Pharma!
Twitterama:!
Exploring The Use of Twitter!
in Pharma & Healthcare !
Shwen Gwee (@shwen)
Lead, New Media Communications
Vertex Pharmaceuticals!

Disclaimer
•! The opinions and ideas expressed in this presentation are
strictly my own and are not screened by my employer.
•! Everything mentioned or presented is strictly my personal
opinion and does not necessarily represent the views of
Vertex Pharmaceuticals.
!
Image by: Monkey Works Illustration

Intro to Twitter

What is Twitter?
•! Micro Blogging / Micro Sharing Tool; or Micro Media
•! Wikipedia (July 2009):
•! “Twitter is a free social networking and micro-blogging
service that enables its users to send and read messages
known as tweets.”
•! “Tweets are text-based posts of up to 140 characters
displayed on the author's profile page and delivered to the
author's subscribers who are known as followers”
•! About.com (July 2009):
•! “…micro-blogging is for people who want a blog but don't
want to blog.”
•! Twitter is micro-blogging. It is social messaging. It is an
event coordinator, a business tool, a news reporting service
and a marketing utility.

What is Twitter?
Remember The Tipping Point’s “Law of the Few” ?
“The success of any kind of social epidemic is heavily
dependent on the involvement of people with a
particular and rare set of social gifts”
Malcolm Gladwell (2003), The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference

What is Twitter?
Illustration: David Armano, Logic+Emotion Blog (http://darmano.typepad.com)

What is Twitter?
•! “Connectors – the kinds of people who know
everyone and possess special gifts for bringing
the world together”
•! Twitter is a conduit for connecting:
You Followers
People Each Other
Followers What You Value as
Important
Illustration: David Armano, Logic+Emotion Blog (http://darmano.typepad.com)

Is Twitter Social CRM?
Source: Brent Leary, Social CRM in Pictures....and Words, Brent’s Social CRM Blog (http://crm2.typepad.com/brents_blog/2008/07/social-crm-in-p.html)

!
Twitter Basics

Twitter – Basic Functions
Post
Follow
@ Reply + Unfollow
Direct Message (DM)
! 140
CHARACTERS
Favorite

Twitter – Follow/Unfollow
Click to Follow

Twitter – Follow/Unfollow
Now You’re Following

Twitter – Basic Interface & Functions
Tweet Stream Mentions/Replies
Private DMs

Twitter – Basic Functions

Twitter – Posting

Twitter – Replying & Direct Messaging
@

Twitter – Favorite

Beyond Basics: Welcome to the Twitterverse…
Source: Brian Solis, Gazing into the Twitterverse, PR 2.0 Blog (http://www.briansolis.com/2009/05/gazing-into-twitterverse)

Beyond!
!
Twitter Basics

#Hashtags
•! Wikipedia Definition:
•! Hashtags are a community-driven convention for
adding additional context and metadata to your
tweets.
•! They're like tags on Flickr, only added inline to your
post. You create a hashtag simply by prefixing a
word with a hash “#” symbol: e.g. #hashtag.
•! Acts like a reference label for events and/or topics
•! e.g. #Twitterama for this webinar
•! E.g. #health20 for Health 2.0 Conference

Search: search.twitter.com

Searching Events/Topics: Hashtags.org

Trends: TwitScoop.com

TweetMemes: Tweetmeme.com

Finding/Following People: Twellow.com

Twitter Directories: WeFollow.com

URL Shorteners: e.g. TinyURL.com, Bit.ly, Ow.ly

Tweet Management: TweetDeck

Tweet Management: TweetDeck
Insert Source: http://www.1stwebdesigner.com/tutorials/learn-how-to-use-tweetdeck-effectively-and-save-time

Tweet Management: TweetDeck
Insert Source: http://www.1stwebdesigner.com/tutorials/learn-how-to-use-tweetdeck-effectively-and-save-time

Tweet Management: TweetDeck
Insert Source: http://www.1stwebdesigner.com/tutorials/learn-how-to-use-tweetdeck-effectively-and-save-time

Multiple Account Management: HootSuite.com

Corporate Tweet Management: CoTweet.com

Dispelling!
Twitter Myths !

