Category Archives: Social media and healthcare

The risk in social media is in being left behind by pharma

Posted on February 1, 2012 | 1 Comment

The exposure social media provides is potentially priceless – especially when compared to other promotional channels. To stay up-to-date, companies are adapting their communication strategies and embracing these changes. However the risk in the social media field is in being left behind by the prescription drug industry. Continue reading →

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What is the value of social media in DTC marketing ?

Posted on January 11, 2012 | 2 Comments

Now that the FDA is essentially letting drug companies “regulate themselves” when it comes to social media I’m sure there are going to be a lot of meetings to discuss the risks vs. benefits.  The first question DTC marketers should ask is “do consumers want to have a social media relationship around this health condition/product?”   Continue reading →

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DTC Marketers: You can’t measure the ROI of EVERY conversation

Posted on January 5, 2012 | 1 Comment

No doubt that a lot of marketing people within pharma are going to be spending endless hours, meetings and Power Points trying to justify a dip in the social media marketing water.  Well, you can’t put an ROI around EVERY conversation and to try and do so is a huge waste of time driven by people who don’t understand marketing with people instead of selling them. Continue reading →

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Social media is a competitive advantage for drug companies

Posted on January 5, 2012 | 5 Comments

For those of you who are so risk averse that you have decided not to integrate social media into your DTC marketing you are at a competitive disadvantage. Companies that are taking the leap, like Sanofi, are not only learning by doing they are, more importantly, listening via social media and what they hear can lead to a better position with patients in a very competitive marketplace. Continue reading →

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Minimizing social media risks with new (ah-em) FDA guidelines

Posted on January 4, 2012 | 7 Comments

For those of you who were expecting hard FDA guidelines on social media marketing there is a bridge I would like to sell you .   Frankly, what the FDA has said is that social media is evolving too fast for us to issue guidelines and and we don’t really understand how consumers are using it for healthcare decisions and information.  Here are the ways to minimize risk with social media marketing for pharma. Continue reading →

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The FDA gets it right on social media marketing

Posted on January 4, 2012 | 5 Comments

Social media means more than marketing products. It means using this “emerging electronic media” to advance the public health by communicating factual and timely information.  Damn right ! But will pharma marketers get the message ? Continue reading →

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Sanofi continues to embrace social media

Posted on December 5, 2011 | 10 Comments

There are some drug companies that “get it” and understand the need to interact with patients rather than just push information to them.  Sanofi is one of them.  Their latest effort around “Why Insulin” is a great example of an integrated social media strategy to reach diabetics and I believe it raises the bar when it comes to DTC marketing. Continue reading →

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STOP ! Social media is not the answer

Posted on September 8, 2011 | 4 Comments

In an era where most consumers do not want to connect with drug companies on social media and where most drug companies don’t have the resources to talk to people via social media I am amazed at how people within the drug industry continue to trumpet social media marketing.  Social media is not the answer because that is not the question that consumers and customers are asking. Continue reading →

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Pharma & Social Media: Who is the voice of the brand ?

Posted on August 18, 2011 | 2 Comments

While we continue to count the number or pages that have been removed from Facebook by pharma companies we seem to overlooking another key question: “Who, within the pharma organization, has the skills and knowledge to talk to consumers and be the voice of the brand on social media ?”  Is it PR ?  Is it marketing ?  Is it someone within medical ?  Probably a little bit of everything which is why the biopharma organizations needs a new position created to communicate with consumers via social media. Continue reading →

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Saluting the pharma social media pioneers

Posted on August 16, 2011 | 2 Comments

While some people, mostly agency people, have been playing tapps for the removal of Facebook branded pages there are still some pharma pioneers (thank you John Mack) who are moving forward with social network marketing.  The folks at Sanofi and AZ to name a few continue to experiment with social media and they should be featured at the next social media conference, not for what they did, but to share how they won over legal,regulatory and management. Continue reading →

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Quick survey: Why are you deleting your Facebook page

Posted on August 15, 2011 | 2 Comments

I contacted 5 brands that took down their Facebook pages today for a quick survey and found that the number one reason they were taking their pages down was “too much risk”.  When I inquired whether they had heard about some new tools that allowed them to manage risk the answers were “no”.  However what I also heard was “it’s just not worth the investment right now in people and other resources”.   Continue reading →

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