How Effective Are Your Patient Testimonials?

Real stories from real customers. Simply put, that is the standard definition of a testimonial. In healthcare, getting real stories from real patients on video can be a powerful marketing tool. A great way to share your hospital’s message is with stories featuring positive outcomes from patients of your physicians.

We have produced many patient testimonial videos in the last few years. Through trial and error, we’ve found 3 keys to making effective patient testimonial videos:

1. Pre-interview. Talking to the patient before the on camera interview is very important. Not only does the producer get to hear the patient’s unique story in advance, but this is an opportunity to help make the patient more comfortable with the process. Patients are not professional actors. Calming their fears before the cameras are rolling makes for a better interview.

2. B-roll. Background footage of the patient doing everyday activities provides a strong visual to support the story. It helps to answer a question physicians often get from patients before a medical procedure: “Will I be able to go back to doing the things I love to do?”

3. Think short. We try to keep patient testimonials to roughly 1 minute in length. Why 1 minute? In today’s social media world, keeping the attention of your audience for very long is a challenge. A 1 minute video is also easy to share and watch on your own social media channels.

Here is an example of a patient testimonial we produced on a new cardiac procedure. We interviewed the patient at her church, where there weren’t any good b-roll options. We incorporated animation of the procedure as b-roll.

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