In our last post, we discussed why TikTok is not currently an effective dental marketing platform on the basis of relevant target age demographics and where said demographics search and browse online.
Here, we’ll dive into why the specific goals of dental marketing do not align with how TikTok presently operates as a social media platform, particularly in regards to TikTok’s unique type and format of content.
Primary Goals of Dental Marketing:
Let’s first establish our primary goals when it comes to your dental marketing campaign:
To attract new patients, by increasing traffic and leads to your website and social media platforms, by:
Establishing your dental practice and team as trustworthy, professional, skilled, a reliable authority on dental health and care.
Increasing your practice’s presence, identity and recognition within your local and surrounding area.
Increasing loyalty among current patients while garnering trust from prospective patients.
TikTok is a very unique social media platform that (in its current manifestation) does not lend itself to presenting or communicating the above concepts well, let alone reaching target audiences with them.
The Uniqueness of TikTok:
Type of Content (Thematically)
TikTok’s main focus and appeal is the immediacy and digestibility of its short form, creator-driven videos, and their users overwhelmingly gravitate towards lighthearted and funny content. The most popular TikTok content includes: dances, comedy, quick breakdowns of news stories, makeup and fashion hacks, utilizing popular sounds and trends, etc.
Serious or everyday content and products tend not to gain much traction on TikTok; when serious content does go viral on TikTok, they are typically videos that feature raw emotional and/or shocking content – both qualities that dental practices want to avoid being identified with!
Furthermore, businesses that attempt to gain TikTok popularity by producing fun and trending content may inadvertently present the wrong image of themselves. Dental practices can and should show off what makes them unique on their social media platforms, but participating too frequently in TikTok challenges and trends may backfire, and give the impression of appearing juvenile and unprofessional.
Video Length
Though TikTok originally allowed videos up to 60 seconds only, the platform now allows videos as long as 10 minutes, and creators can add photos as well. However, short-form videos still reign supreme on the platform: the average TikTok length is between 15 and 60 seconds, and the optimal length is between 21 and 34 seconds.
Dental marketing topics not only tend to not gain traction on TikTok, they are also very difficult to get across coherently in 30-second-long videos. Longer videos (such as treatment videos and patient testimonials) and static images (such as infographics, staff/patient photos, and case photos) are better suited for communicating the more complex ideas and concepts you want to get across with your marketing campaign.
Post Frequency
Successful TikTok accounts not only capitalize on short, authentic, creator-driven videos, but they also post very frequently. The recommended TikTok posting frequency is 1-3 times daily, and the average posting frequency across all TikTok accounts is 22 posts/month and rising.
Unlike other social media marketing strategies which can be managed successfully by a marketing company, TikTok marketing content must near-exclusively feature the business’s employees and owners directly creating and participating in TikTok videos. For dental practices who want their marketing team to create virtually all of their social media content, it will take a lot of dedicated time from the practice owner and staff to shoot the videos, and it can get costly to edit and create a high quantity of professionally designed videos.
Audience
We’ve already touched on this in our previous post, but it bears repeating: Though TikTok has a large active user base, the majority of their users are of the Gen Z age group (aged 10-25 today), and not the target demographic for dental marketing. Simply put, the majority of the audience you wish to reach with your dental marketing campaign may not even be on TikTok.
However, all this is not to say that TikTok will never be a viable platform for dental marketing. As with all things related to digital marketing, trends change and evolve very quickly. What is true currently, in the last quarter of 2022, might no longer be the case in the first or second quarter of 2023. Stay tuned for more updates and insight into the ever-evolving world of digital marketing!
Email: dallas@gmediausa.com
Tel: (972)882-9200 / (972)882-9222
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