Why social media integration doesn't matter for DTC marketers
Imagine having a product that generates $500 million in sales supported by a website that cost over $300K to build supported by a web metrics solution that can best de described as a Model "T"? I wish I could say that this is an exception but the reality is that it happens a hell of lot more often on big pharma.
Consumer packaged goods companies understand the importance of the Web in they're marketing mix and they are adding web analytic people to support online brand initiatives. In most cases you won't find that in pharma. A recent eMarketer chart showed that nearly 84% of business people are not measuring social media programs. They use excuses like "we can't measure social media" but this won't fly in the drug industry where ROI determines when you are going to get your next cup of coffee.
Even if the FDA/DDMAC blessed social media tomorrow the endless meetings and Power Point presentations within pharma organizations would mean that by the time pharma addressed the opportunity it would be too late.
Social media HAS
given everyone a voice and that includes their
experiences with healthcare but the Internet is
constantly evolving. Yesterday Google announced a
new feature that lets users comment on any
webpage via a Google sidebar. Can you imagine the
comments that are going to be posted on sites
like Gardasil and Chantix.com?
It's ironic that most pharma marketers won't go
to the bathroom with doing research yet when it
comes to researching the development of online
marketing they take a pass and usually the budget
drives the strategy. Social media can be measured
and those measurements can be translated in new
Rx's with data that is more believable than 5:1
ROI's on TV spots. In order for web analytics to
be meaningful they have to tell a story to
marketers so that the lights go off and they ask
"what if...". The problem right now is that those
lights are burned out and nobody wants to replace
them.
