It was the pandemic and Shaadi Manouchehri had a lot of time on her hands. As someone ambitious who wanted to do something meaningful with her time, she used it to explore social media’s educational side. But how interesting could it be for a courageous and daring person to go to Instagram and do exactly the same thing every other professional was doing? So, she started exploring. But let’s go further back in time just for a moment.

Shaadi Manouchehri wanted to make a brand for herself, she wanted to use social media to create a platform to show the general public that dentistry isn’t as daunting as it may seem and to break the stigma surrounding the profession.

I was very adamant. I wanted to be different and not like every other dentist posting before and afters of teeth on their social media

She knew she had a shot to change the way people saw dentists and their work, wanting to put her own spin on it and make it so unique that people would remember her by it. “I was very adamant. I wanted to be different and not like every other dentist posting before and afters of teeth on their social media“. She went and researched what she could to educate herself on what interests people and what content is already out there. Nobody expected what came next… the world took a turn for the worst, Covid 19 took everyone home.

Pandemic-Tok

Lockdown was real, people were only allowed out for 1 hour a day and were desperate to find something entertaining. Realizing that as she wasn’t able to work as much in the practice due to health and safety regulations from the Coronavirus, she had a lot of spare time. People were heading to TikTok as this was a platform they could get away from their sadness and boredom, there was plenty of content spreading joy and funny videos to help lighten everyone’s mood.

And that’s when she saw an opportunity opening, so she started to watch TikTok videos knowing there could be a place for professionals on the app, even though TikTok was not what dental professionals considered a valuable source of information at the time.

As a student, I went to Google and books to get my information. Kids weren’t at school and they were all going to social media for their information, so I started to post more educational content

She knew there was a stigma around the platform, it was thought to be just for trending dances and funny videos and never on a level to be used for professionals, “As a student, I went to Google and books to get my information. During the lockdown, people weren’t at school, and they were all going to social media for their information, so I started to post more educational content“. She knew it wasn’t just going to be as simple as posting one video and all the hard work being done… it was going to be about the right balance of information and entertainment to keep people engaged. 

It’s all about trial and error

Rome wasn’t built in a day, and she knew this wasn’t going to be an overnight process. She slowly saw that she was starting to notice an increase in likes, more followers, and more people wanting to connect with her page. Her educational, entertaining content was working.

Shaadi created her first video about dentistry. This was simple knowledge to her, but clearly, this was content people wanted to see not long after posting the video… Eureka! 80 thousand views! Her following started to increase, people were engaging with the content, and she found her own unique formula that worked for her.

There isn’t that much content out there talking about the vulnerability of dentists

Wanting to carry on gaining more followers, she needed to be more specific about who she wanted to target her content to. She found that her content was engaging with aspiring dentists and young dentists who were newly qualified. Dentistry can be daunting not just to patients but for newly qualified and aspiring young dentists. “There isn’t that much content out there talking about the vulnerability of dentists“.  Because of this lack of information out there on social media, she found that if anyone had any questions they wanted to ask her, they would message her on her Instagram account, where she found people were asking similar questions. These were trending questions, which was the perfect way to know what to speak about. Off she went to start making those videos with the content her fans wanted answers for.

Hey there, trendsetter!

Her hard work was paying off, she had a base for what content was needed. TikTok trends are videos that include a specific action, sound, hashtag, or challenge that gains traction with other users that you can save in your “Like” folder to watch again later.

With a growing social media presence and realizing her content was working, she knew it was important to stay consistent with her page. It was important to keep up with the latest trends, so she focused on what people were watching the most and more importantly, what her followers were asking for, “Do your research, know what’s trending, invest time in content creation, be consistent with posts and create quality videos“. Consistency is key, she knew that 1 video every other day was not going to keep her viewers engaged, so she started posting up to 3 dental-related videos a day, even if they were only 15 seconds, 30 seconds, or 1 minute long.

Do your research, know what’s trending, invest time in content creation, be consistent with posts and create high-quality videos

It all seems well and good if you know how many videos to post and what kind of content is important, but behind all this was Shaadi’s desire not only to help educate but to be a face that viewers recognized. With the growth of her social media presence attracts more limelight. When you have a certain number of followers and likes on TikTok, you can start earning money. Money was not what Shaadi had in mind when setting this all up.

Engagement over money any day!

As her page became more successful by the day, she found she was getting contacted regarding being paid for some of her videos. TikTok’s aim is to support ambitious content creators which keeps the app full of new, fun, and entertaining videos, so yes… you can earn money by posting content!

Shaadi knew this but it did not matter to her, she wanted the engagement it bought her. ” When I first started, I thought I had to have millions of followers to make an impact. In reality, It doesn’t matter how many followers you have. it all depends on the level of engagement of your audience“. Gaining more followers bought more recognition on TikTok, which was perfect for her working career. Viewers would find her page and want to book consultations which would then lead to more patients and business opportunities.

When I first started, I thought I had to have millions of followers to make an impact. In reality, It doesn’t matter how many followers you have. it all depends on the level of engagement of your audience

She never started this journey with money in her mind, she simply wanted to make the most of a platform that at the time was being used mainly for entertainment. She mixed trending videos and educational information and made something from it… if that’s not resourceful in a pandemic, what is? This is not to say that her journey was plain sailing for viewers or other dentists.

If you can’t handle the heat, get off TikTok!

Anyone that knows Shaadi would know that behind the confident, brave, and entertaining videos is a human being who is sensitive to negative comments. She knew it was going to be a very daunting experience exposing herself online, which she found naturally opened her up to vulnerability, some people loved her content, and people did not, which she found out very quickly.

She found that some of her videos would receive negative comments, however, she never let this get in the way of creating more videos. Any human who invests a lot of time into building anything from scratch is going to be protective over it. She had to push past the negativity else her whole journey to helping others could have been a waste of time.

Initially, there was a judgment from the profession, but now the same people are asking me for advice

Seeing all the viewers who loved her videos was worth carrying on for and not giving in to the negativity. “Initially there was a judgment from the profession, but now the same people are asking me for advice“. She knew the whole process was going to be a learning curve from day one, which is the most important aspect to remember: “As long as the benefits of this project outweigh the negatives then it is all worth it“.

It takes courage to break stigmas, become exposed to the public eye, teaching a profession that would not see a platform like TikTok to be very professional. She gave it a chance when no one else in her profession did at the time, and she came out better off. If you ever feel inspired to do something you thought might not be possible because of any professional hurdles, always believe you can find a way to beat that, here are some of Shaadi’s TOP TIPS!

Top Tips!

• Understand the reason behind the message. WHY are you going to post that video?
• Trust yourself. It will be frustrating at times but trust the process!
• Consistency is KEY. If you think it isn’t moving as quickly as you want, be patient and stay consistent.
• Your content needs to be – Educational, Entertaining, and Inspirational (EEI). SAY IT WITH ME!
• Revamp your old videos! Find a video that has done well and re-use and add something new to it! Old content is good content.

Shaadi has come a long way since 2015. She is a dentist who has a passion to teach others and being heard in her community. If you are inspired by this post or want to reach out and contact Shaadi directly then click HERE and it will take you to her Instagram page. If you want to listen to her podcast ‘Teeth and Tales’, click HERE.

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