How Dentists Can Use Youtube To Get More Patients

While YouTube might not be the first “social network” that springs to mind, online videos are a vital component social media marketing for dentists. According to YouTube’s statistics page, YouTube has more than 1 billion users, and more than a million businesses are advertising on YouTube, the majority of which are small businesses.


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What’s more is that according to Google, 64 percent of consumers use video to research healthcare professionals (doctors, dentists, etc.) and 56 percent watch videos to learn about specific health treatments or problems, such as dental procedures.

Keep reading to learn how your dental practice can leverage video marketing to reach more patients and gain a loyal following.

Populating Your YouTube Channel

If you haven’t already, it’s time to set up a YouTube channel for your dental practice. (If you have a Google + account, this will be a cinch.) Once you have your account set up, you can start adding videos right away. Here’s how to start populating your channel with content:

1. Make videos yourself

All you need to get started making your own videos is an iPhone or a Flip cam and some basic video editing software; no expensive video or editing equipment is necessary. It won’t take much of your time either, since short videos are actually better for YouTube— 1-2 minutes is plenty long. If you get other people in your office involved, the task will be even easier.

2. Share other users’ videos

You can also populate your channel by sharing other popular videos on YouTube. Of course, the videos should be dental-related. Ideally, you want to have a mix of original and shared content on your channel.

3. Ask patients to share videos

Patient videos are another great type of video to add to your YouTube channel. You can ask patients to send in video testimonials, for example, where patients talk about a treatment they received at your practice or why they like you as a dentist. As an alternative to having a patient send you their own video testimonial, you can shoot the testimonial in your offices.

Dental Marketing Video Ideas

In addition to video testimonials, here are some other types of video content you can create and upload to YouTube.

1. Educational videos about treatments you offer

As mentioned, many people want to learn about dental treatments by watching videos. Make an educational video that deals with a specific treatment you offer, being sure to emphasize how easy and comfortable it is. The video should have broad appeal and contain useful information for anyone interested in this service— in other words, it shouldn’t come across as a commercial for your practice.

This dentist’s educational video about what a child should expect at their first dentist appointment has nearly half a million views!

2.“How-to” videos

This is a very popular type of video people like to watch on YouTube. You can do how-to videos for any type of dental-related topic, even something really basic like brushing or flossing. “Proper Denture Care” and “Tips on Avoiding Cavities” are some more topic ideas. Search YouTube to see what dental care-related tutorial videos already exist and think about how you can improve or expand on those topics.

3. Answering patient questions

This is a simple video where you just talk to the camera for a couple minutes to answer your most popular questions and concerns from patients. Write down questions patients ask you during visits and then answer those questions in a video series. Odds are good that if patients are asking you these questions, they’re also searching for them online.

Conclusion

YouTube videos will help any dentist build a following to expand their online marketing reach. This type of content is also great to share on other social media networks and can be posted to your website as well. Videos will also help your dental SEO (YouTube is, after all, owned by Google).

To keep your YouTube channel fresh, get everyone in your office involved in the brainstorming process and make sure you always have a backlog of video ideas. It’s a fun activity that everyone will enjoy. Shoot your videos for the month once every couple weeks or once a month — whatever schedule works for you.

To give your YouTube presence an added boost, you might also consider placing PPC ads on YouTube.

Need Help? Check Out Our Social Media Management Service


For more ideas on dental social media marketing, read our blog post on Social Media for Dentists: Guide to Dental Social Media Success

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