TikTok is one of the most hyped social media platforms. A lot of people and businesses became popular because of it. This platform is more than posting dance challenges and funny content. It can also be a place for you to promote your physical therapy practice.
In this article, we’ll share with you how TikTok for Physical Therapists can help you gain more patients and share some tips on how to effectively use it.
What is TikTok?
TikTok is a social networking platform that mainly uses videos to connect with an audience. People love this platform because there are different sorts of entertainment that are available here from challenges, lip-syncing videos, tutorials, and more. Aside from that, it’s a place where they can freely express themselves through singing, dancing, doing comedic stunts, and at the same time, interacting with other people.
Why TikTok for Physical Therapists
The reason why physical therapists should use TikTok is that it’s good for brand exposure. In fact, as of 2022, there are 1 billion active TikTok users worldwide! With that population, more and more content creators and businesses are getting discovered on this platform which also gives your PT videos a chance of getting more impressions.
Another reason is that it helps build your community. If you just recently opened your physical therapy clinic, and you want to be known as an expert in the industry, you could do that by creating your own hashtag. For example, #nameofyourPTclinicServices.
And if you are already getting a lot of physical therapy patients in your clinic, you can simply encourage them to use the hashtag that you’ve created (if they’re on TikTok) so they can take part in the community that you’re building on this platform.
Lastly, TikTok humanizes your brand. In other digital platforms, like LinkedIn, you should keep up a professional image but with TikTok, you can show the creative side of your brand. The thing is, most TikTok users just wanted to casually watch or be entertained by videos during their free time and you are free to do those types of content on this platform.
Want to know more about how TikTok can help your Physical Therapy Practice?
How to Use TikTok for Physical Therapists
Now that you have an idea of how your physical therapy clinic can benefit from TikTok, you might be wondering, “How can I use TikTok to promote my physical therapy service clinic?”
We’ve listed 7 ways in which physical therapists can use TikTok:
1. Create a business account
The first thing to do is create a business account for your physical therapist profile on TikTok. Here’s how to create one using your personal account:
Step 1: Log in to your TikTok account
Step 2: Click the hamburger icon and select “Settings and privacy”
Step 3: Under Account, select “Manage account”
Step 4: Click “Switch to Business Account” under Account Control
Step 5: Click “Next”
Step 6: Choose the category that suits your business. Since you are a physical therapist, select “Health & Wellness.” Then, click “Next”
Congratulations! You’ve successfully created your physical therapist profile on TikTok.
2. Define your goal
- Next, think of what you want to achieve on this platform. It could be for brand awareness, getting more views, more traffic to your website, etc. Just make sure that by setting your goals, use the SMART Framework as a pattern in defining your goal.
Specific
- Your goal should be clearly determined at the beginning of your marketing strategy.
Measurable
- You must be able to pinpoint the results you want to get upon reaching your goal.
Attainable
- Your goal should be realistic. It should be something that’s achievable.
Relevant
- Your chosen goal should be something that’s aligned with the needs of your physical therapy practice.
Time-bound
- You should set a deadline for your goal. Without it, you’ll lose track of time and motivation in accomplishing your goal.
3. Check what your competitors are doing
- Since you’re not the only physical therapy clinic that’ll be using TikTok to advertise your physical therapy services, it’s important that you take a peek at your competitors’ strategies. From there, you’ll have an idea of what works well for your audience, and what doesn’t, and come up with a better marketing strategy. Read our guide to learn more about video marketing ideas as a PT.
4. Plan the content you want to share with your audience
- After checking out your competitors, it’s time to brainstorm ideas with your team. Keep in mind that you don’t have to be too formal when it comes to creating content on TikTok. To give you a heads up, people prefer brand accounts that share a balance of promotional, useful, and funny content, so that’s something to remember while thinking of content to create.
5. Use a content calendar
- Let’s assume that you already have a long list of the content you want to post on your physical therapist’s TikTok account. You shouldn’t post all of it within a week as people may be overwhelmed with your physical therapy content. That’s why you’ll be needing a social media calendar to make sure that you don’t miss out on important dates when you should be posting (in case you get too busy) and at the same post consistently to your audience.
6. Start filming your physical therapy-related videos
- When creating your content, make sure that you are in an area that has good lighting with a nice background, and use the right filming equipment. This way, your audience won’t be distracted by what’s around you, and instead, focus on the message that you are trying to convey.
7. Engage with your audience
- Keeping in touch with your audience is important as it encourages more people to interact with your brand. There are several ways to interact with your audience on TikTok such as polls, responding to frequent questions, leaving a like or comment when your patient mentions your account, or doing some live-streaming. By doing a variety of these strategies, your audience will want to continuously interact with your brand.
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Consider using Google Ads as a physical therapist to promote your practice to greater audiences.
TikTok content ideas for physical therapists
As a physical therapist, you already have advanced knowledge when it comes to physical therapy. You could use TikTok to share that knowledge of yours with a wider audience. Here are some video ideas that might inspire you when creating your own content:
1. Exercises for pain management
When there are painful areas in our bodies, it affects our daily activities. By providing easy home exercises to reduce pain, people will be able to achieve temporary relief which can help them return to their daily routine.
