It was our discussion regarding the many applications the hospital was considering for video that prompted this post. I do a great deal of video for the health care industry, and I want to dive into some of the ways that health care providers can use video. I’m sure we won’t cover every possible application, but let’s talk about a few of the most relevant uses for video.

What provides the health care industry with so many applications for video is the fact that they provide information critical to everyone: Our health. The information is rapidly changing, and it is often information that is…

technically difficult for most of us to grasp. Remember: Studies have shown at retention increases 50% when information is disseminated in video rather than text. People also prefer receiving information through video 6 times more than with print. So how can video be used?

1. An introduction to your hospital/facility on your web site. Put a brief video front and center in your home page that talks about the benefits of your heath care facility. This might even be your TV commercial.

2. A television commercial. Do you have the budget for a :30 second spot that compels people to use your health care facility? Remember: It’s not just an investment for the production of a spot, but the placement of it on TV (cable) as well.

3. A video for an event. Consider creating video that informs and entertains at important events that you hold. We just finished a series of videos that commemorate the life and history of individuals and organizations that are being honored at an annual hospital event. Each 4-6 minute video plays, then the honoree is brought up to the podium to say a few words and receive the DVD as a gift. It provides entertainment to the audience AND prevents the award recipient from having to speak at length! Consider this for your next fund-raiser.

4. A trade show video. If you attend trade shows, a well-done video provides great “eye-candy” to lure people to stand around your booth. Rent an appropriately sized monitor and play a loop throughout the show. Make sure, however, that it is not overly-technical. Remember, the video is to attract people to come to your booth. Entertainment value is key. No one will stand around to read slides of text describing technical issues.

5. Experiencial videos. For hospitals, a series of “experiencial” videos describing common procedures can make patients more at ease before having them done. More relaxed patients could mean quicker recovery and an overall better experience. The form could be: A doctor talks briefly about the procedure, a patient or two talks about their positive experience, some animation could demonstrate the procedure in layman’s terms, and it could end with some positive reinforcement and recommendations for post-procedure activities to speed recovery.

6. Commemorative video. A leading New York hospital actually did a video commemorating its beloved president. He is well known throughout the state and a very touching piece was done to laud his accomplishments and contributions.

7. Viral video. I mentioned a viral campaign in the introduction. By creating an engaging video, and by sending it out through social media outlets or emails, you can create “buzz” about your organization. Keep in mind that in order for this to be effective, it MUST be infectious. The idea is for recipients to send it to friends. They’ll do that only if it reflects well on them because it is so cool, innovative and provides some kind of value to the recipient. We’re not talking about just sending out your latest TV commercial. There has to be interactivity, entertainment, and emotional value. As a great example, go to Jib jab. Funny videos you create to send to people that they’ll then create and send out for themselves. All the while with the site’s ubiquitous branding.

8. More and more health care organizations are broadcasting a video network within their facility. The sky is the limit in terms of what can be placed on this medium. We work with one hospital that charges advertisers to place their spots on the network. The advertising revenue has actually paid for the expense of equipment and maintenance. They also place on it all other videos done for fund-raising and other purposes. You should include everything discussed above in oder to provide create content to your patients.

Remember: Video is an emotional medium. You can impact your patients/clients more with video than any other medium. Consider some of these video applications and start integrating them into your marketing mix. Healthcare and video is a beautiful match. Assume your competitors are already doing many of these things!

I am asked the question in the title of this post almost every time I discuss the creation of an event or corporate video for a client. They usually have a length in mind of about 4 minutes, and upon asking me how long their video should be, my answer is always the same: “It depends.” My follow-up answer is that time is not very relevant if the content is great. And, you prove that every time you watch a great film or read a captivating book and lose all awareness of time.

Seldom does a video end up being the exact length originally discussed. Once production has begun, the client adds content here and there, and sometimes…

the original concept needs a little more time to develop than originally anticipated. But, unlike a motion picture that incurs cost overruns by becoming longer, a corporate video should have a set price that doesn’t increase as it goes from 4 to 5 or even 6 minutes. It’s important to know if your production company will charge for a final length that exceeds the original idea by a reasonable amount. Find out what that extra cost will be and ask what steps will be taken to adhere to a certain pre-determined length. Then finally, decide if that restriction is in the best interest of the project.

Now, there is a limit to the idea that length is unimportant if the content is captivating. A good production company must have a keen sense of rhythm in order to know where to draw the line between content in which the audience loses all sense of time, and where the video seems long. After watching samples of their work, ask yourself if the length mattered, or even occurred to you.

One of my favorite moments after showing a finished video to a client is the point when they ask how long it was. I tell them, and they usually respond with, “Really. It was that long?” They then make some sort of comment like, “I never thought we could have made it 7 minutes!” I consider that to provide the best testimony to the success of a video. If it’s true for film, it’s true for corporate video.

How long should your video be? No longer that the time it takes to tell a story in which time is temporarily suspended for the viewer.