The second post we wrote on this blog was titled “Low Budget Healthcare Marketing, The Basics” where we discussed how your healthcare facility can make use of internet marketing with very little cost. We’ve also mentioned the growing Hospital Social Network List.

So it comes as no surprise that the New York Times recently had an article about the growing trend in hospital marketing using social media, specifically YouTube. Embedded below is a video of Austin Weaver, a 14-year-old non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma patient talking about his goals for the future and what motivates him during his battle with cancer.

The article on NYTimes.com states that these videos “reflect the spirit of YouTube and Facebook, where nonactors are the stars, and spontaneity trumps scripted messages.”

By connecting to people on a personal level, viewers are more likely to associate a close connection. And by delivering content to people using the channels they already use on a daily basis, it is more likely that they will interact with your content.

The ads on YouTube represent a new kind of healthcare marketing. “[The] logo never appears, a first for any of [their] advertising, and it is mentioned only by name in subtitles, to identify the setting, for instance, as Austin walks its halls. The only direct reference is at the conclusion of each spot, where viewers are urged to learn more at akronchildrens.tv, a Web site that does highlight the hospital’s attributes.”

Watch Austin’s video on YouTube

No Actors, Just Patients in New Spots for Hospitals on NYTimes.com

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