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Why Emotional Content Makes Your Practice Stand Out

I recently read a book by the Princeton psychology professor and Nobel Laureate, Daniel Kahneman, titled “Thinking, Fast and Slow”. There’s much in to recommend not least the central tenant that reasoning is a largely unconscious action motivated by emotion which is embodied by many biases and heuristics. As Kahneman states “Signs of emotional arousal are salient in the reactions to many events, and especially decisions, so the conceptual separation between emotion and pure cognition seems likely to crumble”

Marketers are increasingly recognizing the need to emotionally engage customers if they’re going to successfully break through the media noise we all face on a daily basis. It’s the emotional connection video achieves that makes it stand out as a marketing tool and, crucially, allows an orthodontic practice to stand out from it’s competition.

With this in mind it’s difficult to argue against the following statements.

Video is far more engaging than other forms of content.

It’s also, for certain circumstances, a more effective way to communicate. For example, is there a better way to introduce yourself to someone if you don’t have the time for a face to face meeting, or phone call?

Imagine a video introduction of yourself on your home page, so when web visitors find your website, they also find you.

Video is a great vehicle to use for making a complex topic accessible to those that need to learn. Imagine using a video to educate your patients about how a certain procedure works, and why it’s important.

Video is also the best way to have your current patients tell their stories. New or prospective patients now get a chance to “meet” your patients, and see and hear emotionally engaging stories to help them feel comfortable about choosing your practice.

Video is easy to share, making it a more effective way for people to give you referrals. Video can also be fun, making an otherwise boring subject entertaining and therefore more effective. Imagine using an animated story to help parents get their children on board with oral hygiene.

How can video be used to market a orthodontic practice?

Videos engage the senses to establish a far greater connection with your audience. Video combines visual and audio effects for an enhanced emotional connection, as well as a more refined education experience.

Patient testimonial videos help build trust with prospective patients and can also be used to generate awareness.

Educational videos can be used to help your patients understand the value of certain procedures or to help the community at large understand the benefits of maintaining better oral health.

Training videos can be used to educate your staff about office protocol as well as the different services you provide, improving their ability to communicate with your patients.

An often overlooked benefit of using video is the ability to use video to measure the performance of other marketing tactics. By analyzing video metrics, like length of time watched, you can determine if your core message is resonating. You can also use video metrics to determine which social media channel is performing the best. What types of videos can be used? Video’s can be created in multiple ways, styles and formats. “Talking Head” videos focus on the individual and, done well, provide that emotional connection with the viewer that can make all the difference when patients come to decide which practice to choose.

A large number of our clients are used to presenting themselves and ideas at conferences and lecture theatres. Videoing lectures and incorporating Powerpoint slides offers a slick way to reach a far wider audience and showcase a speaker’s expertise.

Animations, videos that look like cartoons, are a great way to tell a story, entertain, inform, educate and promote. In fact, no matter how old we get, we never lose the joy we experience when we watch a well crafted animated story.

Where will your audience see your video?

A great byproduct of using video is the many places your videos can be seen. We’ve already referenced the ability to use a video introduction on your website home page and you can also have videos on every other page of your website to educate and inform your audience about procedures and health concerns related to orthodontics.

Imagine the difference in level of effectiveness if you had an educational video about lingual braces vs. a simple paragraph on your website.

People can also view your videos when they read your blogs, enhancing the educational experience of the articles you write.

The amount of free web channels you can now upload your videos on is also growing, giving you even more routes to market. YouTube and other social networks provide the platforms outside your own website where you can reach new patients.

There are three things you must consider if you want to get the most out of your video marketing efforts.

• Know the purpose of the video as it relates to your goals and the needs of your audience.
• Know how your audience likes to consume information, where they are likely to see your videos and what they expect to gain from watching them.
• Consider your videos in the context of your overall marketing plan.

Even if you have a marketing plan in place, you have to assess each an every tactic against that plan. Video is no exception.

Getting Started

As with any marketing activity it’s always best to ask a lot of questions before getting started. Video is no different. We advise our clients to ask themselves Who Why What Where When & How as a simple way to determine if a marketing activity is worth the time and/or money.

Why?

The answers to why questions give you the foundation of not only your entire marketing plan, but to the development and execution of every tactic you use, including video. Why do you need to use video? You have to understand the objective of your marketing plan, and make sure that any videos you create will support those objectives. Why will your audience need video or want video? Keep in mind, throughout all of your marketing efforts, that audience is more important than you. What they want and need should determine what videos you create.

Who?

The answers to who questions will provide you with everything you need to know about the types of videos you need to create and who is going to be responsible for creating them. Who needs to see the videos and why? When you determine who you are trying to “speak” to with video, you will better be able to create the right kind of video, with the right message.

What?

What are you trying to accomplish? Getting known, getting chosen and getting referred tend to be the big three primary objectives. There’s a wide variety of tactics you can use to achieve these goals so know what you’re trying to get done before you create any videos (FooCo provides a full pre-production service that covers all possible options). What does your audience need to know? You have to find a balance between giving your audience what they already know they need, and what they are not yet aware they need. Educational videos are a perfect example of being proactive in delivering this type of content.

Where?

Where is your audience? Knowing who your audience is will also help you know where they are. As one example, if they’re on YouTube, than you need to create YouTube friendly videos. Where will you publish your video? Video can also help bring an audience to a place where you want them to be, like for example, your website or blog. Where a video is viewed will often make a huge difference to content and style. For example the homepages we create for clients are completely different to the videos we create for waiting-rooms.

When?

When do the videos need to be created? Knowing what you need to achieve will help you determine when you need videos, particularly if you understand the purpose of the video. Video footage can be changed and edited fairly easily so, for example, why not run a teeth whitening video in the run up to Christmas when demand is greatest.

How?

How will you create the videos? Every type of video has a different level of complexity as it relates to video creation. The biggest consideration here is budget. For example, bespoke animation is more expensive than tradition filming. Avatar cost a lot more than Raging Bull!

Author Biography:

Malcolm Counihan is the founder and MD of FooCo Video & Marketing. Launched in 2007 FooCo now helps over 600 healthcare clients with their marketing and communications. Orthodontic & Dental clients benefit from an array of products and services including; website design; video production for websites and waiting-rooms, seo & ppc management and other branding, design and printing services.