Health apps can provide a wide range of services at an increasingly advanced level, from weight loss monitoring and addiction support to managing GP communications. They have the ability to provide help for patients who have unmet needs due to unaffordable healthcare, provider shortages, and long wait times.
The most recent report by ORCHA has found that there has been a remarkable increase in the use of digital health channels. Digital health refers to the use of communication technologies to distribute information, manage illness and promote wellness. The report’s most striking finding is the surge in health app downloads that have taken place during the COVID19 pandemic.
From summer 2019 to summer 2020 mental health app downloads increased by 200% and those supporting customers with weight loss rose by a whopping 1294%.
The world is now flooded with health apps, each looking to ride the wave of the digital health revolution, how do you distinguish yourself? Video marketing is the answer you are looking for.
Video, utilised by 86% of advertising professionals is one of the most effective ways to enrich your marketing strategy, particularly when it comes to intangible products like apps. Let’s take a look at a selection of the best new health app videos and see what can be learnt from them.
Myfitnesspal
One of the first things we consider when looking to download an app focused on diet and weight loss is if it really works. This is why Myfitnesspal’s marketing team decided to create a testimonial video advert. Testimonials are one of the most effective ways to market an app like Myfitnesspal as it presents convincing evidence that it successfully does what it sets out to do. You’ll be hard-pressed to find a way to market your product better than a loyal customer relaying why they love it.
Testimonial videos build trust and promote brand authenticity, in fact, 90% of people trust what a customer says about a business more than what the business says about itself. Myfitnesspal’s video is orchestrated perfectly to ensure this trust is built. Danielle, giving her testimonial informs the audience that with the help of the app, especially using its helpful features such as barcode scanning, she was able to lose 50lbs. This is backed up with photographic evidence, further authenticating her testimonial.
Testimonial videos should always include a Call to Action. Myfitnesspal presents a great CTA at the end encouraging people to download the app for free. Those that have watched the video and been convinced by the testimonial are more likely to convert when presented with a clear CTA.
To learn how to create your own testimonial video click here.
Calm
Celebrity endorsements and collaborations, especially presented through video drive brand recognition and promote credibility. Around 15% of advertisements that run in America feature a celebrity.
Celebrities, by their very nature, demand attention – utilising celebrities in marketing content can grab the attention of not only your target audience but potentially even the wider media. This can enrich your marketing strategy, shining a spotlight on your business, product, or service.
When considering celebrity endorsements, it is important to consider the following factors:
- Familiarity – Will your audience know them
- Relevance – Are they relevant to your audience and product
- Esteem – Will they bring positivity to your business
- Differentiation – Will people think of your business when you see them
NBA legend Lebron James, known for his ferocious work ethic and physical endurance has long discussed the role his mind plays in his success. Touting mental fitness whilst promoting his partnership with Calm in a recent interview, James said ‘to be able to train my mind as much as I train my body is why I am still able to do the things I’m doing right now with 17 years in the league’. The mental struggles athletes face has been a hot topic of discussion for the media as of late, especially after tennis sensation Naomi Osaka withdrew from the French Open to tend to her mental wellbeing. This brings relevance to James’ involvement with Calm.
Calm’s partnership with James has been highly lucrative, garnering widespread media exposure and motivating many who might not have considered downloading Calm to now do so.
Your celebrity endorser does not need to be a world-famous superstar like Lebron James, they simply must be recognisable to your target audience. A Youtube vlogger is unlikely to be recognisable to the population at large, but to a smaller circle of tweens, they will mean a lot. It is highly expensive to undergo celebrity endorsement, so this is worth remembering. The key is to match the right celebrity, with the right product and campaign.
Successful celebrity endorsements may positively shift people’s impressions of a company in an instant and have a huge impact on ROI, but it’s not that simple. If your celebrity becomes embroiled in a public scandal while advertising your product, your brand might be ruined overnight.
Headspace
Headspace is one of the most popular mindfulness apps on the market, second in popularity to Calm. Its users, often new to meditation, love its easy-to-use, unintimidating interface. Headspace’s advertising videos are wonderful, crafted in the perfect tone and relaxing style of animation. This newer video by them exemplifies a grounding technique led by Headspace mindfulness teacher Dora Kamau.
A comforting voice-over and lack of music combined with neutral animation invoke feelings of peace and tranquility in the viewer. The video gives a taste of what customers can expect from Headspace and encourages conversions through a friendly CTA at the end.
Whilst the entire video hits the mark, it’s the voice-over that really makes it something special. It is important to consider the quality of your audio in any video, especially those that rely on meaningful voice-overs. An unprofessional voice-over can take hinder the viewer’s relaxing experience. We recommend using professional voice artists to record projects like this. It’s also a good idea to record in a sound studio if your budget allows for it.
Strava
Strava is a health app that tracks physical exercise (running, walking, cycling) through GPS. Its multiple social media features, allowing users to compare and share achievements has led to its labelling of the ‘social network for athletes’ . The popular phrase ‘if it’s not on Strava, it didn’t happen’, uttered relentlessly in athletic communities attests to the popularity and importance of the app.
