We all know the age-old phrase, “I’ll believe it when I see it”. Heck -- we’ve even lived it with the inventions of things like self-driving cars, a phone equivalent to having a full-sized computer in your pocket, and having legitimately “smart” homes. Not only were these inventions incredible because of their remarkable innovation, but also because the consumer was able to see the product go from an out-of-this-world concept to fruition. 

The phrase “I’ll believe it when I see it” holds a lot of power in the consumer’s eyes, no matter what the product actually is, and now is the easiest it’s ever been to make “seeing it” happen.

If you haven’t heard, last week the Head of Instagram announced that the social media platform will no longer be considered a photo-sharing app and instead lean into entertainment and video (via a video posted to his Instagram and Twitter accounts). While the platform had been at the top of its game since its inception in 2010, its popularity began to decline in 2019 with the rise of TikTok’s style of video messaging and YouTube’s video popularity. 

In order to stay at the forefront of marketing and popularity, Instagram needed to come to terms with the fact that video content is the new “square photo-sharing” app of the decade. Which means, you probably need to as well.

While Instagram may be a bit behind on this, 86% of businesses worldwide use video as part of their overall marketing strategy. Having video prevalent in your marketing strategy is incredibly useful as it can:

• Increase conversion rates by over 80%
• Amplify open rates by 19% with the mention of “video” in the subject line
• Influence 90% of customers to make financial decisions

So while this all may sound like a good idea, it can also be overwhelming to know exactly where to start with a video marketing strategy. To get to the base of your strategy, it’s important to answer these 3 questions before you hit record:

1.) Who is this video for?

In the same way you wouldn’t recommend treatment without knowing who your patient is, you don’t want to make a video without knowing who it’s meant for. Your target audience refers to the specific group of people you want your service to go to. While it may be easy to generalize your target audience, one of the most effective ways to nail it down is to create a buyer persona. This takes your idea and makes it personal by giving your ideal patient a name, a job, hobbies, a family, and overall an identity for you to interact with. To help you get going, you can find buyer persona templates HERE.

Pro Tip: Once you identify your buyer persona, include those patients in video interaction footage and custom photography to help those specific patients be able to “see” themselves at your practice.

2.) What is the goal of filming this video?

Now that you have a clear vision of who you’re going to be talking to, it’s important to be just as clear with your message and why you’re making this video. Different audiences will yield different kinds of videos and it’s important to be deliberate with your message to see the most successful results. The goal of your video can be as broad or as narrow as your target audience is as long as it has a call to action with it. It’s always good to follow a pattern like this to help narrow your focus and make sure your video has a clear focus: 

At (Practice Name) we are making video content for (Specific Persona), so that they (fulfill a need) by (performing an action).

3.) Where is your audience going to see this video?

This is the make it or break it point of your video marketing strategy. You’ve created an awesome video for your target audience that is sure to fulfill the call to action, but if the video never actually makes it to them, what was the point of putting in all of the work? This part of the process is easily the most important as it puts the messaging right in front of your target audience. By knowing where your target audience goes for their information, it not only shows how well you understand their habits and their overall persona, but actually allows them to see the content made just for them. Between social media, emails, and website landing pages -- it’s easy to have awesome content lost because it wasn’t waiting for your audience in the perfect place.

One of the best ways we have found to effectively use video marketing is to integrate it into patient communications. While social media is often an easy choice, it doesn’t always fully encompass who your audience is and where they would be looking for information. The beauty of integrating video marketing into patient communications is it allows you to back up your video content with educational messaging and make it easy for your patients to act on your call to action. 

To stir up some inspiration, here are our top 5 favorite videos:

1. Welcome New Patient
2. Happy Birthday
3. Treatment Plan Follow Up
4. End of Year Insurance
5. Reactivation

While video marketing strategy can be overwhelming, it’s ultimately worth it. By giving your audience the opportunity to see everything your practice is doing, you’re able to show off everything your practice has to offer and make it personal for each person who sees your video. It’s one thing to be able to talk the talk, but your audience is sure to be impressed when you show them you can walk the walk, too. 

Trust me, you’ll believe it when you see it.

Want to know more about how Hi5 Practice can help make video marketing easy for you? Check out this video about how we can remotely film up to 11 videos within a few hours -- all from the comfort of your office!

Or learn more about our video services HERE.

      Published July 14th, 2021 12:00 pm CST