How Dental Practices Can Use Visual Storytelling to Connect with Millennials and Why You Must

Video Marketing Will Help Your Dental Practice Reach the Millennial Market

Your dental practice is a business and, like any competitive environment, you're competing for a slice of the 29.5 million patients who visit the dentist regularly. One sector that's often overlooked is the younger, digitally driven millennials who have grown up with YouTube, Netflix, and every conceivable method of instant streaming. Understanding how to market to this sector is a great way to gain their interest, and indeed their business, and the best way to do this is through video marketing.

So why is dental video marketing important?

Despite the reasoning behind using videos to attract a younger clientele, videos are both engaging and easy to digest. They can appeal to all markets and therefore should be used in conjunction with your other marketing efforts. Done correctly, video marketing conveys your message like no other marketing medium can, and gives your practice an authentic, friendly appeal.

Here are the types of videos that you will want to include:

An introduction or welcome video

This sits at the front and center of your website (the home page) and is usually the first port of call people land on when visiting. This is your chance to give a succinct overview of your practice and how you can help. 

Some tips to get you on the right track:

• Keep the video short and sweet (no more than 3 minutes in length)
• Try to give a non-scripted authentic interview (you are the face of the practice after all)
• Promote the look and feel of your practice and the technology used within
• Keep it professional but friendly

Patient testimonials (social proof)

There's nothing that gives your dental practice credibility more than patient testimonial videos. Done right, they're a powerful way to build trust and position you as the 'go to' dentist in your field. People engage with people, and the best testimonials are the ones that tell a story. However, remember to keep them short and sweet. Use current patients if they're agreeable, and make sure that all testimonials are non-scripted. 

Dental education videos that are short and helpful

This type of video uses computer generated graphics or diagrams to explain procedures and treatments in a patient-friendly way. They're designed to educate and prepare those who are either about to undergo a particular procedure or who are considering a particular treatment.

A typical dental education video might involve procedures such as dental implants, root canal therapy, or cosmetic dentistry methods such as the fitting of veneers.

Although it's a good idea that dental videos are created for all patients, creating videos specifically with millennials in mind is a smart move. The key is to focus on the experiences, features, and benefits that this age group are searching for. 

So how exactly do you do that? 

Keep it authentic and be yourself, after all, you are the brand!

Millennials are attuned to promotional content as it saturates many areas of their lives. As such, they can easily tell the difference between overly sales-y content and a general heartfelt portrayal of your dental practice. So, keep it authentic and make it more about them and less about you.

Show off your technology!

Tech-savvy dentists aren't necessarily sought out by millennials per se, but technology will usually catch their interest if they see it. After all, this is really the first generation to have never lived in a world without computers.

Therefore, if a dentist is seen presenting treatment plans on an iPad, it might relate better to a younger crowd. 

Don't forget younger client testimonials!

If your video testimonials are full of older people, it isn't really going to relate specifically to a millennial. If, however, the videos contain younger 20 something professionals, then that initial connection becomes more immediate. 

Be transparent and honest!

Everyone wants to know what they should expect, and millennials are no exception. Don't forget that this generation is used to being bombarded with marketing. Therefore, be upfront and transparent about fees and treatment times and avoid any misleading marketing material.

So now you know what it takes, how do you get your videos in front of your target audience? Here are some key findings...

Think about the whys, hows, and wherefores!

Firstly, consider where your target audience seeks information. Think about where and how they spend their time online and how they find out information about local events, amenities, and dentists. Chances are it will be on their smartphone or another form of handheld device. This being the case, the first thing you need to do is to make sure your website is mobile responsive. This way, you stand a greater chance of catching their attention. 

Use social media!

As social media is used prolifically by most millennials, it stands to reason that you need to be using it too. Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook, and Twitter can all be used to point people towards your practice website where you'll have your great introduction video.

Don't ignore SEO!

Remember to utilize SEO to get your video to show up in the search results. To do this you'll need to write a short description of your video, targeting long-tailed, locally focused keywords, e.g. - affordable dental implant dentist in Lexington. You'll also need to make sure that the script is linked to the video so that the search engines can recognize the content to rank it properly.

Like any other form of marketing, if you want to attract more millennials, you need to create your video aimed specifically at their demographic. It’s all about getting inside the head of your target audience and thinking about what resonates with them.

If you can do this, and adopt many of the tips listed above, then you're well on your way to a winning combination.