Healthcare is entrenched in science.
And science is black and white; it’s statistics and data, rationality and evidence.
But for the consumer, all of that is secondary.
The emotional impact of a scary diagnosis, making difficult decisions, and the threat of medical bills piling up are at the forefront.
With this in mind, what kind of healthcare marketing strategy will be most effective?
Video marketing is the perfect medium to help your healthcare brand engage an audience – whatever your target may be – using empathy.
Let’s take a look at how healthcare videos can achieve this goal.
Evoking Emotion Through Branded Videos
According to a study, when people have a positive emotional association with a brand, they are 8.4 times more likely to trust the company, 7.1 times more likely to purchase more and 6.6 times more likely to forgive a company’s mistake.
There are a number of ways to integrate emotion into your healthcare marketing strategies to make your audience not only see, but also feel, where you’re coming from.
1. Show what your brand is all about
A company overview video is the perfect way to highlight what makes you stand out from competitors.
Show your viewers what your healthcare brand is all about, including how it started, and be sure to speak to the audience’s needs.
Did you start your practice with little funds and slowly build it up to where it is today?
Was your healthcare brand created by an inspiring story that involved a tragic diagnosis or a series of difficult healthcare problems?
Share away! Consumers feel joy and happiness when they hear about a story that once started off with adversity and eventually ended in success.
2. Tell a powerful story
Your services have likely made some patients pretty happy.
Why not use this as a part of your healthcare marketing strategy?
After all, these people are your brand advocates.
Don’t be afraid to ask them to share their experience working with you in a testimonial video.
Get them to talk about how they found your facility, doctor’s office, or life-changing product/service.
Sharing such a personal impact is bound to stir some emotion within your viewers and get them excited about working with your brand.
3. Use empathy to build a connection
Effective healthcare marketing doesn’t have to be tricky. Create a connection to your audience by building empathy in your videos.
Your healthcare video will resonate with viewers if you include scenes and experiences they can relate to.
For example, show a scene with patients sitting in the waiting room or standing by for test results, or visitors walking the halls of a hospital to see a loved one.
Viewers are likely to feel emotion when watching this type of video because they’ve likely been in that situation before, and they know how it feels to be on the receiving end of some bad news regarding their (or a loved one’s) health.
Building an empathy-based healthcare marketing strategy
In our experience working in healthcare marketing, we have found these healthcare marketing strategies to be effective.
1. Understand your audience
There are a lot of ways a healthcare video can elicit empathy from your audience – and many emotions you could spotlight.
Safety, hope, compassion or love, for example.
At DigiVid360, we’ll work with you to get a feel for the emotional traits that best represent your company’s brand.
2. Strike the right balance
We’ll help you create videos that fit seamlessly with your overall healthcare marketing strategy.
Part of that balance is using empathy to build trust with your audience. Once they trust you, they’re more receptive to the service or product you’re offering.
3. Be relatable
We relate to others with similar experiences. Especially when it comes to healthcare.
It’s imperative that viewers are able to see themselves in the production.
With this goal in mind, we use modern, portable technology to capture the best shot possible.
We do whatever it takes to capture what makes you unique, viewer emotion, and your story.
4. Interview extensively
It’s important to interview your “actors” beforehand.
You need to know them well before the shoot. This ensures the right person is in the video to deliver your message.
A mistake in this area can make it difficult to create an emotional response and excitement about your healthcare brand and what it has to offer.
5. Research thoroughly
Research is another big part of keeping it real.
Analyze competitors’ videos to understand how they portray a brand’s qualities and truths.
Then, ask yourself, “What are they missing?”
Often, this is where the true story begins – not by following what everyone else is doing. But by going in an undiscovered direction.
You should also pay close attention to YouTube comments to learn from “likes” and dislikes.
It’s all about finding what’s real and what works to make a healthcare video successful.
Healthcare video marketing that works
The best videos for the healthcare industry aren’t the ones that feature medical products or services or promotes features.
It’s a video that captures a compelling story.
If you’re not using video in your healthcare marketing strategy, you should be! The tactic helps you elicit empathy from the viewers, build trust, and ultimately, sell your products or services.
