How to monetize short videos in the medical and health field?

In the past few months, we have participated in the MCN agency's project to build brand doctors. We have had in-depth exchanges with doctors, video production teams, doctor agents, various self-media and Internet medical platforms, and we have also led the team to conduct practical operations on the front line. Although it’s a little late, fortunately what I share is first-hand information. Please forgive me~!

In 2016, we tried to empower offline medical brands and projects through sharing short video content. In 2018, when TikTok and Kuaishou were in full swing, I was following Dingxiang Doctor from its trial and error to its over 5 million followers. The real business project was operated in 2019 by cooperating with doctors, building a doctor brand through content operation, doing content e-commerce and knowledge payment online, and providing multi-point practice and medical services offline.

Without further ado, let’s first understand the ecological development of the medical and health field on the short video platform.

When it comes to short video platforms, although we cannot avoid WeChat Video Account, the first things that come to mind are Douyin and Kuaishou. According to Xinbang data, as of June 2020, the monthly active users of short videos have reached 852 million, among which Douyin’s daily active users have exceeded 400 million, and Kuaishou’s daily active users have exceeded 300 million. The average daily usage time of users exceeds 1 hour, making it the industry with the highest average daily usage time of mobile APP users.

According to the "2019 Health Science Video Insight Report" released by Healthy China, more than 90% of users have watched health science related videos, and more than half of users are willing to pay for health science content; after watching such videos, users have clear needs for medical information, expert consultations, registration and other services.

Since 2018, relevant public hospitals and government agencies such as the National Health Commission have also opened accounts on short video platforms. The platforms, institutions and associations have launched a number of special events to popularize health knowledge. As of now, the platform has institutional accounts with more than 10 million followers, and personal doctors’ accounts have more than 20 million followers. The entire medical and health field is very popular on the short video platform.

Back to the topic, how to use short videos in the medical and health field?

1. Registration and certification

Medical health is a professional field, and the platform has requirements for the qualifications of creators. Obtaining account certification is more beneficial for content selection and creation scale. Personal certification is more recommended in this field, and one needs to be able to provide professional qualification certificates such as practicing physician, pharmacist, nurse qualification certificates or health manager, nutritionist certificates, etc. In addition to the entrance provided by the platform in the APP, you can try to contact the platform operators to submit information for certification. For professionals in non-public medical and health institutions, you can supplement the account data on other platforms to prove your professional creative ability and influence.

2. Content selection

It is recommended to start with popular science about medical health, use popular language to popularize science to the public, and spread correct medical knowledge; you can also share the daily work and life of medical staff, unveil the mystery of the profession, and bring the public closer; you can also keep up with current affairs, discuss and answer them from a medical and health professional perspective, and express your personal opinions. As for the talent shows, beautiful legs, flash mobs and other internet celebrity tricks, doing them occasionally is not the right way for brand doctors.

Western medicine can share knowledge about common diseases, common sense about medication, daily life precautions, etc., focusing on prevention, treatment, and refuting rumors; Chinese medicine can combine common problems with popular science health knowledge, focusing on improvement and strengthening through diet therapy, acupoints, and movements. As for those who try to force their way into the dispute between Chinese and Western medicine, Chinese and Western medicine are two sets of theoretical systems. Read more or let's change the topic and talk about the weather.

3. Shooting and production

Shooting. A fill light + a stand + a mobile phone can be used to shoot in a fixed position. At worst, a selfie stick + a mobile phone can be used. As for digital cameras, teleprompters, radios, sound cards, etc., they are too complicated and require too much energy to operate individually. You can wear white coats, protective clothing, surgical gowns, etc. to enhance your professional credibility. The scene can be a study, office, etc. It should not be noisy and the camera should not be too shaky. It is best to prepare the script before shooting, memorize the content, reduce the difficulty of editing, and ensure the smoothness of the video.

Editing. Common editing tools include Jianying APP, VUE, and Meipai Master. More professional and easier to use ones include Aijianji, PR, and AE. It has the functions of synthesizing and editing videos, adding background music, adding subtitles, and even creating special effects. Subtitles and background music have a bonus effect on the spread of short videos. Be careful to avoid sensitive words in subtitles. Check them on ju1.cn in advance. If you encounter professional vocabulary that cannot be replaced, you can say it and use alternative words, pinyin, or abbreviations in the subtitles. Background music can be light, soothing, or fast-paced pure music depending on the content and theme. It is not recommended to use scary or noisy music. It is recommended to have a unified cover style, character + title + issue number, simple and clear.

Duration. The word "short" is emphasized in short videos, but judging from the actual likes effect, videos longer than 1 minute in the medical and health field are more popular among users. Due to the characteristics of this field, professional knowledge such as disease knowledge and medication recommendations take relatively long to answer clearly. Videos of 3-5 minutes on Douyin and 1-3 minutes on Kuaishou receive the most likes on average.

There are corresponding learning tutorials for shooting, editing and creation techniques in the Douyin Creator Service Center and Bilibili.

4. Operational skills

title. The text should be consistent with the cover, be concise and brief, and the title should be chosen in a way that raises questions or creates suspense. Remember to add relevant hashtags and @ your friends (such as Douyin Assistant and other official accounts of various platforms).

renew. The more frequent the update, the better. Generally, an account should update once a day or once every two days, and at least twice a week. There is no special requirement for posting time. The peak time for users to watch short videos is 7-9 am, 12-14 pm, after 8 pm and holidays, so it is more advantageous to post content at these times.

