Video marketing should be a cornerstone of your pharmacy’s marketing growth plan.
Is your pharmacy’s growth feeling a little bit stagnant lately?
Are you using the same marketing strategies that you’ve always used?
You have probably come to realize that marketing is one of the most significant areas that can help make your pharmacy profitable.
Live streaming videos on Facebook is super popular right now and is one of the best ways to reach your audience organically without breaking the bank or even paying for ads. I recently interviewed John Hyer of Kings Pharmacy for the Virtual Pharmacy Profit Summit. John is #pharmacygoals in the flesh for how to use video marketing to grow your pharmacy.
Practical Pharmacy Video Marketing Strategies
John Hyer, a pharmacy owner since 2013, is from western North Carolina and started with one pharmacy as many of us do. He now owns several pharmacies. Using his marketing skills and other strategies, he took one of his stores from $1.8MM annually to over $10MM.
Cardinal Rule of Marketing: Be Authentic
John is so successful because he authentically engages with his audience. You know you are getting the real John when you watch one of his videos (check his channel out here). There is often no script to his videos, and they show him being human. King’s pharmacy uses different marketing strategies to keep up with trends and constantly attract new customers. After using these helpful tips and techniques, you’ll be ready to use videos marketing in your pharmacy!
Before we get started, let’s dive into the different types of video marketing you can do. Determine the best kind of video for your pharmacy and what will get the results you’re looking for.
Types of Video Marketing
- Live
- Live video is, well, live – no prerecording. Facebook Live and Instagram Live are a couple of platforms that support live video with high engagement. You can also do live videos on LinkedIn, but you have to apply first and meet their requirements.
- Your cell phone is all you need to publish these videos.
- Live videos are loved by all the platforms right now. They will reward you for doing live videos by showing your page to more potential people.
- Topics that are great for live videos are announcements, behind the scenes, education, and staff engagement.
- Educational (Explainer Videos)
- These animated how-to videos often earn the most attention.
- Share helpful tips on current pharmacy trends or walk the audience through an activity (signing up for prescription delivery, for example).
- Educational videos are mostly prerecorded but can also be a tool in a live video.
- Professionals best do these, and you can find many on Fiverr, Upwork, or locally.
- Testimonial
- Find a customer who will rant and rave about a product or service you offer on video.
- Seek out excited and eager customers to share their reviews and post them on your social media platforms.
- Company Culture
- Brands that inspire higher emotional intensity receive three times as much word-of-mouth marketing as less emotionally connected brands.
- Showcase your awesomeness for your community to see.
- Professionally Produced
- These kinds of videos could range from professional advertisements (i.e., commercials) to informative video’s (i.e., How-To, educational)
- When using a professional, ask for long-form and short-forms of all videos you are doing. They should be able to guide you in the process.
- Product Review/Features
- Record a video about a product you love and why you like it, then post it on social media.
- Unboxing videos are particularly popular on all platforms.
Why Should Pharmacy Owners Record Live Content?
It’s simple. Let your audience get to know you personally through streaming video to showcase your authenticity and make you more relatable. You’ll attract more customers looking for a pharmacy they can trust because customers do business with people they like.
Another reason to record live content is that more people will see live videos than if you were reposting a prerecorded video. Live video helps you stand out from the crowd and works better with social media algorithms. Essentially you are playing the platform’s game when you do live video, and they will thank you for it.
Live Recording Tips, by John Hyer
- Hold the camera in front of you (selfie mode) and look at the camera – not at yourself for better audience appeal. Hide your image by placing sticky notes on the inside of your phone. This way, you are not tempted to peek at yourself.
- Keep the phone above eye level. No one really wants to look at your double chin or up your nose. Plus, it makes you look more flattering, more like an expert.
- Write any talking point notes on the sticky note mentioned above, so if you need to look at it, it’s right there in front of you!
- Create videos that aren’t long. About 3 to 5 minutes is perfect. Your audience doesn’t have much time, so make it short, sweet, authentic, and to the point.
Here are a few additional tips on creating video marketing content for your pharmacy.
What Should I Talk About?
Tell a story. Tell your story. John likes Gary V.’s marketing teachings (Gary Vaynerchuk – check him out). According to Gary V., videos should Educate, Inform, Inspire or Entertain. For example, you could record a live video telling your audience you just delivered a prescription to a customer. If they (the audience member) are a patient of your pharmacy, you could deliver to them too.
Behind-the-scenes videos are always a surefire winner. People love to get access to areas they usually aren’t allowed to go. If you have a robot or other cool equipment, highlight them. I even recommend you have a naming contest to name your equipment. Don’t forget to show off your compounding equipment and all the other cool things about your pharmacy and what makes it unique.
If you don’t know what to talk about, simply start telling your story – meeting one, two, or all the criteria above. Involve your staff in the video, and let them record live videos.
Go script-free and make it a free-flow conversation; don’t prerecord yourself. Set it up, go live and start talking. Don’t forget there are no do-overs and re-takes, which can make you nervous, but it also makes much better videos.
Don’t Always Sell Something
It’s ok to sell a product or service in your video marketing and regular posts. Just keep it to about one in every ten posts, or once every two weeks if you’re posting daily. Your viewers will get tired of being constantly sold to without getting valuable information as well. Value can be hard to define, but I see it as providing education, inspiration, or entertainment. People are used to being bombarded by ads, so give your watchers a relief and bonus points for comedic relief. I think it is perfectly acceptable to extend an invitation to visit your pharmacy at the end of every video. I don’t see that as selling.
Sharing Posts
If you’ve been using your personal page to post business items, John recommends you stop. Posting business items on a personal page could get you in hot water with Facebook. Instead, post on your business page, and then you can share it to other pages. This way, all your business postings originate from your business profile. Every platform loves engagement. Be sure to have your employees comment and share as well.
Challenge Accepted?
My challenge to you is for you to make a video for your pharmacy. If you need some video inspiration, go to John’s Facebook page King’s Pharmacy, or his Instagram page, @kingspharm. Grab your notebook, pen and start writing down a few ideas for your first live video post. If you find something you like on his pages, he doesn’t mind you copying it and using the concept.
You may cringe at your first video, but creating video content will make you more attractive and lead to more patients and more profits in the long run! Go ahead, try your first live video today! I will comment and share your video if you tag @lisafaast or @diversifyrx in it.
For other marketing strategies, visit our blog or email us at [email protected].
