Social media and healthcare are a powerful combination. Today, it has become an important part of sharing health information. The use of social media can help patients feel more comfortable before their visit with your office, showcase your experience, and build trust. There is no denying the popularity and use of video, especially on social media. If you’ve ever seen a TikTok video, a social platform that is known for its short interesting content, you know that they figured out how to grab a user’s attention, especially on a mobile device. So what can we learn from TikTok and how can we harness what they do so well for healthcare? Let’s find out.
Keep your social media videos short
So how does the approach that TikTok takes translate to other social platforms? Using movement in your content and keeping your videos very short will grab the attention and interaction of your visitor far better than static content. This holds true across social, from organic Facebook posts to paid ads.
One thing to remember is that on social media videos are generally discovered, rather than sought out. How-to videos on a procedure prep, do-at-home exercises, or practice and physician introductions need a more in-depth video as people will search for these types of videos. Your audience on social media is different. They will not be searching and will likely not stick around to watch these longer videos past the first 15 seconds. If you want to offer a how-to video for social, then the key is to keep it very short.
Simplify your message to the most important thing
Be sure that your video captivates your audience within the first three seconds. How? Simplify your social ad or post to the single most important thing you’d like them to know. That message should be your video’s first three seconds. For these types of videos, the entire length of your video should not exceed 15 seconds. They are meant to be a quick attention-getter. Examples can include:
- a quick health update about what’s going around
- a reminder about a best health practice such as a needed screening, when it’s time to switch out your toothbrush, or a tip on a healthy eating habit
- an answer to a common question that you routinely get
Social media video tips for healthcare
When you’re deciding what type of videos to post on your practice’s social media, consider these suggestions:
- Put yourself in the shoes of your patients. What information are they most interested in? A short attention-grabbing video providing reliable and credible health information is something that your patients will value.
- With video content, not everything has to be professionally developed and expensive. Grab your iPhone and start recording. Loom is also a great free resource to leverage to create some short videos.
- Animated illustrations and effects applied to images, whether stock photography or your own, can generate great user engagement.
- Don’t forget to add captions so that all viewers can follow along.
- Use credible, authoritative sources. What is most important here for healthcare is that you use and cite credible, authoritative sources when sharing health information.
- Let users play a part. Hold a contest to gather user-generated video content. Contests are a great way to generate engagement.
- Announce contest winners. Announce the winners of your contest with video!
The best way to find out what works is to start creating and sharing your health and dental videos on social media.
Ready to give it a try? Let the social media experts at Practis help.