Myth 1
Twitter is Just for
Teens & College Students

Myth 1: Twitter is Just for Teens & College Students
•! Facebook is popular as one can
interact with friends on a wide
scale.
•! On the other hand, teenagers do
not use Twitter.
•! Most have signed up to the
service, but then just leave it as
they realize that they are not
going to update it (mostly
because texting Twitter uses up
credit, and they would rather text
friends with that credit).
•! In addition they realize that no
one is viewing their profile, so
their 'tweets' are pointless.
Source: Guardian.co.uk, July 13, 2009 (http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/jul/13/twitter-teenage-media-habits)

Myth 1: Twitter is Just for Teens & College Students
•! 18-24 year olds 12 percent less likely than average to visit Twitter
•! 25-34 year olds are 30 percent more likely to visit Twitter
•! 45-54 year olds are 36 percent more likely than average to visit Twitter
Age Distribution of Twitter Users
Source: comScore Voices, April 7, 2009 (http://blog.comscore.com/2009/04/twitter_traffic_explodesand_no.html)

Myth 2
Twitter is a Time Suck –
It’s All Just Useless Info Anyway

Myth 2: Twitter is a Time Suck –
It’s All Just Useless Info Anyway
•! Depends who you follow…And What You’re Interested In

Myth 3
Pharma/Healthcare Can’t
Engage on Twitter

Myth 3: Pharma/Healthcare Can’t Engage on Twitter
•! Adoption of Twitter has surpassed YouTube in Hospitals
•! 213 Twitter Accounts
•! 142 YouTube Channels
•! 109 Facebook pages
•! 26 Blogs
Source: @EdBennett, Hospital Social Network List, Found in Cache Blog, June 15, 2009 (http://ebennett.org/hsnl/)

Myth 3: Pharma/Healthcare Can’t Engage on Twitter
•! Pharma presence on Twitter is Growing Steadily
Start of Twitter Activities
Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May June July
2008 2009
@Boehringer @AstraZenecaUS @JNJComm @NovartisTrials @Amgen @SanofiPasteur @Pfizer_news
@Novartis @Roche_com @GenentechNews
@GSKUS
@SanofiAventisTV
Adapted from: @WhyDotPharma, Pharma twittersphere - To be followed or to follow?, WhyDotPharma Blog, July 14, 2009
(http://www.whydotpharma.com/2009/07/14/pharma-twittersphere-to-be-followed-or-to-follow/)

Stats and Facts
About Twitter!

Twitter Growth (2008–2009)
•! In 2008, Twitter grew ~753%1
•! From FEB 2008 to FEB 2009, Twitter grew ~1382%2
Site Feb 08 Feb 09 % growth
Twitter.com 475,000 7,038,000 1382%
Source: 1. Compete.com, 2. Nielsen NetView, 2/09, U.S., Home and Work (http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/online_mobile/twitters-tweet-smell-of-success)

Twitter Age Range
Unique Visitors to Twitter.com by Age Demographic
Age Group Unique Audience Composition %
2-17 250,000 3.6
18 – 24 ** **
25 – 34 1,379,000 19.6
35 – 49 2,935,000 41.7
55+ 1,165,000 16.6
65+ 477,000 6.8
**These demographics have insufficient sample sizes
Source: Nielsen NetView, 2/09, U.S., Home and Work (http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/online_mobile/twitters-tweet-smell-of-success)

Twitter Users by Age and Gender
Source: Sysomos Inc, June 2009, An In-Depth Look Inside the Twitter World (http://www.sysomos.com/insidetwitter/)

Twitter Users by Geography
Description: The bar chart shows the number of Twitter users
from top-10 cities relative to the number of users in New York
City. The chart shows that the number of users in NYC is four
times that in San Diego.
Source: Sysomos Inc, June 2009, An In-Depth Look Inside the Twitter World (http://www.sysomos.com/insidetwitter/)

Twitter Activity
Source: Sysomos Inc, June 2009, An In-Depth Look Inside the Twitter World (http://www.sysomos.com/insidetwitter/)

The More Followers, the More You Tweet
•! As Twitter users attract more followers, they tend to Tweet more often
# of Followers Avg. # of Tweets/Day
< 1,000 ~3
1,000–1,749 ~6
>1,750 ~10
Source: Sysomos Inc, June 2009, An In-Depth Look Inside the Twitter World (http://www.sysomos.com/insidetwitter/)

Twitter Activity
•! 5% of users account for 75% of all activity
•! 10% account for 86% of activity
•! 30% account for 97.4%
Source: Sysomos Inc, June 2009, An In-Depth Look Inside the Twitter World (http://www.sysomos.com/insidetwitter/)

Twittter:
Objectives!

What Can Twitter Do For You?
•! Research (prospective and retrospective)
•! Reinforce and Expand Your Brand
•! Promote Content
•! Extend Audience (e.g. link traffic, SEO)
•! Networking and “Media Relations”
•! Previews and Feedback (e.g. testing messages)
•! Speedlinking (e.g. auto-tweeted links)
•! Story Gathering (e.g. for breaking news)
•! What people really think (good, bad, and ugly)
•! Establish, Engage, and Maintain Relationships
Adapted from: ProBlogger, January 23, 2008, 9 Benefits of Twitter for Bloggers (http://www.problogger.net/archives/2008/01/23/9-benefits-of-twitter-for-bloggers/)

