While YouTube has emerged as a marketing tool for savvy dermatologists, the free video-sharing service offers many other uses—all of which are free. Employee recruiting, client communications, product/service how-tos, and dissemination of news are all increasing in popularity on YouTube, as dermatologists and others use the technology for business communications.
Photo 1: Martin Wade, BMed Sci, MB, BS, FACD
Martin Wade, BMed Sci, MB, BS, FACD, consultant dermatologist, The London Skin and Hair Clinic, uses the online video platform to introduce his practice to prospective patients. “Patients who have skin diseases are often embarrassed or highly sensitive about their issue,” he explained. “Through providing short informational videos of our dermatologists explaining what causes these skin diseases and how a dermatologist would treat them, we believe that helps build confidence and trust.”
One of the major reasons dermatologists are using YouTube is its popularity. In recent years, the video-sharing service has rocketed to one of the most visited sites on the internet. YouTube has “more than a billion users,” according to Larry Page, chief executive officer of Alphabet, YouTube’s parent company. Plus, the online video-sharing service has been localized in 75 countries and made available in 61 languages. Moreover, half of all YouTube views now take place on mobile devices, according to the company.
Among millennials—consumers aged 13 to 24—online video is now more popular that traditional TV, according to a recent study by Hunter Qualitative Research.1 This group spends 11.3 hours/week watching free online video compared with 8.3 hours week watching traditional TV.
YouTube’s ease of entry and low cost also makes it an important market for dermatologists to consider. Virtually anyone with basic computer skills can upload a video to YouTube in minutes. Because YouTube’s videos are generally viewed in a relatively small viewing screen, elaborate video production is not necessary.
Dermatologists can also reduce costs using YouTube, by shifting hosting responsibilities for their company videos to the online video service. The rationale: a dermatologist usually needs to pay bandwidth transmission charges anytime a website visitor views a video hosted on the practice’s website. But when that same video is uploaded to YouTube’s servers, businesses never pay a bandwidth transmission cost—no matter how many times that video is viewed.
Uses for Online Video Sharing
Marketing
Photo 2: Sandra Lee, MD
This is without doubt the most popular business use of YouTube, and can be very successful. Businesses with small promotional budgets have become stars on the service, sometimes with unusual videos. In dermatology, probably one of the most unusual marketing uses of YouTube comes from Sandra Lee, MD, a physician at Skin Physicians & Surgeons in Upland, CA. Two years, ago, Dr Lee began posting videos of her treatments—surgical excisions of epidermoid and pilar cysts, pilomatricomas, and lipomas—after discovering people were curious about the procedures. Now she is known as Dr. Pimple Popper and has 2.5 million subscribers to her YouTube Channel and more than a billion video views. Dr Lee also has millions of followers on Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, and Twitter.
More conventional marketing uses for the online video-sharing service include video tours of dermatology facilities as Dr Wade described. Or, dermatologists can feature video interviews with key staff to reassure current and prospective customers that they are going to be doing business with a highly professional, people-friendly staff.
Recruiting
Given that many dermatologists already have videos showing their businesses as inviting places to work, posting those same productions on YouTube can be done quickly. “Don’t limit yourself to a single, long puff video,” explained Michael Miller, author of YouTube for Business.2 “Produce separate videos for individual departments, as well as to illustrate company values, employee benefits, facilities, and the like.”
Company Video FAQs
On-the-fly videos feature the dermatologists or customer service representatives answering frequently asked questions (FAQs). Many businesses already have written FAQs on their websites. But there is something to be said for offering the personal touch that’s inherent in the video medium.
News Video Clips
Using YouTube, you can present your business’ news to YouTube viewers in a customizable format. If you have a Facebook or Instagram site, you can cross-promote the online presences by posting company news on Facebook with a link to your supporting video on YouTube. Melanie Palm, MD, medical director, Art of Skin MD in Solana Beach, CA, has more than 160 videos posted on YouTube. “They fall into 2 major categories: educational videos demonstrating procedures I perform in the clinic and media segments I have done on local and national TV,” she said.
