Like most practitioners you probably would like an increased flow of new patients, right? And there are probably many hundreds of ways that we know of that will accomplish this task. One of them is the use of YouTube.
Why YouTube?
- It’s a free way of marketing to the whole wide world.
- You can make short videos and put them on YouTube in the open where anyone can search for your name or your practice name and find you. Or you can tag the topic of your video and if someone is searching for that topic, they may find you … along with hundreds of others who have made a video on that same topic. For example, go to YouTube on your device and check out “ways to fold paper napkins” as a topic and see how many come up.
- You can also choose to have your video unlisted and then can send a private link to your specific audience and only they can access the video through your link.
- If you don’t want the whole world to have access to your video on YouTube, but just through your own website or Facebook page, then keep it unlisted and embed the link on your website or Facebook. This has the benefit of keeping the prospect on your site or page instead of having them end up back in the general pool of potential videos on YouTube where they could get sidetracked into watching those and then forget to come back to your page.
Why make a video for your practice?
It’s a visual age where people want to know about your practice before they choose you. Pictures and videos are great for this. And most people have access to the internet.
What should the video be about?
Wow, this is the fun part … be creative (but not crazy and stupid). Get input from patients as to what they might like to know, e.g. for dentists: how to brush your teeth properly for kids, or for vets: how to brush your dog’s teeth, for chiropractors: safe exercises for a sore back; or for optometrists: how to decide whether your child needs to come and see you (symptoms); for denturists: how is a denture made or what different kinds are there; for physios: what is a knee brace and how can that help; for chiropodists and podiatrists: short explanation of orthotics and why you should have a custom made one. There just isn’t a shortage of topics. Think outside the box.
How long should a video be?
A YouTube video should not be longer than 2-4 minutes ideally. Otherwise, it moves over into the category of a webinar where the viewer is learning a whole topic in detail.
Who should be in the video?
You as the practice owner do not have to be the one who is speaking in the video. You may have on your staff someone who is quite well spoken and engaging. You want to put the best person on the video because the point of it is to attract people to your practice. You can also have clients do videos for you, such as testimonials (it is not a Privacy Act violation if they make the video and give written permission to use it on the internet).
How to start?
You can use your phone, your iPad or tablet, a home video camera, or, if you have it, a full professional camera set up. Most of the powerful video promoters on the internet use a phone for video’ing to start off with. There is a free program you can download for editing: Windows Live Movie Maker. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes. It takes practice. Have fun doing them. Be creative. Go online and see what’s available on YouTube and notice things you like and do something similar. You can always make better ones and take down and replace earlier versions.
Most important … get them done and send them to your friends, patients or clients, and followers on Facebook, Google+, Twitter, LinkedIn or wherever else you can think of!
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