OVER 60 MILLION U.S. ADULTS ENGAGING IN HEALTH 2.0 WHILE MARKETERS MAYBE UNWILLING TO EXPERIMENT WITH NEW MEDIA

“Social media is changing the way that consumers gather health information from the Internet. Patients and caregivers are no longer limited to static resources but are now sharing advice and treatment experiences online,” said Meredith Abreu Ressi, Manhattan Research Vice President of Research, “And it’s not just younger audiences connecting online – consumers with conditions such as cancer, fibromyalgia, and depression are also avid users of these types of resources. Health 2.0 is happening, and it’s changing the way things are done in the healthcare industry.”

Meanwhile spending on emerging media such as social networking sites, digital out-of-home and mobile is likely to contract next year as marketers tighten ad budgets because of the worsening economy, a group of agency and brand executives said Wednesday. "09 is not the year for testing," warned Donna Speciale, president of investment and activation at MediaVest USA, speaking on a panel at ad:tech New York on media planning and buying in the digital era. "Brands want to stick with areas that are tried and true." Quentin George, president, global digital strategy and marketing innovation at Universal-McCann, agreed that marketers are likely to be less adventurous in exploring newer platforms in the midst of a severe downturn. Even if funding for more experimental campaigns doesn't completely dry up, projects will take longer to complete. "A cool idea that might have taken two months to complete might now take six or nine months," he said.

What would encourage marketers to spend more on social media and other newer platforms? More uniform audience and engagement metrics. "What we don't have is a consistent metric," Speciale said. "We need to have something clients can feel comfortable with so that if I take budget out of TV (spending), I can show value for it. That's where the disconnect is." Spiegel said the lack of consistent measurement is not going to change until agencies and advertisers can get the same results from key Web ratings services such as Nielsen, comScore and Quantcast. George argued that a lack of standard metrics should not hold back marketers that are pushing into social media at this early stage. "We know consumers are there, we know what behavior is there, and the more we capitalize on the opportunity, the more money will flow," he said.

The irony here of course is twofold: first, pharma DTC marketers do not have the people to deploy and analyze complete Web analytic solutions and second there is a belief that digital marketing does not provide the ROI as compared to offline efforts. The measurement tools are there you just need the people who can understand the metrics and then translate them into real world results for pharma senior managers. Telling people about Website traffic does little to drive new business but showing people the lift in intent to ask for the product as a result of coming to a product Website can translate into tangible quantitative measurements. Tracking customers as they enter the health care system can also provide a clear picture of the behavior that resulted as a result of DTC initiatives and help identify barriers to treatment that need to be overcome. Web marketers need to translate hard Web analytics into a language that marketers can both understand and identify with. A good eMarketing person can provide a clear picture of what people are thinking as they come to your Website and what is important to them in seeking treatment and asking for your brand. This is the REAL strength of Web analytics and there are a lot of companies that offer complete solutions.