Pharma Social Media: Harness the Power

Pharma social media strategy is great way to not just promote brand news, but an effective way to humanize your company by engaging both potential and current consumers in meaningful two-way dialogue. B2C organizations have already shown success in leveraging social media sites like Facebook and Twitter to build brand awareness and customer loyalty. Pharma social media efforts can easily implement these social media strategies in their own media approach in order to help improve their brand reputation, better engage prospects and consumers, and ultimately drive market share.

A primary deterrent to undertaking a pharma social media program is the concern over liability and regulatory burden. While these concerns are valid, they are addressable and do not outweigh the many potential benefits of pharma social media programs. In the summer of 2008, Johnson & Johnson quietly became one of the first major drug companies to establish a major presence in pharma social media, with a corporate blog, Facebook page, Twitter feed, and YouTube channel. They have been lauded by bloggers and the pharmaceutical social media community for doing so, paving the way for other companies to follow their lead in pharm social media. Today, pharma social media is exploding and increasing exponentially in its usage.

Every pharma social media plan should involve a carefully selected brand representation team, commonly referred to as brand ambassadors. A company with thousands of employees shouldn’t have everyone representing the brand without any element of control. Strict policies and guidelines for pharma social media engagement should be set forth, with executives and key employees given their own unique pharma social media responsibility.

Blog commentary can come from company executives, who otherwise often have too many other responsibilities to maintain a consistent pharma social media presence. Dedicated pharma social media customer service teams can be built, segmented with specific responsibilities. One pharma social media team can handle answering questions on adverse side effects, another pharma social media set can cover product availability or usage and effectiveness questions, while yet another pharma social media group can be established to solely search for potential crisis communication needs, and so forth. Regulatory issues can be mitigated by also having a dedicated pharma social media staff whose sole purpose is to vet material posted to ensure compliance. Of course, all pharma social media profiles and content should contain disclaimers and statements of common side effects for brand protection

If branding and consumer perception is important to the success of your company, utilizing social media isn’t just an option, it’s a necessity. It’s an opportunity to communicate with hundreds of consumers, and thousands, if not millions, of potential consumers, in seconds. This extends to the pharmaceutical industry, who’s communications with companies, doctors and consumers have typically been limited to advertising, crisis response, promotional materials and packaging, and face to face interaction through conferences, drug reps and pharmacists.

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