Can you guess the second largest social media platform in the world? We all know Facebook is number one, but what comes next? The answer is YouTube, with 2.2 billion monthly active users.1
The social media site boasts more than 30 million visitors2 who collectively watch 5 billion videos daily. When YouTube debuted 17 years ago, most people saw the site as a novelty and for entertainment use only. But YouTube is so much more than vintage Blink-182 videos and montages of clumsy cats. YouTube is also a wonderful place to learn.
Around 86% of users say they routinely use YouTube3 for informational purposes. As a result, this site has become a formidable player not just in the entertainment landscape, but also as a means to educate.
And that’s precisely what your behavioral health center needs to do—educate people on the many benefits of psilocybin treatment. Because whether your center is in an area where this treatment is legal now or not, legalization is coming.
Most people have negative associations with the word “psychedelic.” But you know that psilocybin treatments and other psychedelic therapies are a chance at relief for patients struggling with depression, anxiety, and PTSD. So how do you reach past those barriers to treatment and connect with patients who could benefit from these emerging therapies?
YouTube Marketing for Psilocybin
Education is the key to overcoming negative opinions. And, right now, YouTube is one of the most effective ways to teach people about the life-changing benefits of psilocybin. Here’s how.
Step 1. Focus Your Channel
You might think your YouTube channel needs to cover the full scope of diagnoses and treatments provided by your behavioral health center. But you’d be wrong. Your center most likely treats a wide variety of cognitive and emotional disorders. Discussing them all in a meaningful way on a single YouTube channel would be challenging.
Rather, consider creating a channel solely to address psilocybin treatment. That gives patients, and their families, who are specifically interested in psilocybin the opportunity to subscribe to a channel where they’ll regularly receive educational information about the topic they find relevant.
Step 2. Consistently Create Quality Content
All your content needs to have the same high level of quality and value to the viewer. Your videos should present a problem where psilocybin could be the solution for the patient, or detail an objection to which you thoughtfully offer an alternative way of thinking backed by facts.
Demonstrate your points by offering expert opinions, visuals, scholarly research, and other data to educate your audience. And make sure everything you publish is contextually relevant to the channel and the video itself.
Don’t create fluff or filler videos for the sake of sticking to an editorial calendar. If you have something meaningful and exciting to say, say it. If you don’t, don’t. Think quality, not quantity.
Step 3. Thoughtfully Curate the Content
Creating good content is crucial, but organizing the videos is just as important. Create playlists to categorize your content and group related videos. Make sure the videos in each playlist are ordered in a way that makes sense, should a viewer watch the entire playlist from start to finish.
Take advantage of the tools YouTube has built into the platform like featured sections, video spotlights, and the channel trailer. Adding these components to your channel will help users navigate the content and increase their satisfaction.
Step 4. Clean Out Content
Unfortunately, too many organizations use YouTube as a storage bin for all their videos. This isn’t a great approach. Lumping every video your center has ever made onto one YouTube channel will almost certainly compromise the overall channel quality and user experience.
Periodically audit your channel by checking video views and retention. Delete videos with only a handful of views or less than 30% retention.4
YouTube is an excellent educational tool, especially for an exciting new treatment like psilocybin. We can help you make the most of YouTube to teach your patients and their families about psilocybin’s many benefits. Schedule a strategy session by calling 888.307.7304.
For a list of references, please contact us.