Stellar Examples of Healthcare Video Marketing

Video marketing on social media and YouTube is constantly evolving and challenging healthcare marketers. Healthcare marketers wonder what types of video content work best, on what platform, and whether it’s on brand. In addition, marketers field a lot of questions from physicians, their practice teams, and others in the health system about what video content will resonate with patients. To help healthcare marketers inspire and educate internal teams, we’ve rounded up some of the best and most interesting examples of healthcare video marketing.

Theme — Physicians are showing themselves as relatable

Overwhelmingly, physicians on social media are showing themselves as approachable: Either physicians are trying to overcome the barriers between themselves and prospective patients, or they’re communicating a new mindset. Here are a few ways that physicians are showing that they’re down to earth:

First, we see physicians communicating that they’re servant leaders for their patients. Instead of the physician putting him or herself front and center, as would have been the norm in the past, many physicians talk about their work in service to the patient’s goals. Here’s an example of a Facebook and YouTube video of a surgeon talking about how patients’ successes motivate him.

Next, we see physicians creating videos in a very casual, unproduced fashion oftentimes away from the clinic or hospital. For example, Dr. Nicole Harkin, MD gives information on TikTok about how people can live heart-healthy lives from a location that could be a spare room in her house. Other physicians often give thoughtful health information without wearing make-up and with touseled hair.

Theme — Lots of short-form video marketing

The types of physicians who use short-form video marketing continue to surprise us. While we see many physicians on the platforms who perform elective services such as cosmetic surgery, gastro, cardiac and ICU physicians are giving patients information to help keep people healthy. Healthcare video marketing now has a mix of doctors who are clinic-based and hospital-based.

The best of this content gives info in bite-size chunks in a straightforward way. A recent trend is doctors packaging tips in a list such as, “5 things I would never do as a dermatologist, cardiologist, or fill-in-the-blank specialty.” It’s a quick way for healthcare marketers to position their physicians as experts using easy-to-understand information. The pieces feel friendly and informal.

If you have a medical topic that is newsworthy or can be tied to the latest news, TikTok and Instagram/Facebook Reels can help spread your information and brand. Through the pandemic and today, ICU physician and COVID researcher Dr. Wes Ely @weselymd on TikTok updates followers on the latest COVID news all while amassing 118,600 followers. Dr. Ely also engages his viewers one-on-one, dispelling myths and providing words of assurance to long COVID sufferers.

One of the most viewer-centered healthcare video marketing is @therealtiktokdoc, Dr. Ricky Brown, a Scottsdale, Arizona cosmetic surgeon with 7.8 million followers. His posts fall all over the map, but even he admits, he shows quite a bit of gory content (close-ups of face peels, damaged skin, tight shots of surgeries, etc.) because his viewers like it.

Larger Conversation

As you plan your digital marketing, check on the latest age stats on the platforms as audiences shift quickly. The age of TikTok audiences is getting older, with now 13.7% of active monthly TikTok users age 45 and older. And, while people talk of Facebook as a platform with an older audience, the largest group of Facebook users are millennials 25-34, As a healthcare marketer, we’re interested in knowing how you’re using healthcare video marketing across social and YouTube. What are you seeing out there in terms of willingness to try more recent platforms? What results are you seeing from campaigns on TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram Reels? Let us know.