Social media has been a major phenomenon in the marketing world over the past decade, and it certainly does have a major place in any advertising campaign. However, there are still some people - nearly 25% of Americans - who do not use social media at all. Focusing all of your advertising efforts on social media means you will not be building the brand awareness you need in order to effectively compete for 1/4th of the total market.
Reaching customers who do not use social media can be somewhat of a challenge, but it is still very much possible. One of the biggest things you can do is to create a website that draws people in with information that they need, and while they are there, let them know about your product or service. This is the basic idea behind Inbound Marketing, letting people come to you instead of you paying to go out and get people.
Building a popular website to the point where your brand awareness is such that most people off of the street would recognize your name is extremely daunting. Luckily, you do not have to have an enormous reach in order to make your website profitable. If you are targeting only those people who you think may be genuinely interested in what you have to offer, you are going to have a lot more success than if you targeted everybody, with, for example, an ad in a newspaper.
Increasing your brand awareness may also mean contributing to other websites and publications within your industry. Doing this can allow you to build some credibility with potential customers, and you can usually get a link back to your website for free. While this is one of the more time consuming ways to get your message out there, it can also be one of the best in terms of return on investment. Usually, you will not pay anything to have your piece published if you write as a guest, and depending on how long it takes you to write it, the customers you gain may be well worth the time spent.
When you target people who are not on social media, you need a good way of determining how they interact with your site, and where exactly they are coming from. This is where a good Inbound Marketing strategy comes into play. It can help you determine what methods work best for obtaining buyers who are not on social media, and what you can do to gain more in the future.