Lights, camera, action!

There’s nothing more powerful than hearing directly from a customer about why you should choose a vendor’s products or services. Many treatment centers and other organizations targeting behavioral healthcare professionals feature such written testimonials on their Web sites, but these quotables have been made almost irrelevant by the power of video.

Yet it’s surprising how many treatment centers and other vendors do not use videos from alumni, referral sources, customers, key staff, etc., on their sites. True, many feature video tours highlighting the grounds and interviewing some key staff, but many fail to employ their most powerful marketing tool: word-of-mouth marketing straight from satisfied customers.

Think about your own buying/referring behavior. Text and static images definitely help build a picture of an organization’s mission, vision, and offerings, but a video helps build emotional connection. Any behavioral healthcare purchasing or referring decision is inherently rooted in emotions, as everything ultimately should tie back to providing exemplary care for people in need. 

Here are some of my favorite videos helping to establish this emotional bridge with an online visitor:

• EHR vendor Welligent produced a video in which one of its customers describes why the company is a valued partner: http://www.behavioral.net/video/video-case-study-foothill-family-service-transforms-their-organization-through-implementation
• The first 30 seconds of this video of Judy Crane describing The Refuge is exceptionally powerful: http://www.addictionpro.com/video/refuge-healing-place

Of course, when featuring an alumnus in a video, several ethical considerations need to be taken into consideration, including the person’s sobriety history and time since discharge. Other vendors need to ensure that a customer remains happy and satisfied, as these video interviewees should be open to being contacted to serve as references. 

Video has many other uses as well, such as to promote an organization’s own thought leadership, which Medivance has been successfully doing for some time through its Behavioral Health Today series.

One final note on video: Yes, we all have iPhone and Android devices that make capturing video relatively easily. Yet video of your customers, referral sources, staff, etc., needs to be of the highest quality, and that requires professional production. When using video to build emotional connections, don’t skimp on quality.