TikTok: Stay True to Your Goals, Don’t Do It to Be Cool, and Other Advice from Cleveland Clinic

Ask the Expert with Amanda Todorovich, enterprise executive director of Digital Marketing at Cleveland Clinic

TikTok can be used to share serious health information if you work to understand its algorithm and lean into authentic, relevant content.

// By Melissa Sher //

Cleveland Clinic first joined TikTok in March 2020 to combat COVID-19 misinformation. Its account quickly amassed a large audience seeking credible information during the global health crisis.

Since then, Cleveland Clinic has evolved its TikTok content to meet the broader health needs of its audience. Through its deep bench of health experts, it has become a go-to resource for a TikTok audience seeking out science-based information on a wide array of topics from heart attack symptoms to hemorrhoid prevention to how often kitchen towels should be washed.

Amanda Todorovich, enterprise executive director of Digital Marketing at Cleveland Clinic

In the nearly five years since its TikTok debut, the marketing team at Cleveland Clinic has learned a great deal about creating short-form health content that resonates on the platform.

We asked Amanda Todorovich, enterprise executive director of Digital Marketing at Cleveland Clinic, about some of those lessons as well as advice for other healthcare marketers exploring how to begin engaging on the popular platform.

Our Q&A covering the Cleveland’s Clinic’s TikTok strategy is below.

eHST: How has your strategy evolved since March 2020 and can you tell us about those early days? And, if you feel comfortable answering, were there initial concerns that you all had when it came to joining, particularly early on during Covid?

AT: In March 2020, we embraced TikTok out of concern for public safety and looking for every possible avenue to educate about masking and COVID-19 prevention.

People spend so much time on the platform that it was an obvious avenue to pursue. Thankfully, TikTok was a wonderful partner in helping us amplify the message of “mask up,” which ultimately led to increased reach of vitally important health information, but also a quick increase in our followers on the platform as well.

We didn’t really have plans for content beyond COVID education in 2020. So the only concern was what do we do with this audience now/next? And we’ve evolved our content strategy from there.

eHST: Health misinformation is rampant on TikTok. How does Cleveland Clinic work to combat this? Can you share examples of how Cleveland Clinic addresses popular health misconceptions circulating on TikTok? Anything to share about your TikTok partnership last October for mental health awareness?

AT: The proliferation of misinformation surrounding COVID was why we launched our presence on TikTok, and the overall epidemic of misinformation on the internet and social media at large is why Cleveland Clinic is so committed to providing comprehensive, credible medical information on all of our digital platforms today.

The partnership on mental health was a perfect fit. TikTok was concerned about its audience and the dominance of content being created that was scary and concerning related to mental health issues, especially targeting young people. Cleveland Clinic has created volumes of content for social media and our blog over the last decade, featuring our trusted mental health medical experts. We feel strongly that users of any social media platform should know the source of the information or misinformation they are consuming. The model TikTok proposed was a win-win.

Our overall content strategy is to always be providing science-based information that addresses health concerns and issues. We continue to produce content for TikTok that helps people take care of themselves and their families.

eHST: How does Cleveland Clinic tailor its content for TikTok vs. your other short-form content on Instagram or YouTube?

AT: TikTok’s algorithm and user behavior require us to tailor our short-form content specifically for search optimization. On Instagram and YouTube, we have long-standing relationships with our audiences and many years of data and platform experience to inform content decisions. This leads to many of our engagements coming from followers instead of non-followers. While we’ve seen steady growth in our followers on TikTok, 94 percent of 7.2M year-to-date views came from search.

We have our most concentrated audience demographic by age on TikTok with 76 percent falling between the ages of 18-34. This defined target allows us to blend what we know about the platform and what we know about our followers to focus on creating content with mass appeal to this primary segment.

We ask ourselves what general health and wellness topics this age group is interested in and what gaps in available information we can fill. By researching areas of interest, keywords, and topics, we ensure that the content we create is useful, helpful, and relevant.

