Open up just about any social app these days, and you’ll see it: short-from video.
Spurred on by the success of TikTok, platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube have gotten in on the action with their own short-form video feeds. More users are consuming short-form videos than ever before, and they’ve quickly become a vital piece of the marketing puzzle for many industries.
While healthcare might not seem like the most obvious fit for short-form video content, we’re seeing more healthcare organizations incorporate it into their marketing strategies as a way to reach new patients.
The stats on video
It’s estimated that 73% of consumers are shifting away from traditional content consumption in favor of short-form videos like those found on TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts.
In 2021, our digital healthcare marketing trends survey saw that video production was slowly but surely inching its way up the list of tactics organizations were incorporating into their marketing strategies.
In the 2024 edition of our survey, we found that just under 20% of organizations still rated using TikTok as a marketing tactic as “not important.” All other organizations surveyed said TikTok was either nice to have, a must-have, or a competitive differentiator. While our questions about Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube didn’t specify whether organizations were investing in Reels or Shorts, they rated even higher than TikTok in terms of organizations seeing them as a must-have marketing channel.
All signs point to short-form video in some format becoming and staying a vital marketing strategy, regardless of whether TikTok gets banned in the United States in 2025.
This means, like it or not, if your organization hasn’t taken the leap into short-form video yet, now is the time. If you’re still on the fence about short-form video, here are a few of the benefits it can offer your marketing strategy.
Standing out from competitors
By next year, 82% of all internet traffic is forecasted to come from video, so getting in on the ground floor of this trend could pay dividends for your organization. But even with the meteoric rise of short-form video, we’re seeing very few healthcare organizations producing their own short-form content.
By establishing a presence in short-form video now, you can reach audiences of prospective patients who aren’t looking at traditional media and who your competitors aren’t connecting with. You’ll also avoid the extra work required to stand out if you wait to start producing videos and find your local healthcare market already saturated.
Connect with Gen Z
Marketing to Gen Z consumers is a topic we’re talking about more and more with our clients (in fact, we’ll touch on it in our October 2 webinar on future trends). Gen Z is currently between 12 and 27 years old, which means many of the older consumers in this cohort are managing their own healthcare and selecting providers for the first time. Some may also be starting families and looking for care for their children.
That makes it incredibly important to reach this audience where they are — and where they are is on short-form video channels. Gen Z is leading the way in terms of consumers turning to short-form video for information, with 64% of the generation using TikTok.
By connecting with Gen Z consumers on the platforms they use the most, you’ll have a gateway to communicate with the next generation of consumers who are looking for your services.
Put your existing content to work
Incorporating short-form video into your marketing strategy doesn’t mean you have to start from scratch. Consider taking content you already have and repurposing it for video!
For example, you could take snippets of a recruiting video with employees talking about why they love working at your organization into bite-size pieces that feature individual employees providing a line or two.
If you have a podcast, you could take a few standout moments per episode and edit them into short video clips.
If you have a blog, consider posting short-form videos with a few key facts from each post, then linking back to the blog itself in case viewers want to read the whole article.
The ways you can repurpose content are endless, and it’s a great way to make the work you’ve already done go a bit further in reaching your marketing goals.
Getting started
Not sure where to start on your short-form video content journey? Geonetic’s content marketing experts can provide valuable insights into ways healthcare organizations can take this growing trend and make it their own. Reach out to us today to level up your content marketing strategy with video!