Has your practice embraced videos as part of its social media strategy? If not, you should as there are many good reasons to implement video marketing for your healthcare practice.
Did you know that a staggering amount of videos on Facebook and Instagram are watched on mute? This is often because videos start out muted until users click on them to hear the sound, so your video’s first impression is 100% visual. Use this to your advantage by creating videos (and images) that look great from the get-go, so you dramatically increase the chance that patients will pay attention. Though expensive cameras, premium lighting, and green screen backdrops are commonly used to create high-end videos, this post will give you some guidance as to how to achieve professional-looking videos with minimal cost and effort.
Lights…
Above all else, lighting is arguably the best way to help make your videos stand out. Distracting shadows or dimly-lit subjects can really make a video with fantastic content look unprofessional and, as a result, prevent viewers from finishing your video. The best (and most inexpensive) solution for this is to identify a place in your office with really good natural lighting. If you can get in the habit of filming your videos near large windows during bright parts of the day, that may be all it takes to have some premium lighting with little-to-no cost or effort.
If you tend to record your videos later in the day, or do not have a great place in your office with ample natural lighting, there are other options you can consider as well. Perhaps the easiest alternative would be to do a quick search for a “Ring Light” online. By doing so, you will instantly find plenty of great options to use for your videos, some of which are rather affordable. While a simple ring light won’t immediately make your videos look like a Hollywood film, you may be surprised how much they improve the overall look of your shots, especially when natural lighting is lacking. Overhead lights, with strategically placed desk lamps, can also make do if all else fails, just make sure to review the videos before posting because sometimes the camera will pick up strange shadows or dark spots that you did not immediately notice live when recording.
Camera…
This may not come as much of a surprise, but smartphones today have truly outstanding cameras. In fact, modern smartphone cameras are so advanced that there are multiple established Hollywood directors who have actually made full-length feature films shot on regular old smartphones! So if production quality is your goal but cost is a concern, acquiring a high-quality camera is one cost you can consider cutting. With good lighting and a stationary camera, you can really shoot some great videos. Now if you do not have an easy way to keep your camera or smartphone stationary while filming, there are plenty of affordable tripod options available that you should consider getting as a steady camera is imperative to maintain a professional look. If you are really serious about your video marketing and want to make it look as good as possible, then by all means search for the camera that best fits your budget, but in most cases, you can take really great, high-quality footage with your smartphone, a tripod, and some good lighting.
Action!
Last, but not least, is making sure your videos have loud, clear audio. While it is not at all necessary to purchase a high-end microphone for your Instagram videos, an external mic can definitely be a great way to improve the sound. Regardless if you choose to record your audio with an external microphone or the mic on your phone, tablet, or computer, make sure to eliminate as much background noise as possible. Background noise tends to be the #1 killer of otherwise good videos when it comes to audio and can disrupt otherwise great recordings - and this is where the benefit of an external microphone is greatest. However, as we stated earlier, most videos watched start out muted, so it’s also worth mentioning that adding closed captions or visual cues to what is being discussed will certainly help those who are not actively listening follow along with the video as well.
One last note:
This may sound obvious but maintaining good posture in videos is often easy to forget. Not only does maintaining good posture on video help make you appear more confident and professional, but it can also help prevent unpleasant shadows from forming on your subjects as well. You certainly want to appear natural on camera, so do not feel burdened by your posture or overthink it, but try to find the happy medium between better positioning and staying comfortable.
In Conclusion
If your practice is utilizing video in your social media strategy (which you should as it is absolutely an extremely effective strategy) you can dramatically improve the quality of your recordings with three minor purchases; a ring light, tripod, and external microphone. This setup can also be extremely beneficial for creating patient testimonial videos, which make great pieces of content to share on your social channels and website as well. Lastly, if you want to create more videos but want some help, we offer video production services to help you create high-quality, eye-catching, SEO-optimized videos so do not hesitate to ask.