Like in this example, the physical therapist used a towel to reduce shoulder pain:
2. Household items that can be used as an alternative for gym equipment
Some people are more comfortable doing exercises at home than going to the gym. But, since not everyone has gym equipment at home, you could share alternative options using items that can be found within one’s household.
Like in this TikTok video:
3. Educational content
You could also share more information about conditions that are typically faced by your PT patients. This is to give your audience a short background about something that’s related to physical therapy.
In this example, the physical therapist explained how physical therapy can help treat scoliosis.
and in the second example, you’ll see how a physical therapist conducts a Thompson test on his/her patient:
4. Answering frequently asked questions
People love it when their concerns are heard especially by healthcare providers. Not just that, but it also sets an impression about your physical therapy practice that your therapists are approachable and willing to answer PT-related queries.
5. Greetings for special occasions
Looking for more video ideas on TikTok? Try creating videos of you and the rest of your physical therapists celebrating special occasions and extending greetings to your audience.
Like this one:
6. Tutorials
Since “how-to-tutorials” are also in demand these days, you could also create tutorials that are related to physical therapy. Topics like “how to fix your hunched back,” “how to fix stiff neck”, or “how to recover from hamstring strain” can be your starting point.
Here’s an example of a physical therapist tutorial on TikTok:
Wondering which of these works video ideas best for you?
TikTok best practices for physical therapists
So far, you already have an idea of what type of content to share on TikTok. That’s great!
Moving forward, here are some of the best practices that you should utilize to maximize the use of TikTok in promoting your physical therapy services:
1. Keep up with the trends
To be updated about the latest trends on TikTok, click the “discover” button in your TikTok’s menu and it’ll show you the trending sounds, effects, and hashtags that most people use recently. Apply any of these to your videos to increase your visibility on this platform.
2.. Collab with famous people/ influencers
Finding someone who shares the same values as your physical therapy brand is also a good idea to get more exposure to your physical therapy brand. Collaboration with this kind of people opens the door to your physical therapy practice to more business opportunities.
3. Follow the recommended video format
Since the majority of TikTok users are using mobile phones, the aspect ratio that is suitable for them for videos is 9:16. For the maximum length of a TikTok video, you can create up to 10 minutes of physical therapist-related content. But, since the attention span of people is getting shorter and shorter, it’s best to create a video that’s within 9-15 seconds.
4. Use auto-captions
TikTok is used by everyone and there are instances when a person watching your physical therapy videos can’t listen to your videos due to some reasons. To cater to everyone using TikTok, consider adding captions to your physical therapy videos. This will help you reach more people and also increase your views.
5. Use of hashtags
Hashtags help your brand to become discovered in TikTok. By using trending hashtags, it’ll help you get more views and increase your chances of appearing on TikTok’s algorithm.
For example, if someone is looking for physical therapy services on TikTok, they can easily get fast results if they search for the term #physicaltherapy or #pt.
It’s very useful especially if you want to reach out to people who don’t know anything about you yet. Not just that, but the more people see your physical therapy video, the higher chance they’ll engage with your brand and become your customers.
6. Optimize your physical therapist profile
When people like your physical therapy content on TikTok, there is a high chance of them visiting your physical therapist profile. So, here are the things that you should do:
- Use a profile photo (preferably your PT clinic’s logo) that best represents your brand
- note: if you already have existing social media accounts, make sure to use the same profile photos so your audience will know that it’s your brand that they’re looking at
- Your biography should be a short description of your physical therapy brand (i.e. your clinic’s tagline or location)
Want to know other marketing tools that can help you get the best results for your digital marketing strategy? Check out our blog post on 20 Marketing Tools For Physical Therapists to learn more.
TikTok Ads
Did you know that there are several ways for you to advertise on TikTok? Here’s an overview of the type of ads you can create on this platform:
1. In-feed ads
In-feed ads are the ones that are shown on the “For you” feed. Common user interactions in this type of ad are like, share, and follow. This type of ad is best if you want your physical therapy brand to be recognized by a bigger population.
2. Brand takeover
Want to boost your physical therapy clinic’s reach and engagement? Branded Takeover is the type of ad where you can choose between 3-5 second static or display ads to be shown on the screen. This type of ad can be linked to your brand’s landing page or hashtag challenge that can be found on TikTok.
3. Branded Hashtag Challenge
Branded Hashtag Challenge works best if you want people to get to know more about your brand, boost engagement, and raise awareness about your physical therapy services. What happens here is that people can recreate their own version of your original video.
4. Branded effects
Branded effects, on the other hand, are where you create a customized effect on TikTok. This type of ad allows TikTok users to come up with creative content using your physical therapy clinic’s customized stickers and filters.
5. TopView
71% of TikTok users say that TopView ads catch their attention. This is the type of ad that consumes the user’s entire screen and automatically plays your physical therapist videos within a 60-second timeframe. So, if you want your physical therapist videos to be the first ones to be seen on TikTok, TopView Ads are best for you.
Key takeaway
TikTok for physical therapists is a new approach in promoting your physical therapy services especially if your goal is to get more impressions and engagement with your audience. Just keep in mind that to get the best results on TikTok, your physical therapy video should be fun, engaging, and relevant to your physical therapy practice.
