Why Healthcare Content Marketers Should Leverage Vertical Video for Social Media

We’re betting you’ve seen your share of short, vertical social videos. (Hey, there’s no shame in the scrolling game!) The format is so popular it’s hard to miss. Fueled by Snapchat (vertical orientation) and Vine (6-second videos) back in the day, the format has reached extreme popularity in recent years thanks to TikTok, which now sets the standards for short, vertical videos. 

Currently, this organic content is a staple across social media platforms, including TikToks, Reels (Instagram and Facebook) and Shorts (YouTube). In addition, while our team has yet to spot them, dedicated vertical video feeds seem to be on the way for Twitter/X and LinkedIn. Twitter announced a TikTok-like feed in 2021-2022, and the company (now X) currently claims to be ushering in its “vertical video revolution” with “more than 100 million people watching vertical video on X every day.” According to reports like this one from Tech Crunch, LinkedIn is beta testing its vertical video feed. 

It’s safe to say the format currently defines video on social media, creating familiarity for users and organic content marketing opportunities for healthcare companies and payers. Already, Hubspot reports, “57% of brands leverage short-form videos as part of their social media strategy.” 

Benefits of Short, Social Video in an Organic Content Marketing Strategy 

There are very compelling reasons for healthcare teams to develop an organic social video strategy to support existing marketing and business goals, but let’s start with this: performance. The short, vertical video format can set up your profile and its content for success. Consider the following points that suggest this format is an effective medium for organic social content: 

• “Consumers rank video as the content format they most want to see on social media, placing it ahead of GIFs, memes and text-only content” (ABA Banking Journal, citing a report from Sprout Social) 

• “Over 2 in 5 Americans use TikTok as a search engine” (Adobe). 

• Reels outperform all other types of content on Instagram in both reach and engagement. This includes Stories, whose reach is on the decline (Influencer Marketing Hub, Sprout Social). 

• “Consumers find short form video to be 2.5x more engaging than long-form video” with 66% saying it is the most engaging social content (Sprout Social) 

• “73% of consumers prefer to watch short-form videos when learning about a product or service” (Hootsuite). 

• Reels reach beyond brand follower bases, as they’re shown in multiple places, including feeds designed for non-follower discovery and exploration. 

Beyond performance (actual and potential), short vertical videos are appealing in organic strategies because of the following: 

• They are suited to storytelling and authenticity, which helps healthcare teams provide value to their audience, connect with viewers and build relationships. 

• They are versatile, leaving plenty of room for variations in tone (excitable, caring, humorous, serious, etc.) and purpose (education, inspiration, thought leadership, entertainment, etc.). 

• They are intended to be casual and simple. Since these videos don’t need to be “highly produced,” anyone on the team can gather footage via smartphone. 

• They convey a “now-ness” or urgency. Designed to have a spontaneous feel, they help your brand with agility, responsiveness, relatability and relevance. Through this medium, you can create and publish timely content and experiment with current trends. 

Vertical Social Video in Healthcare 

We’ve long been fans of organic vertical social video in healthcare. To stay on top of these trends, we regularly check in on what insurance companies and wellness brands are doing with this medium. 

For this post, we gathered a few videos that have business or wellness angles and are doable for most marketing teams. Many of these are educational, entertaining and can build consumer trust in the brand. We hope they inspire your brand to jump in and test social video yourself! 

• Aetna: Reminder to schedule health exams (using a meme) and summer health advice from a provider.  

• Amazon’s One Medical: Promoting their primary care services (using a meme) and a shareable reminder to wear sunscreen. 

• Blue Cross Blue Shield of Louisiana: Highlights from the company’s Juneteenth celebration. 

• Cleveland Clinic: Reasons to drink lemon water (using a trending song) and an inspiring story about organ donation. 

• Kaiser Permanente: Reminder about the benefits of hydration and a story about a father’s cancer journey. 

• Humana: Advice from a nonagenarian about staying active and insights from a member (who is also an avid traveler!). 

• UnitedHealthcare: Tips to lower the risk of dementia and health-related advice for summer travel. 

• WebMD: A quick tutorial for a no-equipment workout and a recipe for a healthy summer salad. 

How to Tap Your Team (and Their Smartphones) for Social Video 

The good news is you already have what you need to produce this content. With some pre-planning and a little bit of coaching, members of your organization can record TikToks, Reels and other short, vertical videos on their smartphones. 

Here are some basics to set your team up for success when recording: 

• Test and practice with the “equipment.” Your team’s smartphones will work just fine, but you may want to test audio quality in various settings to see if you’d like to invest in microphones. 

• Know ahead of time what you want to record (the desired footage) and why (the goal/purpose). To master brevity, it helps to outline a vision that includes possible clips, talking points and a hook you’ll use to open the video, immediately giving viewers a reason to watch. 

• Record short segments to make it easier for your subject to speak off-the-cuff, and record multiple takes to give you options when editing. 

• Be sure the speaker looks at the phone camera and doesn’t shift position too much between takes, and pay attention to the background, which can add to or detract from your message. 

When it’s time to publish, we recommend posting and optimizing natively on each platform. Prepare a caption in advance that complements (vs. duplicates) the content in the video, and apply features (on-screen text, audio, effects etc.) that help your video feel like it belongs on the platform. 

Got more questions about using short-form video in your content marketing strategy? Reach out to Media Logic today.  

Tags: content marketing, healthcare marketing, marketing for a social world, Media Logic, Medicare marketing, social media, video, video content marketing