Video posts are the future of social media. They imprint your brand on your intended audience and generate more engagement than other types of content.
- Twitter reports its video posts get ten times more engagement than text alone or text and images.
- A recent Instagram Engagement Report shows video content on that platform gets more than twice as many comments as posts with images alone.
- Facebook video posts have three times the engagement of status posts and twice the engagement of linked posts.
Why Video Works So Well with Social Media
The personal nature of videos connects with people on an emotional level. Done correctly, video marketing can position you as an authority. The emphasis here is on done correctly. If you have hesitated about creating video posts for social media because you’re afraid of coming off stilted or scripted, here are some tips to make the job easier.
Know your goals. What does your target audience need to know? What information is important to them? Answer that question and you will have the seeds of relevant video subjects.
Create a content mix. Decide how frequently you want to post videos and then create broad subject categories. If you want your community to know about your technology, your services, and what sets you apart from the competition, create video posts around those three categories.
Create prompts, not scripts. People rarely come off as authentic when they read from or memorize a script. We have all seen commercials or videos in which it is painfully obvious the speaker is reading from a TelePrompTer or memorized text. It is much better to prepare prompts or questions that you can answer in a natural way from experience.
Stick to what you know. Using your content mix and prompts as references, talk to the phone camera as if it were a patient in your chair (or a client seated across your desk). “As long as you are talking about your area of expertise, actual communication should be pretty easy for you,” says Identity Dental Marketing CEO Grace Rizza. “Just stay within your area of expertise.”
Designating someone to do your videos. If you are wildly uncomfortable with the idea of appearing on camera, you can designate someone else, but choose someone who is extremely unlikely to leave your practice. “That person is going to become the face of your brand,” cautions Grace. It is best to choose an associate dentist, a spouse, or other family member who works at the practice.
Don’t overthink video length. While some social channels have guidelines, Grace recommends making your videos as long as needed to make your point without extraneous information. Think streamlined but complete.
Here are two points to remember: If you don’t get all your ideas across in one video, file away the unused points for the future. If your video feels too long, create a short video teaser and link to the complete version on YouTube.
Are You Ready to Jump into Video Social Media?
If you’re sold on the idea of videos for social media but don’t have the time to plan, Identity Dental Marketing offers the perfect solution: Our 52-Week Video Marketing Series.
This package provides a full year’s worth of weekly prompts and instructions customized to your specialty. It offers flexibility for busy professionals. Post your own videos live and on your schedule or record and send them to us for scheduling and posting.
The Identity Dental Marketing team can also manage all your video marketing across channels and provide professional videographer services anywhere in the country.
Contact us today and learn about our hassle-free, affordable video social media marketing options for dentists and consultants.
