91% of businesses use video as a marketing tool, and 82% of people have been convinced to buy a product or service by watching a video. Videos are powerful and influential.

In healthcare marketing, showcasing testimonial videos is an ingenious way to highlight life-changing experiences you have provided your patients. In this blog post, we will cover the key benefits of having a video testimonial on your website and explore whether it can truly attract new patients.

Why do testimonial videos matter in healthcare marketing?

1. Authentic social proof

Video testimonials are harder to get and thus harder to fake!

Creating a video testimonial demands considerable effort, not only from your end but also in finding a willing patient. Not all satisfied patients may be comfortable with the idea. Factors like personality, job and privacy concerns can make some patients hesitant to film themselves talking about their experience. Identifying a genuinely happy patient who is also willing to participate in a video testimonial is a rare find.

Having a real person talking directly to you about things you are considering is influential. This is why video testimonials outperform written reviews in terms of convincing customers. Written reviews on the website are usually anonymous to protect patients’ privacy. Even if they are legit, they can be seen as fabricated when their background information is not mentioned.

However, this does not mean that written reviews don’t matter. Video testimonials and written reviews are equally important. Having both of them together shows strong social proof.

2. Build Trust

Deciding to undergo any surgical treatment is not easy, especially when it involves your eyes. It is common for patients to have objections, whether related to fear, safety, or financial concerns when they don’t trust that you can solve their problems. Video testimonials, of course, cannot address all the objections mentioned earlier, but they play a crucial role in creating a human-to-human connection that helps build trust among potential patients.

Video testimonials are relatable. It shows real examples of how specific problems were fixed, and people had good results from the procedures you provided. These real examples, combined with the feelings shared in the testimonials, create a strong base for making potential patients feel confident and trusting in your care.

3. Emotional Connection

I have created numerous testimonial videos for our customers. When patients share their experiences after the surgery, and describe the moment they can see without glasses and contact lenses, there is a genuine sparkle on their faces! They talk about that moment with big smiles, expressing how amazing they felt. The emotions conveyed through their words are far more impactful than reading a blog post about it.

Here are some examples of compelling testimonial videos:

• Excitement & Joyful

Jordan is a stage performer who had been annoyed with contact lenses because they would fall off when she was on stage. After she underwent laser eye surgery, we scheduled a 15-minute call with her over Zoom, asking her a few questions about the experience. Her mood changed when she mentioned taking a glimpse on her way home after the surgery. She was excited to tell us how clear she could see and how fast the results were.

The conversation was refreshingly casual and this organic approach resulted in a video that feels natural and relatable.

• Overwhelmed & Grateful

Hugh’s prescription was very high and many places wouldn’t promise a good result. It took a while for him to find a practice that said they could make a difference.

This video was shot just a couple of days after his surgery, yet he was still overwhelmed by the results. You could see the gratitude in his eyes, and tears of joy, told us more than words could. Simple things, like being able to wear sunglasses without needing prescription glasses, completely changed his life.

• Surprise & Delight

Brooke had been putting off the surgery due to fear of having a laser on her eyes. However, after a few years, she reconsidered and finally decided to go for it. The results surprised her and she found herself unexpectedly delighted with small changes in her daily life, like being able to see clearly as soon as she woke up in the morning.

This is a significant advantage of video testimonials – they make us feel the emotions. It captures the joy of being able to say goodbye to glasses and contact lenses.

Can it get you more patients?

Indeed, video testimonials have the potential to bring in more patients, but the impact may not be immediate. Viewers typically don’t watch a testimonial video and instantly schedule an appointment. Instead, consider video testimonials as engaging content that draws more prospects into your sales funnel. More engagement means more opportunities for conversion.

Is it worth running a paid ad on testimonial video?

We often run paid ad campaigns with testimonial videos for our clients and the results never fail us. Videos are such impactful content assets that we frequently ask our clients for more!

We mostly run testimonial ads on Facebook. In one example, they helped generate about 80-300 additional leads each month, which is a significant number. The conversion rate (the number of clicks to self-test completions) of testimonial ads on Facebook is 10-20%, which is higher than when we tested with other kinds of videos.

We have also seen that Facebook (or Instagram leads) are cheaper to generate compared to Google. Typically, it’s the reverse, because Google leads tend to be lower in the funnel and more likely to convert. However, one of our clients in Australia currently gets self-tests from Meta at 17$ per lead (self-test) whereas on Google they are paying 52$.

Testimonial videos are a super asset for healthcare marketing. They don’t harm your reputation if you don’t have them, but having them brings a LOT of benefits. These videos are great at pulling in prospects, keeping them interested, and convincing many new patients to choose your practice. They show real stories that help build trust and make a personal connection with potential patients. Getting these videos may take effort, but it’s totally worth it. Running ads for these videos, especially on places like Facebook, can make a big difference, bringing in more patients at a lower cost.