Update: Since I first wrote this post, therapists have been making some awesome welcome videos. Although this one remains to be one of the best I’ve seen, there are now many more out there. In a very short time, therapists have made great strides.

Videos have quickly become a means to satisfy web user’s needs for making purchases, acquiring information and advice, and of course, for entertainment. By 2017, according to Cisco, videos will account for at least 69% of consumer Internet traffic.

It may happen even sooner than that.

There are many different types of videos that you can create for marketing your counseling or healing practice. This article focuses on the intro video– a short, introductory video on your website that tells your website visitors a bit about who you are and how you can help them.

Having an introduction video on your therapy or health practice website can bring your face, voice and personality to life and give your viewers the opportunity to get a feel for who you are.

A video can demonstrate your passion, dedication, and authenticity to serving your audience, as well as giving them an introduction to how you can help them.

Videos can boost conversion rates by as much as 50 percent.

Most therapists and holistic practitioners don’t have an intro video on their websites, and many of the ones I’ve seen may not be that effective at attracting potential clients.

In fact, I’ve seen some therapist videos that could be repelling clients because from a technical perspective, they were of poor quality, the message was dry and not motivating, or the therapist didn’t sound very interesting (i.e. lacking passion, sounding stiff, or inauthentic).

Now, I know it’s not easy to create a good quality intro video, even when you get it professionally done.

I actually hired a professional videographer several years back to create a video for me. I had a strong message that I spent some time crafting and practicing…then we shot the video several times.

However, in the end I wasn’t happy with any of the versions. I just seemed too serious. So I scrapped the video and haven’t gotten back to creating a new one since (although I do plan on doing one later this year).

So what does an effective counselor video look like?

In order for an intro video to be effective, it must entice or captivate the viewer and be convincing. In addition, the counselor or healer must sound warm, authentic and interesting.

Viewers must resonate with the counselor or healer and their message. If they don’t, the viewer may stop watching the video, and perhaps leave the website.

Video marketing is the future. 76% of businesses plan on implementing it if they haven’t already.

Therefore, if you’re going to keep up with marketing trends and stand out in the online world, it’s a good idea to get a good intro video up on your website.

In order to give you an idea of what a strong therapist or healing practitioner intro video might look like, I’d like to show you Jason Fierstein’s intro video. Jason is a licensed professional counselor in Phoenix, Arizona, who has a niche focused on men who are having relationship problems.

I’ve known Jason for several years, and a while ago he added an introduction video to his therapy website. Needless to say, when I first watched his video, I was very impressed. I viewed the entire 2.14-minute video and was completely engaged the entire time. In fact, I liked it so much I’ve now seen it about 5 times!

Jason has the best counselor intro video I have ever seen.

Have a look at Jason’s video and then read my commentary below.

 

3 Reasons Why Jason’s Intro Video is Awesome:

1. Jason’s Video has “professional” written all over it.

Jason’s video for his therapy practice with men looks very professional.

I know it can be costly to get a video professionally done, but it’s worth the investment.

If a professional video helps turn even a few more clients who visit your website into clients, you will make your money back in no time.

However, I’m not saying your video has to be done by a professional. If you, a friend, or family member have some strong video skills, you might be able to pull off a decent quality video.

In Jason’s video, all the technical aspects (at least from the perspective of my amateur eyes) are very strong. The visuals are clear and focused with great lighting. There are no interruptions, blurred moments or awkward instability in the recording. The sound is crisp and clear, allowing the viewer to easily hear and understand everything.

To make the video more inviting, there are some bits of text shown beside Jason as he speaks. This helps to highlight and reinforce key points. The background music throughout the video is also a nice touch.

Let’s face it, this counseling video was not put together in an hour. The editing is very good, and the time it likely took to make is reflected in the outcome.

2. Jason appears confident

As soon as he begins talking, you can immediately tell that Jason appears self-assured. His body language is strong, he looks at the camera (for the most part), and he sounds like an expert who knows what he is talking about.

Coupled with his professional appearance, Jason’s intro video is engaging and likely leaves a strong impression on his audience, facilitating a beginning connection with them. As I said earlier, I found it engaging enough to watch several times and I’m not even in his target audience!

3. Jason’s Message is Targeted

As soon as the video begins, it is clear who Jason is talking to– his male audience, with whom he speaks to directly. He immediately discusses common problems that his potential clients have and then proceeds to explain how he can help. He also describes the outcomes that his target audience is seeking.

Jason’s message is positive, encouraging and includes a call to action at the end (asking his audience to call, email or read his blog posts if they are not ready to book a counseling appointment).

Jason talks little about himself. He keeps the message on his website visitors. While he could have said a little more about himself to boost his credibility even more, I think he was very convincing without doing so.

Those of you who have been on my email list for a while, will notice that Jason’s message is a simplified mini version of a “marketing message” like those I recommend you have in your website copy on your therapist or healing website.

 3 Things That Would Have Made This Great Video Even Better

1. Jason misses an opportunity in his call to action

At the end of the video, Jason’s “call to action”, while strong, could be even powerful if he asked his viewers to sign-up for his email list.

Jason is a long time blogger and getting newsletter subscribers should be one of the first things he and most healer or counselor website’s should try to do. Why? Because many people won’t contact you on the first visit to a website, so getting their email gives you the opportunity to stay in touch with them and build an even deeper relationship with them over time through writing helpful articles.

Since Jason overlooked this opportunity, it could mean that some visitors leave his site and eventually forget about him or will be unable to find their way back if they later want to.

2. According to research, Jason’s video might be a bit long

Jason’s video is 2 minutes and 14 seconds in length. Yet, research shows that people tend to watch short videos on average between 45 seconds and 1 minute before they start losing interest.

This is because when you go to a website looking for a service professional you want to find what you are looking for as quickly as possible. Longer intro videos risk losing the viewer if the viewer becomes impatient and decides to move on. They might skip through the video or shut it down before they have watched it completely.

However, although Jason’s video is longer than the recommended length for a short intro video, because he sticks to the point, and the video is so good, it probably doesn’t matter that it’s a little longer than what is shown to be the most effective.

3. There could have been a second call to action to sign-up for Jason’s email list in the text that appears at the end of the video

At the very end of the video there is some text that appears showing Jason’s website URL, his email and his phone number. While I think it was useful to show his email and phone number, his website address isn’t necessary if the viewer is already on his website.

However, Jason also has this video posted on YouTube (smart idea) so having his website URL on the video for YouTube would be necessary to entice any YouTube viewers to go to his website.

If Jason would have made two versions of the video he could keep the current version on YouTube, and have a second one with text showing his name and phone number as well as a second call to action to sign up for his email list (2 similar calls to action help to reinforce the point).

I encourage you to plan on creating an intro video for your therapy or healing website, if you haven’t already.

Creating an intro video gives you the opportunity to illustrate to your audience how you can help them in a very personal way that you simply cannot do with text alone.

If a ‘picture says a 1000 words’; a video can say it even better.

You can visit Jason’s website and find out more about him and his services here.

Please share your thoughts on Jason’s video and this article in the comments below.