Healthcare-related topics can be challenging to communicate given their sensitive and complex nature, and that’s a challenge that institutions and marketers operating in the niche have to struggle with constantly.
Luckily, if the era of content marketing has taught us anything, it is that video content can be used to convey all kinds of information in a way that people can easily understand and relate to – and the healthcare industry is no exception!
However, the problem is that with so much information making the rounds online, it can be tough to cut through the noise and reach your target audience with your message.
So, if you find yourself with a similar struggle in your hands and don’t know where to start, we’ve compiled a helpful list of tips pulled from the playbook of a number of experienced production teams that should really help you plan and execute your next successful healthcare video.
Keep It Short and Sweet
We get it, you want to give your potential and existing patients all the information they’re going to need. You need to consider, though, that people’s attention spans tend to be very short nowadays, especially online. In this sense, shorter videos tend to perform better than long ones because viewers are more likely to stick around until the end.
However, nothing is set in stone. The length of your video will depend on four main factors: the type of video, the message, the target audience, and the platform on which you’re posting the final product.
For instance, if the message you want to convey requires a lengthy and detailed explanation aimed at other healthcare providers, that’s alright, but keep in mind that it’d be more suited for a platform like YouTube than one like Instagram.
Moreover, certain types of videos, like explainers, shouldn’t be longer than 2 minutes to remain effective.
What’s most important is keeping your content straight and to the point. What do you think your patients need to know the most? What are the most interesting or important results of your research? Limit the content to those specific points to avoid covering multiple topics in a single video. This will make it easier to keep everything as short and concise as possible.
So, keep your videos as short as possible and go straight to the point.
Simplify Medical Terminology
It’s essential for patients to learn and understand everything there’s to know about their medical issues and any challenges they might be facing. However, one of the main barriers that healthcare providers face when discussing a diagnosis, treatments, medication, and other related topics with their patients is the complex terminology that even educated people can struggle to make sense of.
Explaining medical concepts can be quite a challenge, but that’s where video content can come in to save the day. Healthcare videos give you an ideal medium to translate confusing topics into clear, precise, and authoritative information that’s easier to process and analyze.
For that to happen, though, you need to make the script more approachable by minimizing complex medical terminology as much as you can. Of course, there’ll be some key technical terms, like the name of a disease, that can’t (and shouldn’t) be omitted, but try to use as much natural language as possible, always trying to simplify things for the viewer.
For example, you can say “red blood cells” instead of “erythrocyte”, or break down a concept like “epidermis” by explaining that it’s the outer layer of the skin.
In simple words, keep the medical jargon to a minimum so that the average person can grasp the information more easily.
Use Engaging Visuals and Animations
A good script is not enough to crystallize your message to your target audience if you don’t have the visuals to go with it. Done right, visually compelling imagery can help you capture potential and existing patients’ attention and keep them from clicking away.
How? Well, video content shows, rather than simply saying something. So, complex medical terms, ideas, and data can become attractive imagery, animated graphics, and floating text, which are easier to digest, and have better visual appeal and recall than other types of content.
Who wouldn’t prefer watching a short video over listening to a man talking for hours or reading a long publication?
In addition, healthcare-related content can be overwhelming and emotionally challenging for patients. Moreover, the high technical level of it can be incredibly frustrating for people with lower or no healthcare literacy whatsoever.
Animated explainer videos can bring healthcare providers and patients closer by adding fun and creative elements to make the content more friendly, captivating, and accessible for general audiences.
For example,
Don’t Use a Whiteboard Animation Video! (Until You Read This)
feature a unique hand-drawn style that can make for a fun learning experience. This type of video usually follows a character whose story is being drawn on a whiteboard. Hand drawings can make instructions on how to take a certain medicine or how to prepare for a procedure look less intimidating, as they are simpler to understand.
Animated and compelling visuals can bring healthcare-related content to life and help connect institutions with their patients through a friendlier and more welcoming dialogue.
Tell a Story and Appeal to Emotions
To connect with your patients, it’s important to show the human side of the healthcare industry. By leveraging the power of storytelling, you can make a memorable piece that helps establish a closer relationship with your target audience.
But first, you need to determine the message you want to convey through the story. Is it making people aware of a new product? Explaining the results of recent research? Sharing your company’s values and culture?
Let’s take that last one as an example. If you feature patients sharing their experiences when receiving care in one of your facilities and doctors describing the process or treatment, you’re telling a story in a real and relatable way that can trigger certain feelings in your viewers.
When you appeal to emotions and authenticity, potential patients are more likely to feel a connection with the content on screen. At the same time, they can understand what you’re offering and how it can benefit them more clearly than if you were explaining it to them face to face.
The key here is to think like a patient or a customer so that you can confidently address any questions and concerns they might have about your product, service, or company without sounding overtly salesy.
In short, a memorable healthcare video should elicit emotion by engaging viewers with a relatable story.
Bridge Trust between Providers and Patients
Hospitals and doctors’ offices can often feel cold and detached, which can pave the path for unnecessary fears and distrust. Luckily, videos can prove very useful when it comes to humanizing and bridging the gap between the healthcare industry and the patients.
People always want to know more about those that will be taking care of them before scheduling a consultation, and they need to feel they can trust them with their well-being. So, introduce your key staff members, doctors, and nurses. Move the spotlight to the people behind the white coats and medical degrees.
Through expert videos and testimonials, medical providers have the opportunity to show their personalities and their passion for healthcare. By discussing their background, experience, and qualifications, your audience will get to know them better. All of these details can help patients gain a sense of trust and feel more confident when making a decision.
A further step you can take to connect with patients is to dispel any concerns and doubts they might have beforehand.
It’s very common for people to develop false notions about medical treatments or procedures when they don’t know anything about them, but you can make videos in which your experts explain them and answer frequently asked questions. Knowing what to expect during an appointment can be very comforting and make patients feel at ease.
A healthcare video that shows your experts in a more relaxed setting, talking about themselves or explaining how a procedure is done, can go a long way in strengthening your patients’ trust in you and your team.
Conclusion
Healthcare videos play an important role in connecting medical providers with their patients and audience. However, as you create video content for such a large and varied industry, it’s really easy to get overwhelmed and uncertain on where to focus your attention.
Luckily, after reading this piece, you now have a much solid grasp of the key elements that videos for this industry require to be truly effective. Once you have accounted for those, add a bit of pro editing to the mix, and you’ll have a terrific video to represent your brand.
So, what are you waiting for? Time to get started on that new awesome video!
