It’s not so much about your products #bigpharma, but more about how you are using social media platforms. Social media still remains an uncharted territory for #bigpharma. Below are 5 areas #bigpharma needs to focus on regarding social media.
Establish an approach and level of investment
- Have a social media team in place
- Have an allocated budget
- Have a social media strategy
- Aligned with broader business
- Have access to c-suite for rapid response
- Have a process in place
Stay authentic
- Be humble
- Be human
- Engage
- Start online conversations
- Respond
Provide value
- Content with information
- Content that educates
- Content that provides scientific information
- Content that provides clinical updates
- Content that is relevant and answers the needs of your online audience
Political and social causes
- #Bigpharma has found itself in social & political causes
People of all races, religions and nationalities work at Sanofi every day to improve the lives of people around the world. While all pharmaceutical treatments have side effects, racism is not a known side effect of any Sanofi medication.
— Sanofi US (@SanofiUS) May 30, 2018
- The Sanofi response was successful because:
- Words are well chosen
- In a negative debate, it had a positive message
- It was unexpected & choose to take part in the debate – #bigpharma is infamous for staying away from answering anything online
- Tweet was focused on inclusion and diversity and not their product
- It was fast – #bigpharma can take days to respond
Be creative (see post pharma getting creative with content)
- Traditional advertising ads are out
- New creative and engaging content is a must
- Content needs to be original.
- Experiment with content – see what works and doesn’t work
- Ask your audience for ideas
- Try User Generated Content (UGC)
- Start learning from other business sectors
- Change attitude towards risk, from avoiding mistakes to taking a chance on success
- Do social listening so that you understand your audience