Focus Groups
Sophisticated users of YouTube are also using the service as a free testing ground for commercials they plan to run on cable and broadcast TV, and elsewhere on the internet. Specifically, they use YouTube’s free analytical tool, YouTube Analytics to test the marketing impact of their commercials. The tool’s metrics include the overall popularity of your video, who’s viewing your video, where those viewers are coming from on the Web, and what keywords they are using to find your video.
Customer Communications
When an email or friendly phone call simply does not cut it, many businesses are posting videos to YouTube to connect with their patients. Such communications can be easily made private on YouTube by selecting the “private” option under its “Broadcast Options” variable. This ensures only the viewers you select get to see the video you have uploaded.
Product/Service How-Tos
Photo 3: Jessica Wu, MD
These videos can serve a dual purpose for your practice, offering detailed instructions for novice patients, while serving as a promotional spot for those prospective patients still deciding if they want to make an appointment. Jessica Wu, MD, in practice in Los Angeles, CA, for example, offers a number of videos featuring skin-related beauty advice on her YouTube Channel. In addition, video clips from her television appearances are posted. “Prospective patients no longer just read about a procedure or ask their doctors advice,” Dr Wu said. “Increasingly, they watch videos of the procedure before they even step into my office.”
J. Morgan O'Donoghue, MD, in practice in Sarasota, FL, noted that the video-sharing service is helpful to showcase procedures. “I can use YouTube to demonstrate the Mohs technique to patients so they can have an understanding prior to surgery,” Dr O’Donoghue said. “Or, I can introduce a new cosmetic laser or technique. It’s simple to use and patients love it.”
R. Sonia Batra, MD, in practice in Los Angeles and Santa Monica, CA, agreed. “YouTube gives patients a chance to feel more comfortable with me and my approach before they set foot in the office,” she said. “Some of my new patients say that they feel like they ‘already know’ me from videos they have watched. For consumers searching for information and answers on the internet, finding a video helps direct them to the practice because they know it an area or topic on which we focus.”
Employee Training
Any dermatologist with multiple locations across town, across the United States—or the world—can immediately see the benefit of posting training videos on YouTube, and having the appropriate staff dial in. By using YouTube’s “private broadcast” option, your business can ensure the training videos stay internal. “Many companies find that YouTube is a fast and effective way to disseminate all kinds of employee information,” said YouTube for Business author Mr Miller. “Done right, it gets information out there in near-real-time, with all the benefit of face-to-face communication.”
References
1. Millennials ages 13-24 declare it’s not just the cord, tv content doesn’t cut it—digital delivers more relatable and entertaining programming [news release]. Los Angeles, CA: Defy Media; March 3, 2015. https://www.defymedia.com/2015/03/03/millennials-ages-13-24-declare-just-cord-tv-content-doesnt-cut/. Accessed May 9, 2017.
2. Miller M. YouTube for Business. 2nd ed. Washington, DC: Pearson Education; 2011.
While YouTube has emerged as a marketing tool for savvy dermatologists, the free video-sharing service offers many other uses—all of which are free. Employee recruiting, client communications, product/service how-tos, and dissemination of news are all increasing in popularity on YouTube, as dermatologists and others use the technology for business communications.
Photo 1: Martin Wade, BMed Sci, MB, BS, FACD
Martin Wade, BMed Sci, MB, BS, FACD, consultant dermatologist, The London Skin and Hair Clinic, uses the online video platform to introduce his practice to prospective patients. “Patients who have skin diseases are often embarrassed or highly sensitive about their issue,” he explained. “Through providing short informational videos of our dermatologists explaining what causes these skin diseases and how a dermatologist would treat them, we believe that helps build confidence and trust.”
One of the major reasons dermatologists are using YouTube is its popularity. In recent years, the video-sharing service has rocketed to one of the most visited sites on the internet. YouTube has “more than a billion users,” according to Larry Page, chief executive officer of Alphabet, YouTube’s parent company. Plus, the online video-sharing service has been localized in 75 countries and made available in 61 languages. Moreover, half of all YouTube views now take place on mobile devices, according to the company.
Among millennials—consumers aged 13 to 24—online video is now more popular that traditional TV, according to a recent study by Hunter Qualitative Research.1 This group spends 11.3 hours/week watching free online video compared with 8.3 hours week watching traditional TV.
