A unique and innovative way for medical practitioners to display and market their services is by the means of online videos which is the latest trend in online advertising. According to statistics, about four billion YouTube videos are viewed on a daily basis. In fact, right from your cell phone to your favourite website, online videos are popping up incessantly and videos are now becoming the most popular and accessed form in the social media.
Videos are an effective and interactive way to put across your message in an engaging way to your patients even before you have met them. Medical practitioners have not yet understood the potential of medical practice videos and many are yet to discover the advantage of practice videos and using this medium as their marketing campaign.
The main advantages of making your videos and promoting it online are :
- Educating your patients, establishing your credibility as a physician.
- Videos are more engaging and an entertaining way of presenting your medical setup.
- Reaching out to a large number of new patients as well as already existing patients.
- Videos enable you to show your entire team which makes it more real and authentic.
TYPES OF VIDEOS:
Medical physicians can make a variety of videos depending on their requirements. Different types of videos are:
- Testimonial videos – which have existing patients describe in their own words their positive experiences in your clinic .
- Welcome videos- these are introductory videos describing your entire clinic, staff and the services offered.
- ‘How to do’ videos- educational videos aimed at educating your patients on simple ways to take care of their health.
- Medical news videos-to keep your patients abreast with all the latest happenings in the medical world and any common ailment news.
Your videos should be all shareable so that your online visibility increases everytime somebody shares your videos.
THREE EASY STEPS TO MAKE YOUR OWN VIDEO
Making your own video is cost effective and does not require any professional help. Here are 3 simple ways to make your own video and make your practise more web friendly.
- PLAN – Always plan prior to putting anything online. Determine exactly what is your purpose of putting a video online- whether you want to educate your patients or attract new patients, the reason behind putting your video should be clear. Once you are sure of what you want to put online, the duration of the video should also be determined. Short and crisp videos are preferable. Prepare a rough draft of how you are going to deliver the content in your video. If you are showing a video of your practice, it would be advisable to protect the privacy (faces) of your patients.
- CREATE- Properly execute whatever you have planned and if you need a professional videographer, you might have to spend a few bucks on that, so you need to set aside certain expenses for that. Another user friendly option would be to have a decent camera and free video editing software, which enables you to do this on your own. Most computers and smartphones have great cameras and are more or less updated allowing you to create great videos. Free online services can enhance your videos as regards the sound and light after you shoot it. If you are a camera-conscious person you can instead upload a PowerPoint presentation. The point to remember is not to create an over-the-top video, but giving a realistic peep into your world to potential patients.
- UPLOAD- Lastly, after creating and editing your video you need to upload it online to share it with the virtual world. Some smartphones can directly upload videos to a website or your social network like Facebook; alternatively you can register on popular sites such as YouTube by creating your account. You can upload a video on multiple sites for better visibility.
Always put up a disclaimer on your page stating that the medical content in this video is no way a substitute for a visit to a doctor. The idea behind putting up such videos is to create simple videos which are real and provide the intended information in a more engaging and interactive information to the virtual world to boost your practice.
Contributed by Dr. Rachita Narsaria, MD
REFERENCES
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