Unlike its competitors, Fitbit being one of them, Strava was at first marketed towards elite athletes. For instance, over two-thirds of the Tour de France cyclists track their stage results on it. It is now, however, moving into wider consumer marketing with great success. Strava currently has 95 million users across 195 countries, with an impressive 17% of the UK population consistently using the app. To maintain Strava’s success in the non-elite athletics community, its marketing must reflect every type of person who can reap the benefits of the app.
Inclusive marketing is, of course, key for all forms of business, however, it is of particular importance in the various healthcare sectors. Equality and inclusion are critical to ensuring that communities are treated equally and are aware of their healthcare options, despite their varying differences.
Strava’s wonderful marketing video proves that the app is for them, no matter who they are, where they are from, what religion they are or what they look like. In recent years, especially during the pandemic many more people have started on their journey to better health. As audiences become less homogenous, they want to see themselves and their lifestyles reflected in the app. They need representation, Strava has provided that and then some. In 2019, 64% of consumers were inspired to take some sort of action after seeing an ad they considered to be diverse or inclusive.
Flo
Flo is a women’s health app that supports women at each stage of their reproductive cycle. It tracks menstruation, predicts cycles, prepares for conception, pregnancy, early motherhood and menopause. There are over 200 million Flo users worldwide, with every tenth woman between the ages of 15 to 49 managing their cycle using the app.
In this ad, Flo uses simple animation to explain the purpose and role of their app. Aside from the various logistical pros of animation (versatility, cost-effectiveness, and malleability), it is one of the best channels to effectively convey health-related information. This is largely due to its neutral and accessible nature. The muted colour pallet and friendly characters within the video boost feelings of calm organisation and efficient usability.
Social media platforms now account for a greater percentage of marketing video views than ever before. Flo used this video across various social media platforms to drive downloads with great success. Part of this success, no doubt, is due to the soundless optimisation of the video.
The vast majority of social media networks, with the exception of TikTok, are pre-set to silence videos that appear on your timeline. Reports have shown that as many as 85% of Facebook videos are watched without sound. Although using sound in video is still advantageous in many circumstances, optimising your marketing videos for silent watching is a beneficial step to take.
This is especially true of healthcare companies, it is important that Flo’s videos are volume-agnostic to be fully accessible to women who have hearing impairments. Flo has been able to craft an informative video through eye-catching animation, textual descriptions, and clear signposting that has allowed them to steer away from an overreliance on audio.
Apple Fitness+
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fVFsbcXBkI
Apple is known for producing one-of-a-kind promotional videos that leave an indelible impression on the viewer. Their success is often due to the emotional pull of their videos, through stories, voice-overs, and stylistic choices. This ad for Apple Fitness+ is no different.
Apple Fitness+, powered by Apple Watch aims to keep audiences motivated through onscreen fitness metrics and guided workouts – from HITT to Yoga. Its slogan is ‘Anytime. Anywhere. Any Body. is reflected in this poignant ad.
Emotional marketing encapsulates advertising efforts that deliberately attempt to convey powerful messages that tap into human emotion, forcing a personal connection with its audience. It’s a masterfully impactful technique that can encourage social shares, increase sales and inspire customer loyalty.
After analysing 400 successful advertising campaigns, recent research has concluded that campaigns using emotional content performed twice as well as those with more rational content.
Emotional marketing is a great way to appeal to your target audience, especially in healthcare marketing. The complex feelings intertwined with our personal health journeys can be expressed authentically through a combination of performance, visuals, sound, story, script, and editing.
Talkspace
Like Calm, this brilliant Talkspace ad also uses celebrity endorsement. Michael Phelps, one of the most successful Olympians ever has spoken widely about his struggles with anxiety and depression. For this reason, he is an effective endorser of Talkspace, the number one online, subscription-based therapy service.
But that isn’t the only reason why this particular ad is so great. Let’s talk about snackable content…
Snackable videos are bite-sized pieces of digital content that are easy to consume, digest, and share. Just like a snack! The short-form videos (max 15 seconds) should be visually enticing to grab the attention of potential customers right at the top of the sales funnel, perhaps before they have even considered investing in your product or service.
The short-form nature of snackable video means it can promote a faster transaction of marketing information from the business to the potential customer. This increases its level of shareability between social media followers, friends, or business employees. Talkspace’s video is perfect for social media or as a pre- Youtube video ad. The bitesize, attention-grabbing media teases audiences into engaging with larger pieces of content developed for their brand. This is essential when encouraging customers to download an app needing a paid subscription.
To learn more about how to enrich your marketing strategy with snackable video click here.
To recap…
Video is a masterful way to market your health apps. It’s effective at establishing trust, promoting authenticity, explaining concepts, and educating audiences on the benefits of your application. Take some inspiration from the brilliant examples in this article and start planning your own health app marketing video.
Need some guidance? Kartoffel Films can help you out! With over ten years of experience in the industry, creating over 2000 videos, we can make video work for you, not the other way around. Contact us today to get our creative partnership started!
