Hidden Advantages of Orthodontic Marketing with Video: It’s More Than Meets the Eye

Every orthodontic marketing program today should include video marketing on YouTube on one subject or another.

While many of us equate the popularity of our video orthodontic marketing tactics with views and click through rates, let's take a moment to consider other advantages which might be considered to have value when promoting your practice with video. Sure… tracking new patient referrals off the Internet and conversion rates are valuable, but what else is there?

Who and how many:When talking about video views on YouTube or other video sites, there are two pieces that are no brainers. "How many" actually viewed the video is good info for tracking ROI, while "Who" boils down to whether or not the video is being seen in your demographics. Marketing to your demographics is where the true hidden value comes in. If your viewers are professionals such as dentists, dental specialists, physicians, or teachers, coaches, and parents in your local area, PR could result in new referrals from other areas which were developed because they were able to find and watch your videos. This would not be readily apparent when you look at your number of clicks on YouTube, especially if you only have a few hundred views.

Education and Experience: A library of online videos educating and informing consumers about treatment and services you offer, serves as both a record of your professional expertise and your commitment to educating and informing your patients which builds trust.

Exposure/ Publicity / Brand Value: When a video becomes popular on YouTube or another video sharing site people begin to see and talk about it more. This could be an extremely useful marketing tool for you and is also valuable in SEO for search results and page rank.  The ultimate goal of any video is to found on page one of the search engine.  When setting up your video program correctly, new prospects much prefer video to the written word.  It also lets you tell your story exactly the way you want it delivered, without relying on second hand translation from patients, staff, friends, and family that might not come across the way you want it to.

It's persistent: Once you upload, for the most part, it remains there for some length of time unless you no longer provide the services and remove it from the Internet.  It is a perpetual "evergreen" record of your specialized expertise and can lead others to your website.

Networking and Social Value: You create a video… you put it online at multiple sites, and you end up meeting new people. Not only can you increase your business exposure throughout the community, but you'll also find new patients. Even if they aren't ready to have their teeth straighten, reconstruction work, or are just thinking about try a different treatment provider right then, they may be ready in the future. Don't rule out the power of bookmarking your business on a computer or jotting your practice name down for future reference.

Overall there's more intangible value for online video marketing than meets the eye. One step leads to another and eventually may translate into new patients contacting your office and building your business. As your Internet marketing program gains exposure with video, the referrals will increase exponentially over time. That's a definite win in any business.  Don't look at video as a short term marketing venture when marketing your practice.  You should be in it for the long haul and progressively build your video collection on the Internet as a marketing tool to build your practice for the future.