Since its inception in 2016, TikTok has amassed over 1 billion users, making it one of the most popular social media platforms today. Videos range from recipes and viral dance routines to sincere life advice and parodies and everything in between. As a medical practice leader, you know how important it is to not only provide your patients with great care, but work to promote and grow your business. So when your team says, “let’s make a TikTok!” you may think it’s a great way to market your practice. While TikTok’s algorithm offers opportunities for even the smallest creators to go viral, making videos to stay on #trend may be harmful to the brand that you have worked so hard to cultivate. Our advice? Stick to slow growth and engaging content, and steer clear of the TikTok trap.
Let’s Talk TikTok
Before we dive into our reasoning, let’s review algorithms. Every social media platform on the market has an algorithm—Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and more. Each platform’s algorithm follows similar patterns, such as putting posts with significant likes, comments and shares at the top of your feed or showing content from accounts and people that you frequently interact with. However, TikTok is unique in one important aspect—its “viralability.”
Creators on the platform, no matter how small or how frequently they post content, have the opportunity to amass thousands of views, engagements and followers with just one video. Some of the platform’s most popular Gen Z stars “blew up” (as the kids say) virtually overnight, all thanks to one viral video pushed by the algorithm. This can be especially appealing to businesses, who can reach more users than ever before without having to pay for sponsored content like Facebook ads. While the prospect of gaining new followers and patients can be tempting as a medical practice leader, in many cases, it is too good to be true.
3 Reasons You Should Avoid TikTok
Before you hit the record button, consider the following:
- It is difficult to engage with patients on this platform. Social media is a great tool for reaching potential patients and growing your brand. But arguably, one of the most useful aspects of social media marketing is engaging with your current followers and patients to create an enthusiastic community around your practice. Content on this platform is often created with a mass audience in mind—and unless your patients regularly engage with your videos, the likelihood of content reaching them on the “For You” page is slim. Going viral is a possibility—not a guarantee.
- Making trendy, fun videos can be time-consuming. Many popular videos require a lot of moving parts to be successful, such as video clips, filters, text and captions and of course, selecting the perfect audio to tie everything together. If you or your team are spending time curating a video, you are spending less time doing what you do best—providing excellent care to your patients.
- You can compromise your brand trying to stay #trending on the #fyp. The algorithm has been linked to many overnight success stories, but it has also been linked to more harmful consequences. The platform has been criticized for showing sexual and drug-related content to minors, encouraging eating disorders and promoting potentially-harmful trends, to name a few. And while we understand that our medical practice leaders would not contribute to this harmful content, altering your behavior and tone to fit a silly trend could damage your brand. This is not to say that you cannot have fun with your marketing or stay on-trend—but do not change your brand identity for the sake of views.
3 Things To Try Instead
At Virginia Creative Group, we understand that it is important to stay up to date with the latest trends in social media. While we advise against using TikTok, here are a few alternatives:
- Utilize Instagram reels. In an effort to compete with the video giant, Instagram has launched its own short video feature: Instagram reels. While the success of reels depends on many factors, such as hashtags, audios used, relevancy and more, Instagram has started featuring reels prominently on the home page. While these are also time-consuming to create, they are a great alternative for medical practices that are itching to create video content.
- Focus on patient-centered content. Whether you are promoting your practice on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter, always ensure that content puts patients first. Before sharing something online, put yourself in your patient’s shoes. Why is this content important to me? How can this information benefit me as a patient? The more concise, creative, cohesive and patient-focused your social media content is, the better.
- Pass the social media baton to Virginia Creative Group. Our social media experts are always looking for new ways to help our medical practices brand themselves on social media in a smart and professional way, so they can spend more time providing patients with high-quality care.
In summary, there are ways to use TikTok professionally, but we do not recommend it for our medical practices. For more social media tips, check out our blog. If you’re ready to step up your social media game with the help of industry experts, let’s talk.