Nobody choosing a vet, a dentist or a chiropractor can judge how good you are. They cannot evaluate your clinical work before the appointment, and most of them cannot evaluate it afterwards either. So they judge something else. Video is the cheapest way to control what that something else is.
The problem you are actually solving
Economists have a name for services whose quality a buyer cannot assess even after paying for them. Credence goods. The term comes from Darby and Karni in 1973, and veterinary, dental and chiropractic care are the textbook examples.
That is the whole problem in one word. A prospective client cannot compare your extractions to the practice down the road. They can only decide whether they trust you.
Everything below is about that decision, and every number has a named study behind it.
Being likeable only pays on camera
This is the finding most people have never heard, and it is the strongest argument for video there is.
Chaiken and Eagly ran two experiments with 304 participants. They found that how much people liked a communicator changed how persuasive they found the message only when it was delivered on video or audio.
In writing, likeability made no difference at all.
Think about what that means for a practice. Your doctors are probably your best asset. Warm, patient, good with nervous animals or nervous kids. On your website, written out, that asset is worth nothing. It only converts when people can see it.
A doctor on camera is trusted more than anyone else
In a randomized trial with 2,904 US adults, researchers took the same health script and had it delivered on camera by either a physician or a patient.
The physician was trusted more in every group measured.
- Physician presenter
- 78.6%
- Patient presenter
- 72.0%
Among Black adults the same gap held, 72.5% against 64.6%.
The person on camera matters, and the person who should be on camera is the doctor. Not a narrator, not an actor, not stock footage.
What video moves, measured
In a randomized study of 257 people, a therapist who showed more nonverbal empathy on video was rated significantly warmer. The effect size was 0.70, which in this kind of research is large.
That is the mechanism. Leaning in, eye contact, unhurried hands. None of it survives a paragraph of text, and all of it lands on camera.
What people say video did for them
Google and BCG surveyed 10,117 US consumers in March 2025 about the role video played in their purchases. Among those who said video was part of the path:
- 50%Made them aware of a brand
- 45%Helped them choose
- 43%Got them interested in buying
- 34%Prompted them to buy
- Made them aware of a brand
- 50%
- Helped them choose
- 45%
- Got them interested in buying
- 43%
- Prompted them to buy
- 34%
Awareness and choosing lead. That is consistent with everything above. Video is how somebody meets you and decides you are the one, before they ever pick up the phone.
What it does not do, so you buy it for the right reason
In that same warmth study, the therapist rated significantly warmer was not rated more competent. Warmth moved. Competence did not.
So do not buy video expecting it to prove you are a better clinician. It will not. It proves you are somebody a nervous person would want to be treated by, which for a credence good is the decision that actually gets made.
What to actually put on camera
Based on what the research says moves the needle, in order.
- Each doctor, introducing themselves. Short. Why they do this work. This is the single highest value asset you can own, because it is the only format where being likeable pays.
- A walk through the practice. First-visit nerves are the reason people delay booking. Show them the room before they sit in it.
- One procedure explained plainly by the doctor who performs it. Dentals, extractions, adjustments, whichever one people hesitate over.
- Real staff, real rooms. Not stock.
Two practical notes. The doctor does not need to be a natural on camera, they need to be themselves; the warmth research measures nonverbal behaviour, not polish. And if your doctors genuinely hate being filmed, this is not the right spend for you, because the discomfort is what the camera will capture.
What to do this week
- Pick which doctor goes first. The one clients already ask for by name.
- Write down the three questions new clients ask most. That is the script, and you already have it.
- Replace any stock photo of a person on your site with a real one today, free, while you decide about video.
- Decide whether your doctors actually want to do this. If they do not, spend the money somewhere else and I will tell you where.