TikTok For Dentists

Is it worth it or just another fad being pushed by dental marketing companies?

Over the last few months I’ve seen an increasing number of enquiries from dentists, both existing clients and others, who want to know more about TikTok and if it’s worthwhile for marketing purposes.

Their interest has been piqued by a couple of dental marketers who are bombarding the community with messages trying to sell TikTok services and understandably, dentists want to know what it’s all about.

Unfortunately some marketing companies will seize the opportunity to sell a new service to an unsuspecting dentist irrespective of whether it’s actually worthwhile or not, so today I thought I’d dig into the pros and cons of TikTok so you can make an informed decision about whether it’s likely to work for you or not.

Let’s start with the basics.

What is TikTok?

TikTok has actually been around for a while, first appearing back in late 2016 from where it slowly gained traction to become quite popular, particularly with younger people. In essence, it’s a Chinese developed social media platform dedicated to sharing and viewing short video clips, typically comedy, singing, dancing and the like.

So it’s a very visual channel and with the usual messaging and sharing facilities that you may well be familiar with from other social platforms.

Usage is slowing down a little now but the platform is still projected to reach around 950 million world-wide users in 2025.

Is it sensible for dentists to run a TikTok account?

The answer to that is “it depends” but for most, arguably not. Given that the channel is markedly skewed to a younger demographic, it isn’t really suitable for advertising general dental treatments or indeed something like implants. Conversely, there is some potential for selected cosmetic treatments including ortho. However, to achieve any traction, you need to consider the following:

• video content – you need a lot of this and it needs to be original and engaging. Unfortunately most dentists don’t have the time and budget to organise that. It’s also important to remember that it’s highly unlikely that an agency will be able to produce this type of hyper-engaging content for you, even if you do have a big budget to throw at it.
• can you manage a TikTok account alongside other, more established social channel advertising? There is a good chance that the answer is “no”. It’s much better to manage one of two channels really well than spread too thinly. You may think it can be done successfully by your chosen agency, but it’s important to remember that if you go that route, the best you’ll likely get is generic content which doesn’t represent you and your brand appropriately – and consequently won’t resonate with the intended audience.
• does TikTok fit with the rest of your brand exposure initiatives and if so, what priority should it have? My guidance here is that even if it does, then the priority should be lower than more established marketing channels i.e. Google, Facebook and Instagram.
• is it best just to try TikTok ads? It’s arguably even more difficult to gain organic traction on TikTok than Facebook or Instagram, however it doesn’t stop you trying paid ads on the channel. TikTok ads are still quite rudimentary but it’s a quick way to get broad reach and to test the potential for new patient enquiries.
• privacy concerns – TikTok is regularly under scrutiny regarding privacy concerns and where your data may or may not be going. It’s worth researching this and whether you feel comfortable with it.

Summarising

Whilst it’s always quite exciting to launch your brand on a new marketing channel, you need to be very careful to establish the likely impact and return on your investment, both time and money. Whilst some agencies claim success on TikTok for their clients, you really need to dig into that to understand exactly what is being delivered and indeed how it stacks up against returns from more established and arguably more suitable channels.

There are already lots of examples where dentists websites are linked to their TikTok accounts but if you take a look, you either see tumble-weed or a half-hearted attempt with minimal traction. This just looks bad and should be avoided.

If you are keen to try TikTok for your own dental practice, please keep in mind the key points discussed earlier. If you feel it may be worth a try, rather than try to build up and organic presence and following, you may wish to try the paid ads route to get some quick feedback and test the potential that way.

If you try the agency route, don’t tie into any long term contracts, check their claims of success very closely and be sure to receive regular performance reports. That way, if it’s not working, then you can re-direct your time and budget elsewhere.

If you’d like more information about social media marketing for dentists, please call the Dental Media team on 01332 672548 for no-obligation advice.