Tips for Hosting a Live Video Q&A Session

One of the most effective and engaging ways to reach potential patients for your medical practice is through online videos. While any video can be a profitable project, your practice can especially benefit from live videos on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok. These platforms give you a boost by prioritizing live videos in users’ newsfeeds.

If you’re aiming to start using more live videos in your marketing strategy, the trick is putting out informative and engaging content that your future patients actually can use and want to see. One easy way to do this is with a live video question and answer session in which your medical providers answer top questions from patients and viewers.

To coordinate a successful live video Q&A session that attracts viewers and ultimately leads to new patients, follow these tips from our experienced team at McCauley Marketing Services.

Know Your Tech

Your viewers are tuning into your live video to watch you share your expertise, not to watch you spend ten minutes trying to get the camera, lighting, and audio working correctly. It’s important to make sure your live video is being operated by someone who is familiar with all the tools you’re using as well as the broadcasting platform.

If you are new to live videos, it can help tremendously to do a few dry runs in advance. Try simple live videos to wish your followers a good morning, show them what you have in store for the day, and so on.

Have the Right Equipment

Speaking of technology and equipment, it is important to have the right tools at your disposal. Most modern phones are easy to use for the video and audio of a live video. However, you want to have a tripod available so you can position the phone the way you want it and avoid unwanted movement during filming, and you need to have good lighting as well. Ring lights offer exceptional lighting, and they are inexpensive to buy online. Make sure to set it all up in advance to get the ideal lighting and positioning.

Market the Video in Advance

If you want viewers to tune in for your live video, you need to make sure they know what an informative and enjoyable event it will be. Market the video like you would market any other event for your practice: teasers, e-blasts, social media posts, and even posting the session as a Facebook event for example. Tell your patients in the office to tune in as well.

Start with Questions in Advance

In a live video Q&A session, there’s nothing worse than the awkward silence of sitting on the video waiting for someone to ask a question. Remember that people are busy and not everyone can participate in or view the video during the time that it’s live, and even the viewers who are tuning in live may not have questions of their own. You can prevent these uncomfortable pauses by having backup questions prepared in advance.

When you publicize the event, you could ask viewers to submit questions in advance. It’s also helpful to have questions of your own prepared ahead. In fact, it is best to have enough questions prepared that you could fill the entire time of your live video in case no live viewers ask any questions.

Choose Your Topic Wisely

To entice viewers to tune in, you need to select a topic that they want to know about. It’s better to have a specific subject than a general Q&A. It helps to consider trending topics on social media that are relevant to your field or industry and to choose a subject that is informative, not self-promotional. There’s nothing worse than tuning into a commercial and this is an almost guaranteed way to ensure people will never visit your platform again!

Be sure to write a compelling title for the event as well. For example, your video could be called “Dermatologist Answers All Your Questions About Aging.” You are showcasing that viewers will learn facts about a commonly discussed topic from true experts in the field.

A live Q&A session is a tremendous way to take advantage of the benefits of live video in your marketing strategy. The value all depends on your preparation and execution, though, so use the few tips above for a more successful and profitable video session. For additional video tips and more hands-on help with your live video or other aspects of your marketing strategy, call McCauley Marketing Services today. Keep up with us as well on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.