YouTube’s ease of entry and low cost also makes it an important market for dermatologists to consider. Virtually anyone with basic computer skills can upload a video to YouTube in minutes. Because YouTube’s videos are generally viewed in a relatively small viewing screen, elaborate video production is not necessary.
Dermatologists can also reduce costs using YouTube, by shifting hosting responsibilities for their company videos to the online video service. The rationale: a dermatologist usually needs to pay bandwidth transmission charges anytime a website visitor views a video hosted on the practice’s website. But when that same video is uploaded to YouTube’s servers, businesses never pay a bandwidth transmission cost—no matter how many times that video is viewed.
Uses for Online Video Sharing
Marketing
Photo 2: Sandra Lee, MD
This is without doubt the most popular business use of YouTube, and can be very successful. Businesses with small promotional budgets have become stars on the service, sometimes with unusual videos. In dermatology, probably one of the most unusual marketing uses of YouTube comes from Sandra Lee, MD, a physician at Skin Physicians & Surgeons in Upland, CA. Two years, ago, Dr Lee began posting videos of her treatments—surgical excisions of epidermoid and pilar cysts, pilomatricomas, and lipomas—after discovering people were curious about the procedures. Now she is known as Dr. Pimple Popper and has 2.5 million subscribers to her YouTube Channel and more than a billion video views. Dr Lee also has millions of followers on Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, and Twitter.
More conventional marketing uses for the online video-sharing service include video tours of dermatology facilities as Dr Wade described. Or, dermatologists can feature video interviews with key staff to reassure current and prospective customers that they are going to be doing business with a highly professional, people-friendly staff.
Recruiting
Given that many dermatologists already have videos showing their businesses as inviting places to work, posting those same productions on YouTube can be done quickly. “Don’t limit yourself to a single, long puff video,” explained Michael Miller, author of YouTube for Business.2 “Produce separate videos for individual departments, as well as to illustrate company values, employee benefits, facilities, and the like.”
Company Video FAQs
On-the-fly videos feature the dermatologists or customer service representatives answering frequently asked questions (FAQs). Many businesses already have written FAQs on their websites. But there is something to be said for offering the personal touch that’s inherent in the video medium.
News Video Clips
Using YouTube, you can present your business’ news to YouTube viewers in a customizable format. If you have a Facebook or Instagram site, you can cross-promote the online presences by posting company news on Facebook with a link to your supporting video on YouTube. Melanie Palm, MD, medical director, Art of Skin MD in Solana Beach, CA, has more than 160 videos posted on YouTube. “They fall into 2 major categories: educational videos demonstrating procedures I perform in the clinic and media segments I have done on local and national TV,” she said.
Focus Groups
Sophisticated users of YouTube are also using the service as a free testing ground for commercials they plan to run on cable and broadcast TV, and elsewhere on the internet. Specifically, they use YouTube’s free analytical tool, YouTube Analytics to test the marketing impact of their commercials. The tool’s metrics include the overall popularity of your video, who’s viewing your video, where those viewers are coming from on the Web, and what keywords they are using to find your video.
Customer Communications
When an email or friendly phone call simply does not cut it, many businesses are posting videos to YouTube to connect with their patients. Such communications can be easily made private on YouTube by selecting the “private” option under its “Broadcast Options” variable. This ensures only the viewers you select get to see the video you have uploaded.
Product/Service How-Tos
Photo 3: Jessica Wu, MD
These videos can serve a dual purpose for your practice, offering detailed instructions for novice patients, while serving as a promotional spot for those prospective patients still deciding if they want to make an appointment. Jessica Wu, MD, in practice in Los Angeles, CA, for example, offers a number of videos featuring skin-related beauty advice on her YouTube Channel. In addition, video clips from her television appearances are posted. “Prospective patients no longer just read about a procedure or ask their doctors advice,” Dr Wu said. “Increasingly, they watch videos of the procedure before they even step into my office.”
J. Morgan O'Donoghue, MD, in practice in Sarasota, FL, noted that the video-sharing service is helpful to showcase procedures. “I can use YouTube to demonstrate the Mohs technique to patients so they can have an understanding prior to surgery,” Dr O’Donoghue said. “Or, I can introduce a new cosmetic laser or technique. It’s simple to use and patients love it.”
