Tips for Leveraging TikTok

Since the start of the pandemic, short-form video content popularity has completely taken off. Viewers can easily scroll from video to video, ingesting up to 60 seconds worth of content at once.

Businesses have started utilizing this type of content to promote their goods and services. In this blog post, I will talk about how your practice can leverage TikTok to show off your services to prospective patients.

Why TikTok?

When you hear TikTok, I’m sure the first thing that enters your mind is the younger generations. It’s not hard to not associate the platform with youth because many of its users are under the age of 40. About 70% of TikTok users are under the age of 40, after all.

If your practice caters to an older demographic the logical question becomes why would TikTok be a good fit for you?

The answer is, perhaps, not so obvious. Even if your practice does not directly target Millennials or Gen Z patients, you can still benefit from having a TikTok presence.

With the app, you can:

Promote your services for free. Think of it like free social advertising. We know that short-form videos can perform very well on different platforms. With the right audio, hashtags, and engaging content, your services can potentially be seen by thousands of people.
Enlarge your audience. With millions of users across different countries, you can easily reach as many prospective patients as possible. You never know who may need your services.
Attract new patients. You may have a very niche practice that is targeted toward a certain demographic. Even though you only serve a specific group of people, there is always going to be someone who is missing out from your marketing efforts. With TikTok, creating engaging content and lasting relationships is the name of the game. Your practice could be exactly what someone has been waiting for.
Increase your practice’s brand awareness. TikTok offers another platform for increasing your practice’s exposure to could-be patients.

Be You!

Being authentic with content across your social media platforms leads to the best content that you can possibly produce. Unlike other platforms, TikTok is good at pushing out the content created by smaller creators and accounts. This means that your practice is more likely to reach a wider audience. If your content is clean and authentic, it will help you attract new patients.

Many practices Sesame works with have success with behind-the-scenes content as well as oral health content. If you are stuck on what types of content you should produce, check out our previous blog post about Reels.

#Hashtag Your Content

Pay attention to what hashtags your target audience engages with! This makes it a lot easier for them to find your content and practice as well as remaining a part of the TikTok algorithm that is used to make suggestions.

Think of hashtags as a label for your content. If your users are looking for a dentist’s office near them, they’ll turn to social media and type in “dentist.” If your content is labeled with that term, you’re more likely to pop up in their results.

To get started, use hashtags that are relevant to your practice. If you’re a dental office don’t forget to add in “#dentist.” In a separate scenario, if your practice offers cosmetic services, so you’ll want to use “#veneers” or “#dentures.” The possibilities are endless.

Add in Audio

TikTok offers the option to add audio to each video. Depending on the audio you choose, your content could be pushed out in front of thousands of people.

Similar to hashtags, each audio has its section. From there users can see all the content that was created using that audio. If your content is performing really well, you’ll be displayed at the top of relevant results.

The trick with adding in audio is making sure that it works with the video(s) you are using. And of course, the early bird gets the worm. If you’re able to be amongst the first to use trending audio, you’ll have a much higher chance of reaching more users.

There are not a lot of dental practices that utilize TikTok and, if they do, they are often high-performing accounts. That means the platform holds plenty of opportunity for generating great visibility!

If you have any questions about the platform or need help setting it up, please don’t hesitate to reach out to our social team.

—Marie Dubray, Social Media Specialist, Sesame Communications