There are many myths and misconceptions about the value and importance of social media for your medical practice or business. Let’s discuss a few of them here:
Social media is just for the young
You may be saying to yourself that social media is only something that teenagers and young adults invest their time in, and that is not a target audience you are interested in for your business. In fact, the fastest growing group of social media users is the 50-64 demographic. Social media has become an incredibly diverse entity, covering all age ranges, income levels, and other demographics. Facebook alone, which launched with very humble beginnings in 2004, has over 1.8 billion active users worldwide. And over 75% of adults in the United States now use social media. Clearly this type of communication is not just a passing fad of the young.
Social media is not right for my business
Small, medium, and large companies in all sectors use social media to connect with their audiences and share their messages. In fact, social media has been found to be an ideal vehicle for small businesses and practices to communicate locally and with other businesses. Some of the top benefits of utilizing social media with your business include increased exposure, increased traffic, developing brand loyalty, providing business intelligence in your field, and generating sales leads. As traditional advertising loses its influence in our society, two-way social media becomes an ever more powerful means of connecting with your audiences.
There is no ROI with social media marketing
This argument has been fading away over the last few years as more and more data is confirming the value of social media as part of an organization’s communication and marketing strategy. In fact, about 3/4 of marketing professionals agree that social media marketing helped their organization to improve sales. And the data confirms that those who have been using social media the longest support this claim the most. The bottom line with any business is sales and revenue, and those who know marketing the best believe that social media directly impacts increases in sales.
Social media is too time-consuming for my business
Most small businesses and medical practices are rightly concerned with the time it takes to implement and manage a successful social media strategy. In fact, small business should be able to outsource their social media management to professionals (like those at Reach Beyond Marketing!) for a small investment, or manage it in-house with a limited number of dedicated hours per week. Social media is enormously time-consuming in our society because people are addicted to checking their personal feeds continually, and that doesn’t have to be the case with your business’ social media accounts. It is crucial to be engaged on your company’s social media regularly as this is a two-way communication vehicle, but most medical practices and small businesses do not have to tie up an employee’s time excessively.
These are just a few of the counter-arguments to the myths that social media is not right for your business. Need help? Contact the social media experts at Reach Beyond Marketing today!