Video marketing for the B2B healthcare sector is gaining momentum. It is part of the digitization of services megatrend in the healthcare industry, which has been accelerated by the pandemic. There is nothing new about video marketing. Social media and consumer retail embraced it years ago and continue to use it in more innovative ways. Healthcare marketing is now doing the same thing and catching up fast.
On the consumer side of healthcare marketing, patients love the video experience. Video marketing is letting healthcare providers genuinely connect with patients. Whether it is a website welcome, a testimonial, a physician self-introduction, or an educational “what to expect from this procedure”, videos are humanizing the healthcare experience.
Why use video now?
The simple truth is that people are relying on videos for more aspects of their daily personal and business lives. People want relevant videos that help them make decisions and solve problems.
Video is less work. Do not get us wrong. We are not saying a video is less work for you to make. It is less work for your client to consume than reading text. Researchers have found that people process visual data, like pictures and videos, 60,000 times faster than written text. In fact, they found that the human brain deciphers visual information near-instantaneously, making it a seamless experience. Whereas written text must be decoded and processed before the brain can use it. In other words, the human brain must “work harder” when reading versus watching a video.
Video is more memorable. Video activates more visual receptors. The addition of sound activates another sense, hearing, which in turn stimulates even more of the brain. Studies have shown that users remember between 68% and 95% of the message after watching a video. In comparison, only about 10% of a written message is retained.
Video is how people communicate and learn. In your daily life, how many videos do you watch and create? Social media, shopping, video calling with friends and family, and learning at school, work, and online. The last two to three decades have seen a major shift in the way humans take in information and pass it on. Video is the core of that change. People still read but would much rather learn using a mix of video and text [2] .
How does this translate to B2B healthcare marketing?
A study done by Forbes back in 2010 found that 59% of business executives would prefer to watch a video than read the same information in the printed text. It is safe to say that your business clients expect video as part of the experience in doing business with you.
3 Ways to Use Video in Healthcare Marketing
- Education and information. Your prospects and clients research your company, your services, and your products online before and after interacting with you. There is so much incomplete, inaccurate, and misleading information out there that it is easy to get confused or frustrated before finding valuable data. Let t. Let them discover your videos first. This is your chance to give your clients an effortless way to get complete, accurate, and helpful information directly from the brand they are researching. Providing informational videos adds to your credibility and strengthens customer loyalty. You can make videos to compliment your blog and social media posts with quick tips or “did you know” type content about your products and services. Use videos to give walk-throughs of your products and services so they can see what to expect and how it works.
- Showcase your people. Whatever videos you decide to make, wherever possible, find natural opportunities to let your staff shine. Let your company values and vision emerge through your people. Through their faces, demeanor, and professionalism, viewers will see the human side of your company.
- Storytelling. Engage your prospects and clients through storytelling. Create videos highlighting your clients’ success stories and testimonials. Show how you took a problem they had and helped them solve it. You can do the same for internal success stories, which work great with the previous tip of showcasing your most valuable assets, your people.
How will you use videos to reach your clients?
It is not an easy question to answer. Let us help you. We have highlighted just a couple of the many ways video can help your B2B healthcare marketing strategy. Deciding what videos to start with and how to maximize the impact takes experience and skill. We specialize in both with our diverse team of marketing professionals. We can review your current marketing strategy and help you pinpoint the best ways to maximize video for your business. Schedule a free consultation today.
References AND RESOURCES
- Sibley, A. (n.d.). 19 Reasons You Should Include Visual Content in Your Marketing [Data]. [online] blog.hubspot.com. Available at: https://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/33423/19-Reasons-You-Should-Include-Visual-Content-in-Your-Marketing-Data.aspx
- Insivia | Marketing + Web Design | Cleveland, Ohio. (2013). 50 Must Know Stats About Video & Animation Marketing- Insivia. [online] Available at: https://www.insivia.com/50-must-know-stats-about-video-animation-marketing-2013/
- Copyright Forbes (2010). Video in the CSuite. [online] Available at: https://images.forbes.com/forbesinsights/StudyPDFs/Video_in_the_CSuite.pdf
