Pharmaceutical Social Media: Booster Shot for Your Marketing Efforts

Social media has truly taken off and has become a central element within the marketing arsenal; nowhere is this more in evidence than with drug and biopharma companies who have wholeheartedly embraced pharmaceutical social media.

We offer some techniques for drug companies wishing to hone their pharmaceutical social media activities:

*Tell human stories. The importance of health is a universally shared value. Pharmaceutical social media should strive to connect people with common experiences. Focus on compelling stories that highlight benefits of your company’s product. Success stories should be reviewed and submitted in compliance with all applicable regulations and, once approved, shared through social channels to demonstrate real impact in the lives of consumers and enhance public goodwill toward the company.

*Pharma social media should be about more than just product marketing… Some companies are making use of pharmaceutical social media to focus on stories about employees, wellness information, and corporate content. They are extending their pharma social media efforts to include YouTube and Facebook pages.

*Educate everyone involved on the importance of pharmaceutical social media. Begin the process by highlighting the need to have a presence. Remember, you don’t need to have every bell and whistle available when launching a pharmaceutical social media program. Choose a few vehicles and gradually add others to your pharmaceutical social media arsenal.

*Stay on label. While the ways in which information is shared have changed, this doesn’t mean that the overriding regulations are different. Disseminate all pertinent product information through your pharmaceutical social media efforts to avoid regulatory issues.

*Have a pharmaceutical social media policy in place. Create strong internal guidelines for your company’s pharmaceutical social media campaign. Prior to beginning any pharmaceutical social media program, establish controls and expectations of staff that would be involved in public engagement. Create a list of regulatory boundaries and potential scenarios where legal counsel would be notified of consumer concerns. Once approved, schedule frequent reviews of the social media program to identify potential pitfalls around key regulations like patient privacy or adverse events.

*Check with legal. Working with your company’s legal counsel is essential in any pharmaceutical social media marketing effort. Think creatively on how to advance your brand goals and provide your legal team with multiple campaigns. Find ways to problem solve with your counsel.

*Crisis planning. Update your company’s crisis communications plan to include its pharmaceutical social media activities. As we all know, a crisis can emerge at anytime and many can erupt in the blogosphere. You should have a monitoring mechanism in place as well as a plan of action to respond in the event of a crisis should emerge.

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