R. Sonia Batra, MD, in practice in Los Angeles and Santa Monica, CA, agreed. “YouTube gives patients a chance to feel more comfortable with me and my approach before they set foot in the office,” she said. “Some of my new patients say that they feel like they ‘already know’ me from videos they have watched. For consumers searching for information and answers on the internet, finding a video helps direct them to the practice because they know it an area or topic on which we focus.”
Employee Training
Any dermatologist with multiple locations across town, across the United States—or the world—can immediately see the benefit of posting training videos on YouTube, and having the appropriate staff dial in. By using YouTube’s “private broadcast” option, your business can ensure the training videos stay internal. “Many companies find that YouTube is a fast and effective way to disseminate all kinds of employee information,” said YouTube for Business author Mr Miller. “Done right, it gets information out there in near-real-time, with all the benefit of face-to-face communication.”
References
1. Millennials ages 13-24 declare it’s not just the cord, tv content doesn’t cut it—digital delivers more relatable and entertaining programming [news release]. Los Angeles, CA: Defy Media; March 3, 2015. https://www.defymedia.com/2015/03/03/millennials-ages-13-24-declare-just-cord-tv-content-doesnt-cut/. Accessed May 9, 2017.
2. Miller M. YouTube for Business. 2nd ed. Washington, DC: Pearson Education; 2011.
While YouTube has emerged as a marketing tool for savvy dermatologists, the free video-sharing service offers many other uses—all of which are free. Employee recruiting, client communications, product/service how-tos, and dissemination of news are all increasing in popularity on YouTube, as dermatologists and others use the technology for business communications.
Photo 1: Martin Wade, BMed Sci, MB, BS, FACD
Martin Wade, BMed Sci, MB, BS, FACD, consultant dermatologist, The London Skin and Hair Clinic, uses the online video platform to introduce his practice to prospective patients. “Patients who have skin diseases are often embarrassed or highly sensitive about their issue,” he explained. “Through providing short informational videos of our dermatologists explaining what causes these skin diseases and how a dermatologist would treat them, we believe that helps build confidence and trust.”
One of the major reasons dermatologists are using YouTube is its popularity. In recent years, the video-sharing service has rocketed to one of the most visited sites on the internet. YouTube has “more than a billion users,” according to Larry Page, chief executive officer of Alphabet, YouTube’s parent company. Plus, the online video-sharing service has been localized in 75 countries and made available in 61 languages. Moreover, half of all YouTube views now take place on mobile devices, according to the company.
Among millennials—consumers aged 13 to 24—online video is now more popular that traditional TV, according to a recent study by Hunter Qualitative Research.1 This group spends 11.3 hours/week watching free online video compared with 8.3 hours week watching traditional TV.
YouTube’s ease of entry and low cost also makes it an important market for dermatologists to consider. Virtually anyone with basic computer skills can upload a video to YouTube in minutes. Because YouTube’s videos are generally viewed in a relatively small viewing screen, elaborate video production is not necessary.
Dermatologists can also reduce costs using YouTube, by shifting hosting responsibilities for their company videos to the online video service. The rationale: a dermatologist usually needs to pay bandwidth transmission charges anytime a website visitor views a video hosted on the practice’s website. But when that same video is uploaded to YouTube’s servers, businesses never pay a bandwidth transmission cost—no matter how many times that video is viewed.
Uses for Online Video Sharing
Marketing
Photo 2: Sandra Lee, MD
This is without doubt the most popular business use of YouTube, and can be very successful. Businesses with small promotional budgets have become stars on the service, sometimes with unusual videos. In dermatology, probably one of the most unusual marketing uses of YouTube comes from Sandra Lee, MD, a physician at Skin Physicians & Surgeons in Upland, CA. Two years, ago, Dr Lee began posting videos of her treatments—surgical excisions of epidermoid and pilar cysts, pilomatricomas, and lipomas—after discovering people were curious about the procedures. Now she is known as Dr. Pimple Popper and has 2.5 million subscribers to her YouTube Channel and more than a billion video views. Dr Lee also has millions of followers on Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, and Twitter.
