Leverage the enormous appeal of TikTok-designed videos to attract the attention of perspective clients and keep existing ones entertained and loyal to your brand.

 

NOTE TO READER:

Unfortunately a glitch on the TikTok side is not permitting embedded TikToks to play on Apple phones and tablets. To view this blog properly, you’ll have to read it on a desktop or Android device.  As a browser, Chrome works best. Sorry for the inconvenience.

 

About TikTok

 

TikTok is a social media platform that allows users to produce short, appealing videos and share them with the world. The app was made in China and initially called Musical.ly. Then in 2016, a company called ByteDance purchased the company, merged it with its own version of the platform, and called the hybrid TikTok. As of 2020, the app has been downloaded 1.5 billion times and has roughly 850 million active users per month. Video content on the site has a unique style. It’s classically short (about 15 seconds); usually overlaid with music, voice overs, or images; and then enhanced with sound effects eponymously named with monikers like echo, giant, helium, monster, and vibrato. It has been wildly effective at showcasing pranks and jokes, family humor, craft making, how-to’s, lip-synching, episodic storylines, and, increasingly, the best of what small businesses have to offer.

 

Is TikTok My Audience? No, But That Doesn’t Matter

 

Because 50% of TikTok’s audience is under 34, and at least half of that audience is between 18 and 24 years of age, TikTok may not directly target the pet owners that you hope to engage, but don’t let that deter you. TikTok is infectiously watchable and the app’s ability to give users a way to film, edit, and post engaging videos is unmatched. Use the platform to steal TikTok’s already-proven concept, to build your content, and to share it to platforms like Facebook or Instagram where you likely already have a substantial, loyal following of clients.

 

Isn’t It Just Another Fad?

 

TikTok, like GooglePlus, Vine, and Friendster, will one day float off into the MySpace heaven of bygone social media platforms. In the meantime however, its sharp and attention-grabbing way of movie-making has irrevocably shaped the way we communicate and the way we think of messaging. It’s the internet’s version of the Super Bowl ad, but this time reaching a global audience of tens-of-millions for next to no money and no more time than it takes you to tape 15 seconds of content and to press post.  Sit out at your own peril. Choosing to sideline your practice for the duration of these TikTok manic times is missing out on a huge opportunity to engage with your clients. Besides, someone on your team has probably already been bitten by the TikTok movie-making bug!  See if they’re willing to make these films for you and together you can jump into this craze.

 

Advertising on TikTok

 

Like Facebook, you can have multiple accounts on TikTok, so it’s possible to have one profile for your business and a separate one for personal use.  Advertising on the platform can take two forms:

 

• You can buy various forms of advertising for your business directly from TikTok (only recommended for the largest of veterinary care franchises).
• You can use your business profile to create engaging TikTok content designed to draw attention to your business and engage your clients (recommended).

 

How To Get Started With A Business Account On TikTok

 

Start with a trip to YouTube to watch a video or two on the topic:

 

• How To Download The App and Set Up An Account
• How To Create A TikTok Account For Business 

 

Next:

 

• Using the information provided in the above-mentioned videos, open a personal account on TikTok.
• Once the account is open, click on the ‘me’ icon on your home page, located in the lower right hand portion of your screen.
• Click on the three dots on the upper right hand portion of the screen.
• Click on Manage Account.
• Click on Switch to Pro Account.

 

Okay, you’re a pro!  Now navigate back to the ‘me’ section of your account, click on ‘edit profile’, and make sure that the name, bio, website and category sections are all filled out correctly for your business. Try to keep the names that you choose for all the category sections as close as you can to the names that your business has on other social media sites so that you keep your branding consistent throughout the web. This step is not essential, but it makes for an easier user experience. As a last step, connect your business’s Instagram and YouTube accounts.

 

Getting a Feel For TikTok

 

Companies using the platform for advertising are careful to blend in with the site’s reputation for looking casual, being personal, and sticking to a script that sounds like it was proofed by Billie Eilish. It’s almost never overproduced, but the special music, lighting, sound, and voiceover effects available through the platform help to homogenize the feel of the content, to keep viewers engaged, and to give messaging and humor more punch. Below are two great examples.  In the first, Event Factory uses the same content that you might have seen in a Laura Ashley ad 30 years ago, but leverages TikTok’s editing tools to give it a modern vibe.  In the second, Art of Sucre uses a ‘How To Recipe’ angle to rope in viewer attention.

