We live in a world where consumers are deeply engaged when it comes to their health. As consumers search online to educate themselves about disease states, cures, drug information and support, there’s one common truth: they trust discussions with other consumers when it comes to information on their health. This presents both a challenge and an opportunity for pharmaceutical companies to gain consumer trust and loyalty, especially in this age of multimedia. However, if pharmaceutical companies can join in the conversation – known as social media – then they have an opportunity to gain this trust.

What is social media?
Social media is collaborative communication that is fueled by technology. It empowers individuals, groups and institutions to actively participate in creating, finding, using, sharing and expanding content together. Social media enables communities to more easily form and stay connected, which radically increases the speed and force of change.

Social media includes what’s referred to as user generated content (UGC), which is produced by “ordinary people” as opposed to traditional media producers. Examples of UGC include blogs, podcasts, tagging, ratings, videos and photos. In fact, according to 75% of all online adult consumers and 92% of online youth use one or more forms of UGC content. Self expression isn’t new, but technology has certainly made it easier.

Social media is a revolution - not a fad or an exclusive domain of teenagers on a site like Myspace or Facebook. Because of this, consumers now expect (and almost demand) collaboration and participation in virtually every aspect of their lives. As an example, more people voted on the last American Idol finale than have ever voted in a presidential election. How is this possible? Through the ease of picking up a mobile device and sending a text message from any place at any time. Or sitting at a computer and going to a Web site in the comfort of their own home. You get the point.

In healthcare, adoption has been accelerated as consumers are fed by the inherent trust that social media provides. At this very moment, more than 500 groups on Yahoo! are dedicated to just speaking on the subject of diabetes with approximately 25,000 consumers participating; there are 33,112 photos on flickr, a photo sharing site, that have been tagged as “cancer” related; and 1,745 questions about asthma have been posted on Yahoo! Answers, a site where consumers can ask a question on any topic and get answers from real people. With this shift, consumers have gone from listening to you, to having conversations with others about you.

While technology has been the enabler, it is ultimately people that are the driving force behind social media. As more people contribute, the content gets richer and the engagement becomes more powerful. For example, think about medications. Drugs could be rated, ranked, discussed and reviewed by millions online - much like books on Amazon. But with this fundamental change in media comes the new challenges of marketing to this empowered online audience.

Online health consumers are hyper-engaged
Social media marketing is a compelling opportunity for pharmaceutical companies to reach their most influential audience. Recent research conducted by Manhattan-based Hall and Partners Healthcare found that online health consumers are hyper-engaged and leverage almost twice as many information sources to learn about disease states and prescriptions than the average consumer. Additionally, 75% of consumers that participate in UGC often share online health information with others. Even among “typical users,” interaction with the most passive of social media tools, online search - which is driven in large part by consumers’ anonymous choice of the most popular results and destinations – shows that health searchers crave information and interaction.

Additional information from the study showed the habits of consumers searching online for health information differ significantly from their non-searching counterparts. Online searchers are so engaged that they look for information on more than just one condition and seek to learn about multiple conditions and symptoms. They also spend more time on search engines (68%) and health sites (51%) than with family and friends (18%) to seek information about symptoms, diagnosis and prescriptions.

With the interaction of UGC, search and personalization, global health communities are growing into powerful forces. These communities are built around people with a common purpose that want to participate, be heard and discover information that is relevant to their interests. And within these communities, dynamic differences are emerging. For every creator of content – a physician writing a blog, for example – there are roughly 10 synthesizers actively commenting, sharing, rating and reacting. For each group of synthesizers, roughly 100 consumers read, watch, listen and enjoy while participating only occasionally. All three of these groups have a valid place within the community.

For pharmaceutical marketers, it is crucial to engage the creators and synthesizers, known as consumer opinion leaders (COLs) in the communities important to your customers. Like physician key opinion leaders, they have a voice which is multiplied by their community influence. For example, on Yahoo! Answers, “Nurse Annie” is a 21+ year registered nurse that has answered over 3,000 questions correctly from curious consumers. Although she is involved in the medical community, Nurse Annie has now become a COL for many everyday folks that are looking for more information and the human touch that can’t be found from typing keywords into a search box.

Listen first – then placement, integration, empowerment
Pharmaceutical marketers don’t need to retreat from social media and hide behind a wall of adverse event forms. Just as we have built communities of physicians who speak openly with each other about our products, we have an opportunity to nurture and learn from consumer communities as well.

First, we must listen with intent. Yes, we may have to use the same cumbersome AE reporting mechanisms, but the benefits of understanding the meaning of your brand to communities will outweigh the hassle. Analyzing what you hear can reveal a gap in consumer awareness. What’s more, a number of tools have emerged to help consolidate the vast array of social media input, from free online evaluators like Intelliseek, to sophisticated and customized tracking services like Cymfony.

Once marketers have a firm grasp on the language, attitudes, brand perceptions and key COLs in their consumer community, pharmaceutical company participation can range from targeted media placement to integration and empowerment. All approaches are open to branded or unbranded programs, and should include the following:

1. Target media placements and sponsorships where communities are active. This is the simplest approach – but don’t discount its effectiveness.
2. Focus on displaying the right message to the right audience. Placement alone can be highly effective in driving traffic to community activities on a brand site.
3. Integrate your brand within the community and provide opportunities for consumers to learn and interact.
4. Empower the community. Let people who love your brand make it a part of their identity. Give them the tools to become your advocate, refer their peers and emulate your brand message.

Read more about how Health Marketers boost their business vital signs.

Authored by Jack Barrette, the former Category Development Officer for Pharma and Bonnie Becker, the Director of Pharma Category.