Little tips. There are some unproven metaphysics such as: do not rush to publish content after registering an account, watch short videos related to the field for 2 hours every day, like, comment, and operate, and continue to operate for 7 to 10 days before starting to publish content; use a special card, special machine, and special number, and do not change the mobile phone to log in to the account; do not connect to WIFI, use the mobile data network to upload content. There are also some tips: do not delete past videos, maybe they will suddenly become popular one day in the future; for hot content, you can spend money on paid promotion to fuel the flames; after the content is released, remember to keep an eye on hot or controversial content, pay attention to guiding comments, and strictly prevent being led by malicious people.

Platform operation. The main short video platforms are still Douyin, Kuaishou and WeChat Video Account. Video content can also be distributed simultaneously to Weibo, WeChat public accounts, Xigua Video, etc. At the same time, there are also some medical and health vertical platforms such as Jiankangjie, Tencent Medical Dictionary, Ali Health, JD Health, and Good Doctor that encourage the production and uploading of short video content. Your energy is limited and each platform has different operating rules, so choose one or two platforms and operate them carefully.

• Tik Tok. Record a beautiful life. The platform follows a centralized distribution logic and conducts strong operations on content creators and users. The Douyin Assistant often pushes various topics and popular challenges through private messages and recommends high-quality content. Creators connect with users through "content" rather than "people", resulting in low fan stickiness. After the content is released, the platform algorithm extracts keywords based on content quality, number of account followers (low influence weight), title, topic, music, etc. to match all users' interest tags to give a basic traffic pool (generally hundreds to thousands), and then decides whether to further push it to more users based on the completion rate, broadcast-to-like ratio, comment and forwarding data of the basic traffic pool, and so on, and the cycle continues. The platform will retain high-quality content for several months, which is why long-running videos can become popular again.
• quick worker. Record the world and record you. The platform follows a decentralized distribution logic and is relatively invisible. Creators connect with users through both "content" and "people", and fan stickiness is high. After the content is released, the platform pushes it based on the content quality and the number of account followers (with relatively balanced weights), and then matches it with interested users under the corresponding topic tags. The platform generally only pushes content for a few days, so creators need more interactions and connections with fans. Fans are relatively more supportive of creators, so it is very worthwhile for creators in the medical and health field to invest their energy and dig deeper.
• Video number. Record real life. The platform is based on the distribution logic of social recommendations. As a part of WeChat's functions, it supplements the WeChat ecosystem, connects with official accounts, mini-programs, and WeChat social functions, and is on the same level as Moments and Soso. Currently, the number of users has exceeded 200 million. Although it is not high compared to the base of 800 million WeChat users, and it is still unknown where the video account will eventually go, it is a good brand promotion channel and exposure platform for enterprises and public account creators, and a good short video distribution channel and private traffic pool expansion path for individual creators.

User operation. Relationships need to be managed, feelings need to be maintained, and users need to be operated. It is necessary to guide users' likes, comments, and reposts, as these data greatly affect the exposure of the video. Appropriately responding to interesting comments, correct opinions, and flipping through the signs of old fans can help you get closer to your fans. Contact information can be left in the personal introduction, and users with medical needs can be guided via private messages to compliant platforms that provide online consultation and diagnosis, and even establish user communities and live broadcast interactions. Speak human words and do human things, and be both a professional KOL and a close friend of fans.

5. Cash in and profit

Taiwei has never been ashamed to talk about profit. Only with profit can the project be supported for long-term operation. However, a gentleman loves money but makes it in a proper way. Doctors must make profits legally and in compliance with regulations.

Paid consultation. The Douyin content page can add the Toutiao Health mini program to provide patients with online consultation; Kuaishou can guide them to an Internet medical platform for online consultation, registration and diagnosis through private messages, comments or group replies; the video account can guide them to a public account or an Internet medical mini program.

Offline consultation. For patients who really need medical treatment, they can be guided to seek offline treatment. For doctors who are restricted by geographical location or appointment availability, they can practice in multiple locations, which will be convenient for patients and achieve success for themselves.

Brand soft advertising. For suitable brands and products, you can appropriately mention them in the video content and make recommendations.

E-commerce shopping guide. Open a showcase to add products from small shops or platforms such as Taobao, and add purchase links (shopping carts) in short videos or live broadcasts to guide purchases. Remember to screen the products, ask for samples from high-quality suppliers and sign supply agreements, so as not to lose the big picture for the small. Generally, medical and health KOLs promote food and beverages, sports and outdoor activities, clothing, shoes and hats, books, and household items.

Live broadcast rewards. The virtual currency gifts given by fans during the live broadcast can be withdrawn. The live broadcast time is generally after 20:00 every day, and it is best to last for 1 to 2 hours. 1 to 2 sessions a week will be enough, the more the better. The live broadcast focuses on answering questions and resolving doubts. Special lectures can be held on specific disease days, and the live broadcast can also be connected with patients for consultation and interaction.

Pay for knowledge. Turn professional scientific knowledge into online courses.

To sum up, playing with short videos requires learning professional skills such as shooting and editing, and it also requires a lot of energy to operate. Long-term and continuous output also requires KOLs to have strong learning ability, and commercial monetization requires professional knowledge. The road to becoming a great doctor is still teamwork. Although one person can go faster, a group of people can go further.

Author: Taiwei Notes

Source: Taiwei Notes