Groundswell Objectives
Listen Research
Engage Talk to people
Energize Energize your advocates
Support Support your customers
Embrace Embrace customer feedback
Josh Bernoff, Groundswell Blog: Twitter is a 5-tool player -- how it should get paid (http://blogs.forrester.com/groundswell/2009/03/twitter-is-a-5.html)

Groundswell Objectives & Roles
OBJECTIVES ROLES
Listen Market Research/
CorpComm
Engage CorpComm/Marketing
Energize Marketing/Sales
Support Sales/Customer Service
Embrace Marketing/CorpComm
Charlene Li & Josh Bernoff (2008), Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies (http://www.forrester.com/Groundswell)

Corporate Objectives
•! Market Research
•! Customer Service
•! Customer Relations
•! Publicity and Promotion
•! Marketing and Sales
•! Crisis Communication
•! Issues Advocacy
•! Event Support/Management
•! Event Updates
Adapted from: ProBlogger, January 23, 2008, 9 Benefits of Twitter for Bloggers (http://www.problogger.net/archives/2008/01/23/9-benefits-of-twitter-for-bloggers/)

!
Examples

Market Research

Customer Service/Support

Promotions / Customer Relations

Crisis Management

Issues Advocacy

Publicity

Promotion/Sales, Customer Support, etc.
Promotion / Sales Community Relations
News/Event Updates
“Embracing” Customers
Customer Support

Event Updates

Other Healthcare!
Examples !

Clinical Trial Matching: @TrialX
•! "The TrialX Twitter App allows you to find clinical trials of new
treatments in your area."
•! You can DM them for privacy

Bipolar/Depression Support: @PolarWisdom
•! News, community, and advocacy feed for those dedicated to
living well with bipolar disorder and depression, including support
networks of family, friends, and fellow patients
•! “Twitter helps reframe healthcare research, news and content in
terms of personal, n=1 context”
•! Tweet contents:
•! News/Journal articles (from POV of afflicted)
•! Resources available for caregivers/survivors
•! Latest research on medication development, clinical trials,
and side effects
•! Developing advocacy by learning more about condition
Source: @JensMccabe, Meet @PolarWisdom: A Ground Zero Glance at Building the First Condition-Specific, Collaborative advocacy Twitter Feed,
April 6, 2009 (http://www.twitter.com/polarwisdom)

HealthCare and Social Media #hcsm Tweet Chat

Pharma!
!
Examples

PharmaCo’s On Twitter
1.! @Allergan"
2.! @Amgen – Currently unconfirmed as true corporate account (6/18)!
3.! @AstraZenecaUS"
4.! @Boehringer"
5.! @GenentechNews"
6.! @GSKUS"
7.! @JNJComm"
8.! @Novartis"
9.! @NovartisTrials – Clinical Trials focused Twitter account"
10.!Novo Nordisk: @RaceWithInsulin – Promotional Rx Twitter Account"
11.! @Pfizer_news"
12.!@Roche_com"
13.!@SanofiAventisTV – Provides updates new video channel"
14.!@SanofiPasteur"
Source: @Jonmrich, Pharma and Healthcare Social Media Wiki, Dose of digital Blog, July 2009
(http://www.doseofdigital.com/healthcare-pharma-social-media-wiki/)

PharmaCo’s On Twitter
Start of Twitter Activities
Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May June July
2008 2009
@Boehringer @AstraZenecaUS @JNJComm @NovartisTrials @Amgen @SanofiPasteur @Pfizer_news
@Novartis @Roche_com @GenentechNews
@GSKUS
@SanofiAventisTV
Adapted from: @WhyDotPharma, Pharma twittersphere - To be followed or to follow?, WhyDotPharma Blog, July 14, 2009
(http://www.whydotpharma.com/2009/07/14/pharma-twittersphere-to-be-followed-or-to-follow/)

PharmaCo’s: Twitter Activities
•! Follower/Following Activity:
Follow Activity PharmaCo’s
Do not follow anyone Amgen
Only follows a selection of
AZ, Roche, Genentech, GSK, Novartis
followers
Follows (almost) everyone
Boehringer, JNJ
who follows them
•! NOTE – Following Someone Allows You To…
-! Receive their tweets in your tweet stream
-! Receive direct messages (DMs) from them
Adapted from: @WhyDotPharma, Pharma twittersphere - To be followed or to follow?, WhyDotPharma Blog, July 14, 2009
(http://www.whydotpharma.com/2009/07/14/pharma-twittersphere-to-be-followed-or-to-follow/)

PharmaCo’s: Number of Followers
Number of Followers on twitter
2')3'()**)+#$,' (July 13th, 2009)
2500
2126
1965
2000
1617
1500
1191 1167
!"#$%&#'()**)+#$,-'./01'
1058
1000
741
638
500
0
Data Source: www.twitter.com, July 13th, 2009; whydotpharma analysis
Source: @WhyDotPharma, Pharma twittersphere - To be followed or to follow?, WhyDotPharma Blog, July 14, 2009
(http://www.whydotpharma.com/2009/07/14/pharma-twittersphere-to-be-followed-or-to-follow/)

