Social media is all about knowing your audience. Understanding how your patients think and feel is essential to building an engaged patient community. When refining your social media strategy, it’s also important to manage your expectations.

Social media has shaken the world of marketing, influencing what we see and do on the Internet. In terms of generating new patients, however, it’s not as straightforward as it may seem. Social media is important, but there are many misconceptions out there.

Social media has become part of our everyday lives. And not just from a personal standpoint. It has a huge impact on the world of marketing, influencing much of what we see and do on the Internet. So how do social media and traditional media stack up?

Social media used to be much simpler. You set up a Facebook page and get it polished off in a matter of minutes. All you needed was a logo and a bio. Every few days, you’d type out a sentence of text and click the publish button. This used to be all it took to have a social media presence.

You’ve set up your practice Facebook page properly and gained some followers, but it doesn’t seem to be producing many new patients. What’s going on? Setting up a Facebook page, while discounting other online assets, isn’t an effective marketing plan.

Like other online marketing tools, Facebook has evolved over the years. In 2009, Facebook introduced brand contests and promotions. In 2012, business pages were given timelines, just like you see on your own personal Facebook profile. More recent changes haven’t been so rosy.