Healthcare marketers, are you leveraging videos in your digital marketing strategy? While videos take more time and effort to create, this format is popular among social media users.
A Hubspot study found that half of marketers are incorporating video in their digital marketing strategy. Videos also ranked at the very top in terms of media formats with the highest ROI (return on investment).
Below, learn why video content is so effective on social media, the platforms you should consider, and healthcare video ideas to get you started!
What Makes Video Content So Effective?
One word: edutainment.
One of the biggest reasons why video content is so effective is that it can be both entertaining and educational. As social media users watch a video, they’re more likely to remain engaged, anticipating what’s coming up next. Contrast this with a static single image post where all of the information is presented in one go. It’s easy to see how a video can keep someone’s attention for longer.
Healthcare-related videos can make complex topics easier for consumers to digest. Easy-to-understand diagrams, statistics, and other healthcare information can be conveyed in a visually appealing way. Would you rather watch a fun video sharing healthcare information through engaging visuals and animations or read a large wall of text filled with jargon?
Video enhances engagement through visual storytelling, creating emotional connections with the viewer. In the healthcare and wellness space where trust and empathy are paramount, videos help humanize brands and make them more relatable (read more insights in our article, From Awareness to Advocacy: Fostering Trust in Marketing Women’s Health Brands).
Another reason why healthcare video content is so effective is a bit of a secret, but we’ll let you in on it! When social media platforms release new features, algorithms sometimes “favor” posts that use those features, leading to more people seeing the content. An example of this is LinkedIn polls, which received increased impressions for quite some time before the company publicly stated they would be deprioritizing polls in users’ feeds. When new social media features are released, we recommend considering ways to incorporate them into your upcoming healthcare videos.
Comparing Video Features on Different Social Media Platforms
There are a lot of social media platforms out there, but which ones can help elevate your video marketing strategy? Here are three examples:
TikTok
Home to short, creative, and highly addictive video content, TikTok tends to lean towards younger audiences, which may or may not be the right fit for your brand.
When TikTok first launched in 2016, videos could be up to 15 seconds long—but that was soon increased to one minute in 2018, three minutes in 2021, 10 minutes in 2022, 15 minutes in 2024, and now 30 minutes in 2024. In fact, just recently, the company began testing 60-minute videos.
Because TikTok is a video-first platform, healthcare marketers can expect a host of different built-in editing tools, such as music, filters, and transitions. That being said, TikTok content is best when it’s authentic and relatable. Avoid posting overly “produced” videos that might be a hit on LinkedIn and YouTube, but could be considered too branded for TikTok. Instead, consider features like Stitch and Duets, which are two popular features that allow users to use videos other content creators have posted.
YouTube
YouTube is an excellent platform for both short and long-form content (and we mean long — think videos that are hours in length!).
But here’s something that may surprise you. It’s not Spotify or any other audio-based platform that’s the top destination for podcast listeners. It’s actually YouTube! While the platform is known for its longer video content, content creators sharing their podcasts in a video format on YouTube have seen great success over the past few years.
Social media is cyclical, and we definitely see that here. As TikTok expands into longer-format videos, YouTube has gone the other way with its introduction of YouTube Shorts, a mobile-friendly feature emphasizing shorter video content. Shorts have proved to be successful for the company. As of May 2024, over five trillion views have been recorded since the feature first launched.
While TikTok capitalizes on short, viral videos that leverage the latest digital trends, YouTube’s videos are more diverse. Healthcare marketers can still see TikTok-inspired trends through YouTube Shorts, but YouTube as a whole has been an excellent platform for content creators looking to share longer videos covering educational content (i.e. video essays).
While the previous two examples are video-based social media platforms, let’s turn our attention to one that wasn’t built with an exclusive focus on video. A social media platform for professionals that’s geared more towards thought leadership, LinkedIn offers a variety of video capabilities.
