The truth about social media

Oct/14/2008 04:24

Social media is here to stay but there is going to be a major shake out of social media sites and although pharma marketers need to join in the conversation they also need to ensure that there are clear and concise objectives and measurement parameters before attempting any social media engagement.

Social Media & Broadband Penetetration

First let's take a step back and try and determine why social media has become so important and is a buzzword for marketers.

-Social media allows people to interact on the Web: DUH ! This is one of the great advantages of the Web and it allows people to form a sense of community and reach out to strangers without having the need for personal contact.

-Social medial allows people to be passive aggressive: People will say things to each other online that they normally would not say in person.

-Social media is great to promote yourself: It's a great way to promote your accomplishments and where you are working so you can show friends that you have "indeed made it".

-Social media can extend your "self importance": Let's see how many friends I can get on Facebook versus you.

-Social media is cool: "Like how cool is it to be texting all times of the day rather than making a phone call".

Of course there is a direct correlation to the age of people using social media; the younger the audience the more likely they are to use social media, but the demographics suggest that in fact people who are older are starting to embrace social media more and more.

Facebook recently changed the look and feel of their website and has also taken a lot of criticism for serving ads on it site but they are struggling to come up with a model that finally starts to pay some bills. The average time that people are on Facebook seems to be declining as well so it will be interesting to see what they do to try and earn some money and get people to stay longer.

Medical Social Media

US Adults who have searched for health information

Now social media for health should not be confused with "general social media". General social media is about connecting with friends and family and showing off where you have been and what you're doing. Social media for health is sharing experiences on everything from different physicians to prescription drug side effects. It's about trust as people tend to trust each others experiences a hell of lot more than they trust drug companies messages.

You'll find that people who use social media for health also tend to be a lot older than people who use social media to keep in touch.
Message boards have tons of posts for every medical condition and a Nielsen Buzz Metrics clearly shows a strong correlation between buzz on social media and stories in the news.

More and more condition Websites are starting to appear and as part of these Websites there usually are social media areas where people can share experiences. The more serious the health condition the more likely to you'll see a lot of posts with questions and suggestions for support.

Pharma marketers and social media

So how can pharma marketers use social media? Well here are some suggestions;

1. First determine the objectives of using social medial and how you are going to measure the execution.

2. Understand that it's not about pushing a message but rather getting people to engage around the brand or health condition.

3. Make it valuable and credible to your audience-Keep it real with real people

4. Be transparent and don't try and hide ANY sponsorship or affiliation-Absolutely do not sock puppet your social media.

5. Track buzz on the Web with services such as Nielsen Buzz Metrics

6. Lack of speed is a buzz killer- If you can't respond to patient and customer needs when they are relevant than don't bother.

7. Start building the case for social media with your legal people everyday so you can get them to buy-in on the importance of the tactic.

There is going to be a major shakeout in social media but before that happens pharma needs to start experimenting now so that they know what can work and provide the best ROI.