphone and a little time. Of course, the best videos are the ones you plan out and spend time branding. However, they don’t have to be complicated. They don’t have to be all the same, either. You can make videos that introduce you and your staff, highlight treatments or causes of particular conditions, demonstrate how-tos for stretches or other kinds of medical care, promote products, and so on.

Once you’ve filmed and put together your video, you have multiple platforms and places to put it where people can find it. First and foremost is your website, of course, but it shouldn’t be the only place. YouTube is owned by Google, so using it can help boost your rankings and authority online. In both of these forms, you can easily share the video to social media. However, that isn’t the limit of what you can do with it. You could post the content directly to Facebook, and set it up so that it plays automatically in someone’s newsfeed. Alternative outlets provide even more reach. You can run them on the screens in your waiting room, provide them as resources to referral sources, or embed them in your e-mail marketing. Video content has a lot of potential.