Influencer
Dental Hygienist and Content Creator Corina Monroe of Corina_907 on Making Viral Content
Corina Monroe is a dental hygienist and content creator sharing day-in-the-life and dental education content online. Her TikTok took off during the pandemic after she began sharing advice on dental care and the behind-the-scenes of her life. Today, she travels with huge dental companies to dental conferences, is sponsored by major companies, and is working towards her goal of becoming a regularly featured speaker.
About Corina Monroe
Corina Monroe is a registered dental hygienist and Alaska native creating educational and lifestyle content on TikTok and Instagram. She went to school in Wisconsin and now lives in Savannah, Georgia.
Corina shares, “I wanted to be a dental hygienist initially because it’s easy to be part-time if you wanted to. I know I want to have kids in the future and things like that. So, I was like, you know what? I will choose this field… I ended up just 100% falling in love with the career. I love it. I cannot imagine doing anything else besides educating.”
Like many others, Corina started watching and creating TikToks during the pandemic, and her account blew up to over two million followers.
She started by creating everyday content. One day, she posted a video about whitening her teeth using custom whitening trays. People were hugely interested in hearing about her experience as a hygienist and tips for dental care, so she began focusing on dental education topics more.
Once the lockdowns lifted, Corina began incorporating more of her work and time at the dental office into her content. She shares that her scrub addiction began to grow after returning to work and that she now has far too many scrubs for the days of the week that she works.
Creating Viral Content
Corina shares that creating content while she is in a dental space helps her content generate increased interest because people will ask if she’s a nurse, dentist, hygienist, etc.
Her most viral video features her saying, “On no! My tooth is broken.” She shares that this video was her take on the “My table is broken” trend, and she put very little thought into the video. However, it gained over 44 million views.
@corina_907 #stitch with @doctorsood ♬ original sound – Corina, RDH
Another popular topic on her platform is saddle chairs, which are structured like a saddle and help you keep a better posture.
“It [the saddle chair] holds your posture and keeps you upright, but your legs are slightly open a little bit more because that’s good ergonomics. That’s how we can stay in our careers longer. I just started noticing the videos that I would post with myself did better if I was in the chair.”
Even videos where she isn’t sitting in the saddle chair perform better because people will notice the chair in the background and comment on it.
Today, she is known as the girl obsessed with scrubs and saddle chairs. However, the rest of her content primarily focuses on day-in-the-life and dental education topics.
In terms of creating trending content, she shares, “I will use the trends that are going viral, whether it’s a sound or a voiceover, but for the most part, I don’t necessarily totally plan my content.”
She often wakes up and looks at what is trending that day, then thinks about how to relate the trend to dentistry.
Corina’s Tips
Corina’s niche is a combination of dentistry and lifestyle content. She shares that it’s essential to have a recognizable niche that defines your content to make it stand out.
“Consistency, I would say that’s the biggest [tip.] You can post an awesome video. Everybody and their mother can think of a great video, but I will shout this from the mountaintop – Just be consistent, and that’s what the algorithm wants.”
She adds that it can be frustrating when you create a great video, but the algorithm doesn’t favor and boost it.
To avoid this, Corina recommends posting consistently and creating a strong hook for your video to capture the algorithm’s attention. For example, she might start a video by asking if you know a specific fact about your teeth. This hook creates curiosity, and people will watch longer to see the answer revealed in the video.
Her secret to success?
“I would say it’s consistency, but also just be authentic and be genuine. I am very much a social butterfly, so I will talk to my followers as if they were right in front of my face.”
Corina’s Brand Partnerships
Corina has had the opportunity to collaborate with multiple large dental companies. These opportunities have allowed her to travel to dental conferences and trade shows so that she is more educated on their product lines.
“I’ve also been able to collaborate with smaller companies. Brands just want their product to be out there in the world, so just being able to share how the product works [can help.].”
Corina is very particular with the brands she collaborates with because she always wants to be authentic and share genuinely exciting products.
One of her most extensive campaigns was promoting the Oral B toothbrush. She shares that this campaign was one of her proudest moments because this is a toothbrush that she regularly recommends to her patients.
“I’m very proud of that campaign. I’m proud of the effort and the time. I actually had to redo the whole thing because I was wearing the wrong colored scrubs that could be a competitor’s colors.”
The biggest highlight of her content creator career has been the chance to connect with and educate so many people about dental hygiene.
“I love my job, and I think that people can see my positivity and my energy behind it… I have comments all the time and people [saying] I’m choosing dental hygiene because of you. That’s wild to me. That is so crazy that it’s like I am able to positively influence people’s lives.”
What’s Missing in the Creator Marketplace
Corina would like to see brands choose influencers within their niche more.
For example, dental and scrub companies wanting to collaborate with Corina make much more sense than companies from different industries.
“I think that right now, a lot of companies are just pitching to everybody, and in the end, I feel like they’re just losing money.”
Future Plans
Corina is planning on traveling to different conferences with several dental companies.
“I’m going to be in New York at the end of the month for the Greater New York dental conference. I’m so excited for it. I’m going to probably just work only a couple days a week, which is rare because I’ve always worked 40 hours a week.”
She notes that she is hoping to get more into this professional space by doing speaking engagements.
