Tips for Shooting Effective Video Testimonials for Your Dental Practice

Pretty much any article that you read about how to create engaging content for your social media or website, will include at least one segment about the importance of using video for the marketing of your dental practice. That being said, the use of video testimonials is an incredibly effective way to convince someone that’s on the fence about calling your practice for a complimentary consultation. The chances are, they’ve already read your reviews on Google, Facebook, Yelp, Healthgrades, and wherever else they’ve been posted, and now they just need that one last bit of information to put them over the tipping point towards making the call. If they go to your website and just see a bunch of words, they may not be convinced. However, just a few compelling videos will likely do the trick!

After reading article after article about the importance of patient video testimonials, you’ve now made a conscious decision to start asking your patients to shoot a video with you. Many will refuse due to the fear of embarrassment and being in front of the camera. However, you keep asking because you know how important these videos are to the success of your practice… After many tries, you’ve FINALLY found a happy and willing patient to get in front of the camera for you and shoot a video testimonial! How do you maximize this INCREDIBLE opportunity to help make your practice shine? How do you lead them in the right direction and help keep the limited attention span of your audience engaged for the whole testimonial?

Here are 5 Questions to Ask Your Patients to Help Create Effective Video Testimonials:

  1. What was the reason that you chose us?
  2. Tell me what your experience has been like with your treatment with us
  3. Can you think of a word or phrase that best describes your experience with us? Why that particular word or phrase?
  4. How has your treatment with us changed your life in a positive way?
  5. Why would you recommend us to someone else? (This is the key part of the testimonial.)

 There are two basic styles of testimonial that you can do:

  1. Q&A between the staff and patient while the camera is rolling
  2. Ask the questions ahead of time and see where the patient goes while the camera is rolling

We recommend trying both techniques with your patients, and see how that goes. If the patient is having trouble collecting their thoughts, then option 1 is best. If the patient is well spoken and concise, then option 2 will work well. Just remember that you have between 8-10 seconds to engage your audience and draw them in. Try to keep the total length of your video to 30 seconds or less, shoot it with a steady hand, and be mindful of the background.

We hope this helps – shoot away!!!