Chances are that your healthcare network is producing videos. That’s significant, since video is one of the single most effective ways to engage and emotionally connect with your audience: https://www.viddler.com/blog/a-better-way-to-connect-with-front-line-employees/
Here at Viddler, we’re commonly asked the following question:
What type of video does best in healthcare?
We conducted a survey in early 2022 and asked several healthcare media teams about the types of videos they are producing. Based on their experiences and feedback, we’ve been able to narrow it down to what works best. We’ve categorized our findings into two sections: Videos for the Community and Internal Videos for Staff.
Here is what we found:
- Videos for the Community
We found that the most frequently produced external videos were community education pieces. Educational videos created for the community are a crucial way to help people live healthier lives and keep the community updated on the latest announcements (particularly in the age of COVID). When asked why this is important for their networks, one respondee concluded: “We routinely see more appointments made for diagnostic tests when the community is reminded.”
Ironically, when asked what types of videos had the lowest performance, we found out that it was also community education pieces. A reason cited was that these types of videos often don’t get as many views as the media teams would like.
Conversely, when we asked what the most successful type of external videos produced are, the result was Physician Profiles. The reason why these videos are ranked as most successful, as one respondent reported: “We see more appointments being booked.” This makes sense, as most patients want to learn a bit about their doctor prior to making the decision to choose them for their care. Video personalizes this learning better than reading text off a page.
Community education videos and physician profiles have proven to be two of the most important types of videos a network can produce. Let’s dive into what makes a successful Community Education Video and a successful Physician Profile.
Community Education pieces can be challenging to make since you are often trying to get a lot of detailed information into a video, while still maintaining engagement with the viewer. Whenever possible, you want the video to be concise and actionable. Attention and recall tend to wane after several minutes, so it’s best to keep the video simple.
Community Education videos can benefit from using humor and animations to help keep the attention of the viewers.
In terms of the content, it’s best practice to address frequently asked questions in the community and to produce videos that are timely and applicable. A common example of this might be releasing a video that discusses flu during the winter months.
Let’s see an example of a community education video with positive results:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_mvgaB--L8
This video did an excellent job of using humor and animations to keep the action flowing and to help the audience remember key points. In addition, this video was very timely as it was released during the early months of COVID. You may have noticed that it got a lot of views during that time frame.
Physician Profiles are a wonderful way to personalize an introduction to a medical professional, especially one that is new to the network. Put simply by a respondent: “Video allows our audience to get a better feel for the personality of our physicians.”
When creating your next profile, aim to paint a whole picture of the person by showing a bit about their personal as well as professional side. Include a piece on each.
Ask the physician questions like:
- What is one unusual or interesting fact about them?
- What is a special interest or hobby of theirs?
- What specifically do they enjoy about their chosen field?
- What makes them and the network a good choice for a new patient?
Let’s see an example of a physician profile that might be a bit different than what you are used to:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ThDRZawv7aQ
This profile is very theatrical, and even inspirational. It will be sure to stand out and leave a lasting impression on the viewer.
Now that we’ve covered videos for the community, let’s move on to videos geared toward your staff.
- Internal Videos for Staff
We found out from our respondents that while some networks do not focus on creating content specifically for their employees, those that do had positive results from three types of videos in particular: Patient Success Stories, Staff Spotlights, and Service Line Updates.
Patient Success Stories are effective because they drill down to one of the most powerful emotions; inspiration. These stories inspire us because they are highlighting the reason why everyone continues to show up to work; to heal and to improve lives.
Patient stories are best told by none other than the patient themselves. Common themes in these videos include: the patient discussing who they were before they encountered the health issue, the nature of the issue itself, the experience they’ve had with your network, and how their life and health was impacted as a result of choosing you.
These types of stories tend to get shared and discussed more often than other internal videos, and can actually serve as a boost to network morale. They received the most positive reviews of any video type from employees, and even contributed toward a feeling of pride.
Staff Spotlights were reported as an innovative way of connecting staff together, and getting to know more about fellow coworkers. The video profiles of staff that go above and beyond are a touching way to recognize and honor those who are living your network’s mission. Feeling seen and appreciated not only boosts morale, it aids in retention.
Service Line Updates came in as another especially productive type of internal video. We were initially surprised by this, but in hindsight it makes a lot of sense. Employees want to be kept in the loop and up to date with new service lines. They also want to be kept informed of updates from existing service lines. This helps employees understand the overall health and performance from the different areas of the network. It also helps reduce the feeling of working in a silo.
In conclusion, if you are looking at ramping up your network’s video production, focusing on these types of videos will get you the biggest “bang for your buck.”
Thank you again to all the media professionals who participated in our survey. If you want to learn more about how video’s superpowers help create an emotional connection with your audience, go here: https://www.viddler.com/blog/the-best-way-to-build-emotional-engagement-with-your-staff/
