Following these simple principles will help and pharma or healthcare brand get a good start in social media. Here's what to do and what not to do in order ensure you win over your customers instead of chasing them away.

1. Pharma and Healthcare Social Media PrinciplesJonathan RichmanDirector of Business Development, Bridge WorldwideBlogger, Dose of Digital

2. The Principles Be Aware, Not Afraid Monitor and Get Involved All About E.V.E. Prepare to Surrender Control It’s Not About You

3. Be Aware, Not Afraid

4. Be Aware, Not Afraid The #1 objection to social media among healthcare companies: Adverse Event Reporting

5. Be Aware, Not Afraid The Myth: If given a forum, patients will post “adverse events” that need to reported to FDA.

6. Be Aware, Not Afraid The Reality: 1 in 500 posts actually contain all the information required for an adverse event report.

7. Be Aware, Not Afraid Required for reporting: an identifiable patient an identifiable reporter a specific drug or biologic involved in the event an adverse event or fatal outcome Only 1 in 500 posts have all this info. Get Nielsen’s Whitepaper: http://bit.ly/YqmrD

8. Be Aware, Not Afraid Summary Very few posts will ever have a reportable adverse event Use adverse events as a “canary in the coalmine” to identify issues before they become too large to manage Develop a simple policy for handling these issues

9. Monitor and Get Involved

10. Monitor and Get Involved Be aware of what people are saying about you Join the community now and not during a crisis when it’s too late

11. Monitor and Get Involved A crisis like this... Video URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BmykFKjNpdY

12. Monitor and Get Involved One tweet starts a firestorm

13. Monitor and Get Involved Leading to a public apology

14. Monitor and Get Involved One weekend and just 7000 Tweets to take down Motrin

15. Monitor and Get Involved Summary Some Lessons Learned: Neither McNeil nor the agency that created the ad had a Twitter account Neither were monitoring Twitter for brand mentions

16. Monitor and Get Involved Start Here... More Info: http://bit.ly/Zeja

17. It’s All About E.V.E.

18. No, not that one...

19. All About E.V.E. Expected Visitor Experience (E.V.E.): the set of activities and functions that an average user would expect to find and use on a specific digital platform. “Does your social media program work like I think it should to work?”

20. All About E.V.E. Don’t be this guy. Shouting, but no one’s listening.

21. Shouting  Listening

22. Shouting  Listening

23. P.S.: You act “conservatively” on Twitter to avoid a warning letter... Irony ...and then violate FDA rule one by not providing fair balance where product and usage are mentioned

24. You take the leap onto YouTube....

25. ...but disable some favorite features

26. ...but disable some favorite features This isn’t what the people want. Remember: It’s all about E.V.E.

27. All About E.V.E. Summary Use each social media site as it was intended or you’ll find yourself alone This means (for example)... ...you have to interact on Twitter ...you have to enable “The Wall” on Facebook ...you have to allow comments and ratings on YouTube ...you have to permit comments on your blog

28. Prepare to Surrender Control

29. Prepare to Surrender Control You can’t control what people say about your brand If you try to, you instantly lose credibility with the community (and sales)

30. Prepare to Surrender Control You can’t control what people say about your brand If you try to, you instantly lose credibility with the community (and sales) And besides, you’ve already lost control

31. Prepare to Surrender Control

32. I would “hold” the medication until you go see your doctor in person Prepare to Surrender Control Who is “catspajamas” and why is he/she giving medical advice about your brand?

33. Prepare to Surrender Control

34. Prepare to Surrender Control Do you have ratings on your product site?

35. Prepare to Surrender Control Don’t worry...iGuard is doing it for you. Okay with you?

36. If you’re participating, be honest...

37. If you’re participating, be honest... An AstraZeneca IP address

38. If you’re participating, be honest... ...someone will figure it out and tell the world.

39. Prepare to Surrender Control Summary Know that you can’t control what people say about your product You CAN correct inaccurate information, but do it openly and supported by facts Never, ever pretend to be someone else

40. It’s Not About You

41. It’s Not About You Customers care about their needs and not your products You must meet your customers’ needs first before your own Bringing “meaning” to your customers is how you get their attention and loyalty

42. It’s Not About You You Promise This -- “Review Treatments”

43. It’s Not About You You Promise This -- “Review Treatments” But Give Me This -- A mention of your drug

44. It’s Not About You You Promise This -- “Review Treatments” But Give Me This -- A mention of your drug What if you actually gave me what I was promised?

45. It’s Not About You How many more pairs of Nikes does the free Nike+ application sell?

46. It’s Not About You Community created by Valeant, the makers of Diastat Acudial for seizures. Does anyone seem to mind?

47. It’s Not About You The best source for PKU information happens to have been created by the brand that makes a treatment for PKU. What are you the best source of?

48. It’s Not About You 200,000 posts all about your product...on your site. Where is everyone discussing your product?

49. It’s Not About You

50. It’s Not About You For more examples go here: http://bit.ly/B3PR7

51. It’s Not About You Summary Start with unbranded experiences to help your community of customers – education and awareness is part of your remit Let the discussion take center stage and don’t sell Customers will flock to the places where there is genuine value

52. The Principles Be Aware, Not Afraid Monitor and Get Involved It’s All About E.V.E. Prepare to Surrender Control It’s Not About You

53. Starting Tomorrow... Learn from others (for examples go here: http://bit.ly/B3PR7) Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, so learn from others. Get involved and familiar with the technology You won’t know what works until you see for yourself. Find out where your customers are and what they’re doing Don’t do something unless your customers are also. Educate your colleagues You may understand it all, but do the people who have to approve it? Try something Start small, but just start. See what it’s like before you commit big money.

54. Contact: Jonathan Richman Director of Business Development, Bridge Worldwide Blogger, Dose of Digital 513-381-1380 j.richman@bridgeworldwide.com