There is not doubt that video marketing is one of the hottest trends in marketing, but many physical therapists are limiting their content to YouTube. With that in mind, let's take a closer look at extending video marketing to other platforms for increased reach.
Video marketing is very important these days and since YouTube is currently the site with the 2nd highest traffic over the entire internet it makes sense to host your videos there. However, that does not mean that this is the only video hosting site that you should be considering. We have previously discussed how you need to start thinking of your physical therapy practice as a brand and marketing it accordingly. In order to strengthen that brand you need to maximize your online presence and get your name out there. So why limit yourself to just using YouTube when there are other video hosting sites that can help you to take your physical therapy clinic's video marketing to the next level. Here are some of the alternatives that you might want to check out.
Vimeo is a site which is very similar to YouTube, but with a couple of crucial differences. The first is that Vimeo will not allow any of your competitors to have their videos shown as 'related content' when your video plays. Vimeo is also completely ad-free. You can join and use Vimeo for free, but if you upgrade to a producer account you can take advantage of the premium features including the ability to insert your logo onto your videos and customizing your player.
Some physiotherapists are also finding Vine to be useful for video marketing. It is not a video sharing site as such. But rather it is an app that is linked with Twitter. Vines are only 6 seconds long and run on a loop. This seems really short, but you will be surprised at just how much you can do with 6 seconds. Vine probably isn't going to be the best place to sell your services, but it can help add some personality to your brand when using it with Twitter.
Sharing your videos does not need to be restricted to dedicated video sharing sites like YouTube and Vimeo. You can also publish your video content on social networks like Facebook. There are a number of advantages to publishing your clinic's video content on your Facebook page, one of them being that you can pin a welcome video or similar to the top of the page so that it is the first thing that your visitors will see on arriving at your clinic's Facebook page. Another great feature of Facebook video's is that you can target your video content to specific groups. Facebook's key strength lies in the way that it allows you to interact directly with your patients (or potential patients). The targeting system allows you to create content that specific groups of people will engage with instead of posting only generic video content. Targeted videos are going to be far more likely to illicit a response.
Of course, Facebook is not the only social network that allows video content. You can also share your video content on Instagram. With over 300 million users Instagram has grown steadily over the past 4 years and a growing number of brands and service providers has started to see the potential in using it as a marketing tool. Instagram was developed for mobile users and since there has been a huge shift towards mobile browsing in recent years it makes sense to pay attention to social networks like Instagram that are populated with those mobile browsers.
One thing that physical therapists should be aware of when using Instagram as a platform for their videos is to understand the community. Instagrammers do not want to watch a traditional commercial and the 15 second time limit is not conducive to product demos, but if you can come up with some short and snappy videos that will appeal to the Instagram audience then it could be a great way to expand your video marketing.
One of the most popular features of PatientSites is that we can help you with video content by providing incredible animated videos. Why not contact us today to discuss how we can help you to promote your physical therapy clinic?