More conventional marketing uses for the online video-sharing service include video tours of dermatology facilities as Dr Wade described. Or, dermatologists can feature video interviews with key staff to reassure current and prospective customers that they are going to be doing business with a highly professional, people-friendly staff.
Recruiting
Given that many dermatologists already have videos showing their businesses as inviting places to work, posting those same productions on YouTube can be done quickly. “Don’t limit yourself to a single, long puff video,” explained Michael Miller, author of YouTube for Business.2 “Produce separate videos for individual departments, as well as to illustrate company values, employee benefits, facilities, and the like.”
Company Video FAQs
On-the-fly videos feature the dermatologists or customer service representatives answering frequently asked questions (FAQs). Many businesses already have written FAQs on their websites. But there is something to be said for offering the personal touch that’s inherent in the video medium.
News Video Clips
Using YouTube, you can present your business’ news to YouTube viewers in a customizable format. If you have a Facebook or Instagram site, you can cross-promote the online presences by posting company news on Facebook with a link to your supporting video on YouTube. Melanie Palm, MD, medical director, Art of Skin MD in Solana Beach, CA, has more than 160 videos posted on YouTube. “They fall into 2 major categories: educational videos demonstrating procedures I perform in the clinic and media segments I have done on local and national TV,” she said.
Focus Groups
Sophisticated users of YouTube are also using the service as a free testing ground for commercials they plan to run on cable and broadcast TV, and elsewhere on the internet. Specifically, they use YouTube’s free analytical tool, YouTube Analytics to test the marketing impact of their commercials. The tool’s metrics include the overall popularity of your video, who’s viewing your video, where those viewers are coming from on the Web, and what keywords they are using to find your video.
Customer Communications
When an email or friendly phone call simply does not cut it, many businesses are posting videos to YouTube to connect with their patients. Such communications can be easily made private on YouTube by selecting the “private” option under its “Broadcast Options” variable. This ensures only the viewers you select get to see the video you have uploaded.
Product/Service How-Tos
Photo 3: Jessica Wu, MD
These videos can serve a dual purpose for your practice, offering detailed instructions for novice patients, while serving as a promotional spot for those prospective patients still deciding if they want to make an appointment. Jessica Wu, MD, in practice in Los Angeles, CA, for example, offers a number of videos featuring skin-related beauty advice on her YouTube Channel. In addition, video clips from her television appearances are posted. “Prospective patients no longer just read about a procedure or ask their doctors advice,” Dr Wu said. “Increasingly, they watch videos of the procedure before they even step into my office.”
J. Morgan O'Donoghue, MD, in practice in Sarasota, FL, noted that the video-sharing service is helpful to showcase procedures. “I can use YouTube to demonstrate the Mohs technique to patients so they can have an understanding prior to surgery,” Dr O’Donoghue said. “Or, I can introduce a new cosmetic laser or technique. It’s simple to use and patients love it.”
R. Sonia Batra, MD, in practice in Los Angeles and Santa Monica, CA, agreed. “YouTube gives patients a chance to feel more comfortable with me and my approach before they set foot in the office,” she said. “Some of my new patients say that they feel like they ‘already know’ me from videos they have watched. For consumers searching for information and answers on the internet, finding a video helps direct them to the practice because they know it an area or topic on which we focus.”
Employee Training
Any dermatologist with multiple locations across town, across the United States—or the world—can immediately see the benefit of posting training videos on YouTube, and having the appropriate staff dial in. By using YouTube’s “private broadcast” option, your business can ensure the training videos stay internal. “Many companies find that YouTube is a fast and effective way to disseminate all kinds of employee information,” said YouTube for Business author Mr Miller. “Done right, it gets information out there in near-real-time, with all the benefit of face-to-face communication.”
References
1. Millennials ages 13-24 declare it’s not just the cord, tv content doesn’t cut it—digital delivers more relatable and entertaining programming [news release]. Los Angeles, CA: Defy Media; March 3, 2015. https://www.defymedia.com/2015/03/03/millennials-ages-13-24-declare-just-cord-tv-content-doesnt-cut/. Accessed May 9, 2017.
2. Miller M. YouTube for Business. 2nd ed. Washington, DC: Pearson Education; 2011.
