Over one-half of all online moms are now using Facebook regularly.

Mothers are a prime target for hospital and healthcare marketing efforts.  Sure they can be reached using TV, radio, print and other forms of traditional media.  But social media must also be considered.

According to a recent poll by parenting website BabyCenter.com, 63% of online mothers now use social media networks such as Facebook regularly. This is a 462% increase, as just three years ago 11% of online moms were regular users of social media.

Moms “don’t watch TV as much, they are not reading magazines as much but instead they check Facebook, Twitter….where people are really drawn together over parenting issues”, states BabyCenter’s Editor-in-Chief Linda Murray.

Additionally, the survey of 25,000 online moms indicated that now 29% of them read blogs regularly.

These numbers can’t be ignored.  The mothers healthcare marketers want to reach are online and active in social media.  Over 60% penetration is huge in an ever increasingly fragmented marketplace.  Some say social media is no more than a fad.  Even if that proves to be true, the numbers of moms are there now and should be seriously considered in the communication strategies and plans of hospitals and healthcare marketers.

Social media is new.  It’s different. And it has risks involved.  But it can no longer be dismissed without serious consideration.