PharmaCo’s: Number They Are Following
Number of Following on twitter
2')3'()**)+45&' (July 13th, 2009)
2000
1559
1500
1095
1000
500
!"#$%&#'()**)+45&-'/67' 182 163
76 50 9 0
0
Data Source: www.twitter.com, July 13th, 2009; whydotpharma analysis
Source: @WhyDotPharma, Pharma twittersphere - To be followed or to follow?, WhyDotPharma Blog, July 14, 2009
(http://www.whydotpharma.com/2009/07/14/pharma-twittersphere-to-be-followed-or-to-follow/)

PharmaCo’s: Number of Updates
Number of Updates on twitter
2')3'<9:%;#,' (July 13th, 2009)
500
311
261
250
155
92 79
!"#$%&#'89:%;#,-'..6'
28 20
6
0
Source: www.twitter.com, July 13th, 2009; whydotpharma analysis
Source: @WhyDotPharma, Pharma twittersphere - To be followed or to follow?, WhyDotPharma Blog, July 14, 2009
(http://www.whydotpharma.com/2009/07/14/pharma-twittersphere-to-be-followed-or-to-follow/)

PharmaCo’s: Number Following & Updates
2')3'()**)+45&' Number Following and Updates by PharmaCo
2000
1500 @Boehringer
1000 @JNJComm
500 !"#$%&#'3)**)+45&-'/67'
@GSKUS
@AstraZeneca
@Roche_com
@genentechnews
@Amgen @Novartis
0
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400
!"#$%&#'<9:%;#,-'..6' 2')3'<9:%;#,'
Data Source: www.twitter.com, July 13th, 2009; whydotpharma analysis Bubble size = # of followers: 1,306
Source: @WhyDotPharma, Pharma twittersphere - To be followed or to follow?, WhyDotPharma Blog, July 14, 2009
(http://www.whydotpharma.com/2009/07/14/pharma-twittersphere-to-be-followed-or-to-follow/)

Types of PharmaTweets
•! Types of PharmaCo Updates on Twitter:
Types of Tweets PharmaCo’s
Speedlinking /
SanofiAventisTV
Auto-updates
News Updates /
Amgen, Genentech, Novartis, Pfizer, Sanofi Pasteur
Corp Comm
Engaging and
AZ, Boehringer, GSK, JNJ, Roche
Energizing*
Promotional: Race with Insulin (Novo Nordisk)
Specialized
CT Recruitment: Novartis Trials
*Includes: ReTweeting, linking to other (non-company) resources, engaging in
conversation, expressing gratitude, etc.

PharmaTweets: SanofiAventisTV

PharmaTweets: @Pfizer_news

PharmaTweets: @JNJcomm

PharmaTweets: @RaceWithInsulin

PharmaTweets: @NovartisTrials

What Do People Want From PharmaTweets?
•! Which topics would you like PharmaCo’s to cover more on
Twitter?
Source: @WhyDotPharma, The state of the pharma twittersphere, WhyDotPharma Blog, July 13, 2009
(http://www.whydotpharma.com/2009/07/13/the-state-of-the-pharma-twittersphere/)

What Do People Want From PharmaTweets?
•! Would it be a good idea for PharmaCo’s to offer separate
Twitter accounts per topic?
•! If PharmaCo’s would offer Twitter accounts per topic, how
many would you be ready to follow per company?
Source: @WhyDotPharma, The state of the pharma twittersphere, WhyDotPharma Blog, July 13, 2009
(http://www.whydotpharma.com/2009/07/13/the-state-of-the-pharma-twittersphere/)

!
Conclusions

Conclusions for PharmaCo Tweets
•! Update tweets regularly
•! Follow people back (if possible)
•! People want to hear about:
•! Social causes and events
•! Medical and science news
•! Other activities not readily available by traditional media
•! Provide value to your followers, both with your tweets
and what you do with theirs (e.g. ReTweet, link to
resources, etc.)
•! Have a conversation with your followers (if possible)

Final Thwoughts and Twips
•! Look before you leap
•! Consider developing a guideline for tweeting (before starting)
•! Who should Tweet
•! What should be tweeted (contents, voice, etc.)
•! How to respond to mentions (@ replies) and DMs
•! See: Airforce Blog Assesment flowchart – http://bit.ly/R6sqg
•! Start internally
•! Experiment with tools like Yammer
•! Don’t be afraid to ask for feedback and suggestions
•! Let your tweets evolve organically
•! Be authentic and don’t try to sell
•! Bring booze to the party

Thank You!
@shwen
Illustration by: Hellvetica