Believe it or not, all generations are now represented in social media. As CNN reports, 1.5 million females over the age of 55 are actively using Facebook.  In fact, women over fifty are the fastest growing segment on the site. This has lead practices to use social media tools to connect with patients both young and old.  While it is becoming a great way to target all demographics, it is important to spread your marketing strategies throughout all media options.

In a struggling economy, many practices have been relying on social media marketing because the strategy is effective for targeting a wide range of possible patients.  It gives businesses the opportunity to interact, engage, and build relationships.  Best of all, social media is very low cost, making it a valuable tool to those who have a limited marketing budget.  However, relying on social media as your sole source of marketing can be hazardous to your practice and your brand.  We are not discrediting social media, as it is an extremely valuable tool.  We just want you to see that there are other resources you can use to improve your overall marketing strategy and increase brand awareness.  “Social media is an effective tool to reach out to many demographics, but don’t put all of your marketing eggs in the social media basket.  Look at diversifying your strategies and use additional media outlets to supplement your social media,” says Jamie Verkamp, Director of Growth and Development at (e)Merge.

Additional tools to think about:

These outlets can help you reach out to more demographics and cover all of your bases.  Not everyone is online, so get out there and share your practice with your community.  If you have social media on first base, get the rest of bases loaded so your practice can be a success!  Representing yourself within these different types of media will help your practice create more brand awareness and build loyalty, credibility, and trust.  Take what you’ve learned here and apply it to your practice and watch it grow!