More people are on TikTok now than ever before. TikTok has over a billion active users every month and it’s still growing. As the audience grows, more and more brands are finding that it’s the perfect place to build a dedicated following.
While it’s well known that many TikTokers are in the Gen Z demographic, it’s less discussed that 31% of users are 25-34, and nearly a quarter are 35+. In addition, many high-end brands have had great success on the platform thanks to its emphasis on immersive, collaborative storytelling. Add to that the highly personalised algorithm and strong emphasis on authenticity, and TikTok is a brilliant way to build awareness of your dental practice, show off your brand’s personality and your products – and ultimately convert consumers into clients.
So without further ado, here are our top tips to help you level up your TikTok game like a pro!
1. Bring the realness – be authentic
On TikTok, authenticity is the name of the game. You can show you mean business, but you’ve also got to show yourself. Some of the most successful content is based on small niches – just take Francis Bourgeois, who started off making trainspotting videos. His popularity skyrocketed on TikTok: he has over 2 million followers and has collaborated with major brands including Gucci and the North Face.
Community is also vital. TikTokers use hashtags to find the content they love (in your niche!), and algorithms analyse which content to promote using them too. Find out which hashtags your competitors are using and experiment to discover which work best for your content.
Once you’ve found people who are interested in cosmetic dentistry, engage with their content too – for example, by making reaction videos. This gets your brand directly in front of the people you’ve reacted to, builds trust and connection with your audience (especially if it’s educational or relatable) and builds your reputation as an authority in your field.
2. Grab your audience’s attention – and keep it
Engagement is all about playing with expectations, the tension and release – it’s almost like a piece of music. Anything could happen. When you’re competing to cut through the noise, creativity and emotion are king and queen. Use the element of surprise, and create room to connect through a story, like we did in this Reel for Dr Jack Yang.
Beyond the video itself, you can use your captions to build engagement by starting a conversation, or you can use them to keep people engaged with your video by building suspense with an intriguing or sensational tagline.
3. Edutainment, edutainment, edutainment
We humans have a relentless thirst for knowledge, and this is especially true on TikTok. Show your audience something that they might not know, whether it’s debunking a common dental myth or showing them the process behind a treatment (full arch implants anyone?).
Bonus points if you reach out to them for their questions. Like when a celebrity answers fan mail, this builds an authentic connection and keeps people coming back to your content.
4. Go with the current – jump on the trends
Trends move lightning-fast on TikTok. You can find the latest trends in the Discover tab, then brainstorm how to apply these to your own brand. Sound and music are essential to the full TikTok experience too, and users riff on trending sounds to make their own content – often with a bit of tongue-in-cheek humour. You can find the latest trending sounds in the Create section of the app.
5. Create community crossovers
People buy from people, and more brands are starting to realise this. It’s about trust and authentic connections. It also allows you to reach other creators’ communities. For instance, Dr Jack’s collaboration with influencer Gemma Isabella Lepre created crossover between their communities while showing fans how they could get an influencer’s smile too.
6. The edit is everything
The edit can make or break a piece of content, and that’s even truer when it’s a few short seconds long. That’s why we dedicate so much time to the first 3 seconds of our videos.
Quick cuts and visual effects are especially effective on TikTok. Once you have your video content recorded, you can repurpose it on Instagram (Reels, Stories) and YouTube (Shorts). You can also create edits to suit different platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn or Pinterest. Each has its differences, but once you learn to work with these, the possibilities are limitless.
Wrapping up
Authenticity and creativity are key if you want to stand out on TikTok. Users want to be informed and entertained in equal measure, and they want to connect with the people behind the brands. If you’re looking for more inspiration to level up your video content, check out our dental Reels compilation
If you’d like to work with us to bring your brand’s vision to life, get in touch below with .