LinkedIn videos can be a max of 10 minutes if you’re uploading it from your phone or 15 minutes if you’re uploading the content from your desktop. While this seems more limiting than the previous two, that’s more than enough time for healthcare marketers to share their stories. In fact, on a platform like LinkedIn, we recommend keeping thought leadership and insight-driven video content to around the 1-2 minute mark. Any longer and you risk losing the viewer’s attention.
Because video has become such an important social media format, sites that weren’t as video-focused when they first launched have increasingly added more video functionality to their platform. For instance, LinkedIn has tested with a dedicated video feed.
With LinkedIn being such an integral part for executives as they strategically position themselves and their companies online, digital marketers will want to approach healthcare executives to suggest that they appear in front of the camera too!
Healthcare Video Ideas To Get You Started!
Last but not least, for healthcare marketers who want to get some creative ideas on videos that you can create for your next social media post, take a look at our list below! This won’t apply to every single healthcare brand given the difference in audience demographics, products, and industry regulations, but it’s a way to start thinking about how video can help you reach your brand objectives.
Case studies
Video excels at storytelling, making it an ideal medium to tell a short story about how your healthcare brand impacts your customers. Offering social proof helps illustrate the effectiveness of your product or service. Engaging visuals and music, combined with real data and results, can help bring your story to life.
Testimonials and other User-Generated Content (UGC)
Showcasing real-life success stories helps highlight the positive impact a healthcare brand is making in its space. Stories shared by real customers and patients resonate more strongly with viewers. Consider creating a series of testimonial videos where customers share their personal experiences with your healthcare brand. You can also use social media to encourage users to share their own content, linking it to a branded hashtag as part of a larger marketing campaign.
Webinars/live videos
Webinars and live videos are great tools for increasing transparency and fostering real-time engagement with your healthcare brand. Hosting webinars on relevant health topics allows you to share valuable information with your audience, while also positioning your healthcare brand as an industry expert. Live videos offer customers the opportunity to interact with the brand in a new way. Q&A sessions, live demonstrations, or behind-the-scenes looks at a healthcare company can help build trust, credibility, and loyalty.
How-Tos
One study found that 96% of consumers watch explainer videos to learn more about a product they’re interested in. These types of videos can be effective for your video marketing strategy because they move customers ever so closer to making a purchasing decision. How-to videos provide valuable information and practical tips. For example, for a skincare brand in the health and wellness category, sharing a video about sunscreen and how to protect against sun damage can be valuable for the audience.
Debunk myths
In the age of misinformation, controlling the narrative around your brand is important. Videos can be an effective way to debunk common myths and misconceptions related to health and wellness. Again, sharing medically proven, fact-checked information is a way to build brand trust and credibility. An example of this for a healthcare brand related to pregnancy is a video about whether morning sickness only happens in the morning (spoiler: it doesn’t!).
Repurposing podcasts
We mentioned earlier how YouTube is the #1 destination for podcasts. If you regularly release podcasts, why not turn those into videos and share them on a platform that can garner a lot of attention? Even if you just have the audio, you can design a static background for your YouTube video and put the audio on top. Add subtitles and a dynamic visual like a moving soundwave, and you’re good to go! Additionally, consider breaking down long podcast episodes into shorter soundbites that highlight the key information you want people to get excited about. If it’s engaging, they’re more likely to engage with your post, share it with a friend, and visit your website to tune in to the full episode. These shorter clips can be shared across your social media properties and link back to your website as a way to drive traffic.
Video Marketing Matters!
To sum it all up, video content matters more than ever as users look to consume more video content and engage with healthcare brands that share entertaining and educational content. Videos don’t just sit pretty on your brand’s social media feed, but rather, they create meaningful touch points to tell potential customers what’s special about your product or service.
If you want to update your video marketing strategy on social media, or you don’t know where to get started, we can help! Connect with one of our healthcare marketing specialists and let’s talk about how to use one of social media’s most popular formats to get your healthcare brand noticed.