@eventfactory#SantaMonica #HolidayTikTok #RnBVibes #EventFactory♬ Backyard Boy – Claire Rosinkranz

@artofsucreSo what do you think? Team girl or team boy? 💙💗 #cottoncandy #smallbusiness #UnwrapTheDeals #fyp♬ Coming of Age – Blondes

What Kind of Content Works?

 

Like everything on the Internet, TikTok content that features pets and kids is what is most viewed, Creators also use the following tricks to increase their exposure to audiences and capture views:

 

• Hashtags:  Users tap into the popularity of trending topics like #diceroll (a kind of dance/walk) or #thankful, a hashtag that was popular during Thanksgiving.  Since people are already clicking through videos on this topic, building a video about the same is likely to be searched for and viewed.  The example below has nothing to do with a dice roll, or a walk for that matter, but by including the hashtag in her post, the creator likely drew some additional eyes to the material.  Once there, TikTok-ers liked what they saw and shared the material.  At the time of this writing, this inane post has been liked 1.6 million times and shared 24 thousand times proving once again that the appeal of adorable, dopey looking dogs should not be underestimated.

@jaedon.elizabethi cannot believe her #DiceRoll #OPIObsessed #WalmartSyncAlong #SmallBusiness #fyp #foryou #foryoupage♬ months of the year – jess🪐🕸🧤🧝🏻‍♀️⚰️

• Duets or Riffs: Users have also been known to capitalize on the popularity of individual videos.  They broadcast themselves reacting to the most popular content or they tape themselves lip-syncing to it, then they tag the video with the name of the popular video as a way to draw off some of the original video’s audience.

@gordonramsayofficial#duet with @vaseline_noodles hmmm let’s see how well my #eggs go down ! #ramsayreacts #fyp #tiktokcooks♬ original sound – Nick W 🍜

• Puppies and Kids: Puppies and children usually garner the most shares, likes, and views on Facebook and Instagram feeds.  TikTok is no different.  Watson and Kiko, two retrievers with a profile on the platform, have 2.1 million followers and their videos are usually seen by 34-40 million people. Here, Dr. Corey Gut, a TikTok veterinarian pioneer, cashes in on the infectious draw of wiggly puppies.

• Lip-syncs and Dub overs:  It’s very common for videos of pets to be dubbed over with a funny, human voice or for individuals to film themselves lip-synching to popular songs, movie scripts, or other TikTok videos. Here’s a YouTube review of some of the most popular. Make sure you watch the first two.  Very funny!

How To Advertise A Veterinary Hospital On TikTok

 

To date, veterinary hospitals have very little presence on TikTok, so if you’re looking for new territory to rush, you’ve hit gold with this platform. Currently, practices have been testing the following styles of content.

 

Dos and Don’ts

Looking for a different way to teach pet owners what Christmas dinner foods are and are not safe for pets to eat?  You can make the list on TikTok in probably less than 10 minutes, overlay a catchy piece of music, and use the platform to also make the names of the foods popup throughout the song. Try the same with a list of safe houseplants, a list of how to keep your pet calm during a trip to the vet, or source inspiration from Dr. Finn, another TikTok vet doc darling, that shot his list in a pet store.

Pet Treatment Hacks

Found a great way to give insulin?  How about how to give a pill? TikTok gives you the perfect window of time to get your point across succinctly and the flash to make it stick.

 

How New Clients and Patients Are Treated

We do an great job at showing new pets and clients that we are thrilled to see them. Why not use a platform that’s all about feeling good as a way to market what we do best?

Sexy Doesn’t Hurt

Well, it doesn’t!  I mean, no one ever reached into veterinarian Evan Ankin’s pants pocket to feel for car keys. If you have a proud peacock or peahen at your practice, put their struttin’ to good use and ask them to film a TikTok. Just remember to keep it G-rated.

Voice Over Pets

Give that dog in the run or that cat lying on your keyboard a platform to speak his mind using a voice over from one of your more animated team members.

Recipes

Recipes are widely read and videos showing how to make delicious meals are gobbled up by social media users.

 

Conclusion

 

It’s fun.  It’s fairly easy to learn.  It’s a hell of a lot faster than writing a blog and even if your posts get no traction on the TikTok platform itself, you can always crosspost the TikTok material you build to Facebook and Instagram where you likely already have a following.

 

Look, it only took you 2 months before you were a Zoom expert!  How much harder can TikTok be?  Get started and please share your videos in the comments section below so we can all learn together.