Social Media And Pharma July 09

Social Media and Drug Companies Social Media & Drug Companies What is the value ? Rich Meyer Online Strategic Solu7ons

Objec7ve and Methodology Social Media and Drug Companies Objec8ve: •  Determine if consumers/pa7ents desire to interact with a pharmaceu7cal company via social media. Methodology •  Quan7ta7ve via Internet 2264 Responses 64% female •  Conducted May-‐June 2009

Key Findings Social Media and Drug Companies •  Consumers do not want to directly interact (talk) with pharmaceu7cal companies via social media but a social media site that brings pa7ents together would ﬁnd an audience if it had the right elements. •  Women are 3x more likely to use social media for health than men, however men will view social media health sites when triggered. •  Consumers will use social media for health as part of the health informa7on seeking process but are skep7cal of the credibility of informa7on. •  Pa7ents doctors, pharmacists and the Internet answer most health ques7ons but pa7ents want to know more “real life” experiences and research healthcare op7ons. •  Social media is just one stop on the informa7on journey to research health informa7on.

Key Findings (con’t) Social Media and Drug Companies •  Pa7ents would respond to a site that both brings people who have similar health issues/ques7ons but do not want to directly engage with a drug company via conversa7onal sites like Twier. •  There is high awareness of social media sites like Facebook and Twier but not when it comes to health. They hear about such sites mostly via word-‐ of-‐mouth & search. •  Pa7ents would like to be connected via social media to their physician as they feel it would both save 7me and money. Pa7ents don’t like to go back to their physician simply to renew prescrip7ons. •  While insurance companies are providing more health informa7on it is met with a degree of skep7cism. •  Customers would welcome interac7on with their insurance provider via social media but privacy is an issue as is security of their health data.

Elements of a pharma social media site Social Media and Drug Companies We asked par8cipants to design the perfect social media prescrip8on drug page. Here are the key elements that they wanted: •  Disease state informa7on (how many, symptoms, key metrics such as blood count or bone density) •  Brand ambassadors (let me connect with others who have experience with the disease to learn from their experiences) •  Clear who is sponsoring the page (transparency) •  Interac7ve tools (am I at risk, can I use your drug with my other medica7ons?) •  Clear understandable informa7on on poten7al side eﬀects (not label language) •  Resources/links via the Web to credible sources of informa7on including compe7tors.

What health condi7ons would pa7ents use a social media site for Social Media and Drug Companies Women Men •  Osteoporosis (71%) •  Sexual Health (36%) •  Cancer (55%) •  Cancer (45%) •  Reproduc7ve health (45%) •  Joint Replacement (25%) •  Cholesterol Management (57%) •  Cholesterol Management (17%) •  Diabetes (69%) •  Diabetes (60%) •  Depression (58%) •  Depression (34%)

There is also a dire need for caregiver informa7on and resources Social Media and Drug Companies •  Nearly 16M adults in the US are caregivers. 80% of them are caring for another adult (18+). 67% are caring for a rela7ve. •  2 in 4 adults is searching for health informa7on for an member of their family or other rela7ve according to our research. •  They are ﬁnding medical informa7on but what they feel is missing is support groups to them balance life and caring for someone who may require a lot of care. •  Par7cular condi7ons: Alzheimer's, Cancer, Juvenile Diabetes. •  “How can I have a life for myself without feeling so guilty about caring for my parents. I am at my peak income earning years and want to enjoy life but I feel terrible is I don’t go out of my way to see them everyday.”

Would you use Twier to talk with a drug company ? Social Media and Drug Companies Over 85% who were familiar with TwiMer said “NO” because; •  “They would try to sell me” •  “Don’t trust them to tell me the truth” •  “My doctor always gives me great informa7on she is great” •  No clear value “who would I be talking to? •  ”Afraid to disclose personal informa7on and how the informa7on they provide would be used.

Would you use Twier to talk to your doctor ? Social Media and Drug Companies 62% yes, 22% no, 16% unsure Why would you? •  Save 7me of an oﬃce visit •  To ask a minor ques7on about medica7on or health. •  To determine if oﬃce visit is needed. Why wouldn’t you ? •  Privacy concerns •  I want to talk face to face •  Would be available most of the 7me when I am available

Implica7ons Social Media and Drug Companies •  While one-‐on-‐one communica7on is not desired by pa7ents/consumers there is a clear need/want to bring people together on a social media site with a host of tools and interac7ve features. All this can be done via low risk legal and regulatory approval. •  Gelng men to engage and use social media is going to be as diﬃcult as gelng them to the physician for preventa7ve care. •  Use your pa7ents/customers as brand ambassadors and let them spread the word about your product via social media site like Facebook. •  While Twier may not work for pa7ents it may work as a corporate news feed for investors. It could also be used to update pa7ents about new clinical trials and for clinical trial recruitment.

Implica7ons (con’t) Social Media and Drug Companies •  If a social media page is developed ensure that resources are provided to update the page on a regular basis. Social media is about “now” not about once and done. •  Ensure that someone is dedicated to upda7ng and monitoring your social media marke7ng eﬀorts. Also develop a plan for nega7ve use of your social media page or brand hijacking by zealots. •  Pa7ents/consumers are using social media so you need to ask the ques7on “do we want our message out there?” •  Social media is not a ‘quick ﬁx”. It will take 7me to bring people together and earn their trust. There is also risk in not upda7ng social media pages when nega7ve news about your product appears in the general media. •  Finally, don’t gage the reach of your social media via people who follow your page..one person usually has a reach to 8-‐10 others and people may visit and chose not to follow your page.

About me Richard Meyer Social Media and Drug Companies •  My resume hp://www.richardameyer.com •  My marke7ng BLOG hp://www.richsblog.com •  MY DTC BLOG hp://www.worldofdtcmarke7ng.com hp://www.twier.com/richmeyer hp://www.facebook.com/richardameyer hp://www.linkedin.com/in/richardameyer

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Social Media And Pharma July 09

by Rich Meyer on Jul 25, 2009

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Social Media And Pharma July 09 — Presentation Transcript