TikTok is also a platform where we can “play in the gray” a little bit more from a brand perspective, allowing us to experiment and push boundaries within acceptable limits. We pay close attention to platform and algorithm changes to stay ahead of the curve and keep our content visible and engaging.

“We’ve seen it time and time again where one content format does well for a few weeks and then an algorithm or preference change shifts everything. It has taught our social team to trust the data and experiment often.”

eHST: Can you share some specific examples of Cleveland Clinic’s most successful TikToks? Is there anything that surprised you about them? Any lessons to share?

AT: Our most successful TikTok so far is a video we shot with an emergency room nurse demonstrating a hack to remove a ring that’s stuck on your finger. To date this video has 5.5M views.

That hasn’t been our only dance with virality on TikTok. When we look through our top videos, it’s amazing to see how many different content types and topics are represented.

There’s a graphic carousel on treating ingrown toenails with 1.9M views.

A POV pyramid demonstration of six home remedies for a sore throat with Dance Mom’s audio with 923K.

A motion graphic on abdominal pain with 536.9K, as well as a few produced patient stories with 500K+ views each.

The most surprising thing about these videos is that their success wasn’t a cheat code for future success. When we filmed the ring video during an ED shoot and it did well, we thought filming in person with our caregivers was the clear path to success, but that turned out to not be the case. It took about three more in-person video shoots to realize that we need to pivot to maintain visibility and engagement.

“… content lives longer on TikTok than we are used to on other platforms. We’ve seen spikes in views on videos that have been published for six months or more.”

We’ve seen it time and time again where one content format does well for a few weeks and then an algorithm or preference change shifts everything. It has taught our social team to trust the data and experiment often. There’s no magic formula for success, so we must be agile to keep our content fresh and engaging. Especially considering businesses on TikTok are shown differently in the algorithm and have limited functionalities compared to influencers or personal users.

One other lesson that we’ve learned is content lives longer on TikTok than we are used to on other platforms. We’ve seen spikes in views on videos that have been published for six months or more. This is a great reminder that useful and helpful content is always in demand and reaffirms the importance of optimizing your content for searchability on TikTok.

eHST: Anything else to share that hasn’t been covered?

AT: It can be challenging to build a steady audience, but it’s not just about that. It’s about showing up in the “for you” page of the right users interested in the topics covered.

We are lucky enough to have resources to support a presence on TikTok without taking anything away from our other channels. I don’t think TikTok belongs in every healthcare organization’s mix, but if you can lean into the platform in a meaningful way, it can make a difference in people’s lives.

Creating Content on TikTok: Do’s and Don’ts

• Don’t just think of it as a platform for teenagers. People of all ages spend a lot of time on TikTok today.
• Don’t do it unless you can share content responsibly and consistently.
• It’s not just for fun meme-like content. TikTok can be used to share serious health information if you work to understand its algorithm and lean into authentic, relevant content.
• Be smart and careful. Trying to be too funny/entertaining can really misfire.
• Stay true to your goals and overall digital content strategy. Don’t do it to try to be cool.

Editor’s Note – Wed. 12/18/24: This morning, the Wall Street Journal reported: “The Supreme Court on Wednesday said it would decide the constitutionality of a law that would effectively ban TikTok in the U.S. if the social-media app doesn’t shed its Chinese ownership. With the ban set to take effect Jan. 19, the court scheduled fast-track oral arguments for Jan. 10 on whether the law violates the First Amendment.” The Court’s decision will determine if TikTok remains a viable option for U.S. marketers.

Melissa Sher is CEO and cofounder of Kinser, a creative content agency that helps legacy brands and organizations reach new generations through social-first storytelling. Prior to Kinser, she spent more than six years at The Washington Post in brand and content strategy, developing campaigns for clients such as Children’s National Hospital, 3M, and Hulu. Before The Washington Post, Sher was a writer and editor with work regularly featured in The Chicago Tribune, HuffPost, and The New York Times. Email her at melissa@hellokinser.com.