The pharmaceutical marketing landscape has evolved considerably with the emergence of new media and technologies. In the past, pharma companies’ interaction with consumers was limited mainly to physicians. However, sales reps are now finding it increasingly difficult to meet physicians to sell directly and share samples. Patients, caregivers and physicians have also been increasingly relying on the internet for their health care and medical information. This has prompted pharmaceutical marketers to look at online marketing and digital media channels in order to promote and connect with their target audience. To put things in perspective, Mckinsey outlines a strategic marketing framework which includes different media types – Paid, Owned, Earned and recently added Sold and Hijacked.

When it comes to advertising, pharma companies typically pay for media space or for a third party to promote their products aka Paid media. Examples include traditional advertising through television (DTCA limited to US & New Zealand only) and magazines targeting physicians, online display advertising through web banners and search-engine marketing.

Pharma companies can also use or create their own channels to advertise. Product websites, Facebook pages, health care and community forums are all examples of Owned media. On the other hand, Sold media may not be as relevant in the pharma context as companies typically don’t invite other marketers to place their content on its owned media in order to generate revenue.

Digital marketing has now become an integral part of any comprehensive pharmaceutical marketing plan with companies spending lesser on traditional paid media. It has become all the more important to understand how various online media channels impact consumers’ knowledge of a brand and propensity to use the brand and share information with others. Studies indicate that exposure to online display advertising and branded websites continue to positively impact awareness, favorability toward pharmaceutical brands and conversion rates.

With the advent of the social web, pharma companies have found new ways to connect with their patients and physicians beyond their product websites and engage in a two way conversation. Digital brand engagement is all about providing a rich consumer experience making it all the more important to understand the brand and consumer situation before planning any marketing strategy.

The media landscape has also become far more integrated than it ever was; therefore pharma marketers need to understand how consumers engage with each media type. DTC or online display advertising of pharma brands by companies could either drive patients directly to physicians’ office or redirect them to their own branded product websites to seek further information. Pharma marketers can then offer a more engaging and personally relevant experience through multiple social media channels by providing access to their Facebook pages, blogs and discussion forums. Marketers should understand what exactly patients need and provide the right information in a social media context.

With Earned media, consumers of healthcare information including patients, caregivers, physicians etc. create media and/or share media the pharma companies have created e.g. sharing web links with other consumers, consumer ratings, rankings and reviews on social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter, community forums, blogs etc. This is extremely relevant as patients and caregivers have become very skeptical about the information provided through company sponsored promotional activities.

Positive ‘experiential’ word of mouth is the most powerful form. Be it patients seeking information on product efficacy, adverse events etc. or physicians sharing treatment decisions with their peer group, the opinions that count are the ones from trusted sources. Pharma companies can leverage and manage this aspect by creating platforms to disseminate and share user experiences. They can also target influencers or advocates who send the right messages in these forums. These experiences have the potential to create contagions in which the behavior of the provider is mirrored by their networks of friends, thus, amplifying the word-of-mouth effect. However, pharma marketers need to ensure that the marketing message is not lost as word of mouth is fundamentally unpredictable and serendipitous by nature.

Now what pharma companies don’t want is for their brand or marketing campaign to be taken hostage by those who oppose and mainly through social media channels. There are very few examples of Hijacked media in the pharma industry compared to others. Typical ones would involve negative comments related to adverse events or company credibility. A very early example is one where Motrin mom bloggers boycotted J&J’s Motrin due to an offensive television ad which created a lot negative ‘consequential word of mouth on Twitter and Facebook.In the end the company was forced to remove the ad and issue a public apology to prevent any further damage to its credibility.  A more recent example would be that of social hacktivists ‘The Script Kiddies’ hacking into Pfizer’s Facebook page in order to malign the company’s image.

Therefore, it’s crucial that it not only be about using multiple social media channels but also about using the right messages in order to create the buzz. Marketers should focus on key attributes that have the potential to create positive ‘consequential’ word of mouth. Also given the rate at which information spreads over the internet, it would be best if pharma companies avoided any form hijacked media; or at least be quick to respond to such attacks with a well thought out social media response campaign. Else it might snowball into a severe PR crisis detrimental to the companies’ credibility especially given Facebook’s new policy against whitelisting of pages.

So it is very clear that pharma marketers need to maximize their marketing mix by leveraging owned and earned media. Currently, companies primarily use social media to promote their brands and have a page/group on a social networking site. Majority of companies still face several challenges with respect to integrating social media into their marketing strategy. Effective utilization of different channels, measuring effectiveness of activities and linking social media activities to an impact on company financials and/or ROI are the most pressing. Given that social media activities result in a lot of valuable ‘user-generated content’, pharma marketers need to use data analytics in order to realize the full potential of their social media strategy. But more about that in my next blog..