Video is a medium that communicates drastically more than text in a much shorter period of time. It is also significantly more engaging than text, or even photos, and therefore more useful in making an impression on your target market. It has been a beloved marketing medium for advertisers since inception for these very reasons.
And now, the preponderance of smartphones among consumers, and their growing preference for dynamic content, has made it a necessity to produce practice marketing videos to stay competitive. (In competitive markets at the very least). But not just any video. No… your videos must be strategically planned and executed excellently to achieve your desired results. This article will show you how to properly do both.
Why Should I Add Video to My Dental Marketing?
Expand Reach
Video is a versatile digital file format. It can be employed on your website, social media, directory listings, video platforms, signage, in-office tvs, emails, etc. This enables you to reach out into your market with a new medium on platforms that you weren’t able to before. In short, video marketing enlarges the net you can cast.
Increase Brand Awareness
Video is the most sticky medium you can use remotely. Studies conclusively show time and again that consumers remember vastly more of what they see in video than what they read in text. Your strong, distinct brand can quickly become ingrained in the minds of your target market after being exposed to your videos.
Improves Engagement Compared to Static Content
Video is highly stimulating and therefore people are more prone to interact with video content. This is particularly noticeable on social media. Magnificent memes aside, video consistently does a better job of getting likes and shares when it is published on social media. All of those interactions help spread your message to more of your followers and their connections.
Build Trust with Viewers
Most people have some level of dentophobia. People are scared of getting swindled, hurt, or their day sucked up by visiting the dentist. Quality video helps dispel those fears in your viewers and builds trust toward you. How important do you think trust is when making healthcare decisions? Exactly. A video can be the difference between someone trusting you, or remaining skeptical.
Differentiate Your Practice from Competitors
Beautiful video transforms your website from a static digital brochure into a dynamic, immersive web experience. When a potential patient is deciding between you and the other two practices they have pulled up, you are going to be the practice standing out. If a consumer can see you make the effort to stand out in your marketing, they will assume you also stand out in your dentistry.
Better Conversation Rates on Your Website
This is one place dental video marketing shines. Imagine a potential patient seeing an ad for your Invisalign offering. They have been considering the treatment and this ad catches them at just the right time. They land on your page to find it attractively and intuitively formatted. THey also find an engaging video of you quickly explaining the treatment with fantastic supporting video footage. The likelihood of them calling you has gone up, hence increasing your website conversion rate.
Boost Treatment Interest and Case Acceptance from Patients
Your website isn’t the only place to feature your practice videos. Why not make use of the TVs you already have in your patient lounge and/or your operatories. Loop your videos explaining your treatments. Your patients will be further educated about the treatments you offer and potentially ask you about them!
SEO
After you create your practice videos, be sure to upload them to YouTube and then optimize them. Google owns YouTube and often displays relevant videos in search results. Imagine creating an informative dental implant video and using the description text to answer FAQs and explain why the viewer should visit your practice to see if they are a good fit for your treatment.
Types of Dental Videos
About the Practice Videos
At LUMN we call these videos “Welcome Videos” to emphasize the value in using video to welcome potential patients to their practice. These videos should show the human side of the dentist and help build the patient’s trust in the practice. An About Video can also include office footage so viewers see what the practice looks like. Think of this video like making a perfect introduction to someone in your community. They will want to get to know you better.
Treatment Videos
Keep these videos tight (60 seconds or less) and informative. Explain to your viewer why CEREC can save them time, stress, and money. Show them the mill operating. Show your team smiling and interacting with a patient while they receive their CEREC treatment. This will all help the viewer feel more comfortable and ready to select you to provide them treatment.
Testimonial Video
Social proof. Humans are wired to trust the word of others. Particularly when more than one person shares a similar opinion. Cherry pick your favorite patients that will rave about you in a testimonial video, then turn them into a star by getting them in front of a camera. Take your testimonial videos to the next level by having the reviewer talk about the experience with a specific treatment. Then use those videos on the relevant treatment page of your website.
How to Create Effective Dental Videos
Paint Your Practice in the Best Light Possible
Clean up your Practice. Get renovations if Needed. Look at your practice as if you have never been there before. How would you rate it? Does it represent the calibre of dentistry you offer? If not, fix that. Then show it off. Now even when you have your practice appearance dialed in, be sure to display it in the best way possible.
Start with Your Priority Treatments
Feeling like you need to make a video for everything you do in your practice might be overwhelming. And expensive. And time consuming. Select your top three-four priority treatments to start with. These will be useful on your website, in video ads, and even sending to people who have been presented the option to help them make a decision.
Be Real on Reel
Don’t worry about memorizing a script. That can come across as fake and stiff. Keep your conversation natural and conversation-like. As if you are speaking to the potential patient in your chair. This will feel comfortable to the viewers and help them feel like they have already spoken with you just by watching.
Get Professional Help to Shoot and Edit
If you are not already an expert in videography and editing, save yourself time and frustration by hiring a professional. You make a lot more money doing dentistry than being a videographer. If your videos turn out looking homemade (in an unflattering way) what assumptions do you think your potential patients will make when they see them?
Optimizing Dental Videos for SEO
Reduce Bounce Rate
One of the signals Google watches on your website is how long people spend on your site when they click through to it. If someone clicks to your site and leaves immediately, that is called bounce rate. Google penalizes your site in search results if your bounce rate is high because it signals to Google that people don’t like your site. Engaging videos keep people on your site longer. This will then reduce your bounce rate.
Increase Click Through Rates
Another signal Google tracks for the ranking algorithm is what people do on your site after landing on it. If they click through to other pages, that is a strong signal to Google that you have a helpful site that people like to interact with. Quality video is a quick way to establish your credibility and encourage your dental practice website visitors to explore more.
Rank the Video Itself
Using the right keywords, tags, and description text can help your video turn up well by themselves in search results. Naturally this will help to guide viewers to your website. This is another great way great dental videos can increase your online visibility and optimize your online presence.
Promoting Your Practice with Dental Videos
Social Media
Social media can be leveraged both organically and with paid options using your videos. Post your practice videos to your social media streams periodically to get as many free views as possible. Dramatically increase the mileage your videos get by boosting your videos on social media platforms. It is surprisingly inexpensive to consistently reach your market with boosted posts. Over time this will build considerable brand awareness for you in your market.
You should be sending regular newsletters to your patient base to keep them connected to your practice and inform them of promotions, new tech, and health education. When you educate your patients about the dangers of sleep apnea and your solution, include your sleep apnea video to make a more impactful impression.
YouTube
As previously mentioned, be sure to upload your videos to YouTube. This makes it easy to embed and share the video in other places in addition to people in your market running across the video on the YouTube platform itself. YouTube is also a wonderful place to run video ads. For a relatively small investment you can make a strong, regular impression on your potential patients.
In Office
As a dentist, you have about as close to a truly “captive” audience you can legally get. Take advantage of your patients visit time by showing them what YOU want them to see. Show them how you are investing in technology to improve their experience. Mention the continuing education you do to improve the quality of dentistry you do. Educate them about your expanding treatment options to give them beautiful and healthy smiles. And do all this perfectly, every time with wonderful practice videos.
Conclusion
Video marketing should be a strong component in your dental marketing plan. You now have a good idea of what types of videos you should shoot, how to do it, and then how to promote your practice with them.
LUMN is well known for producing some of the finest dental practice videos you can find. We shoot all around the United States. If you would like help producing your practice videos, schedule a free consult now and see if we are a good fit for you.