Social Media is not going to save DTC Marketing & Pharma
Its a harsh business reality. If you dont make money, the business goes under and new drugs cant be developed. If you dont make more money, people lose their jobs and pharma is losing a LOT of jobs. Blogs and social networks emerged because people (i.e. individuals) wanted to connect on a more personal level using technology or perhaps because the technology barrier was lowered enough to allow people to connect on a more personal level using it. These interwebs were not invented for business purposes.
As a result, the social media purists (mostly agency people) have laid down the law and, so, to participate in social media as a business, you must do things like, participate in the conversation, engage your customers, and talk with us not to us. Ive got news for you. In the world of business, all that talk will get you exactly nowhere and is not going to get people to ask for your brand from their doctors. Conversations do not ring the cash register and does not lead to new Rxs. Engagement does not sell more product. Talking with people just means you have to take time to listen about potential AEs or bad medical advice which prevents you from spending valuable time selling more product.
Its always been a matter of trust. You could say that about any relationship but it is especially true when it comes to pharma and consumers. Right now consumers dont trust pharma, or the FDA for that mater, yet here we have the FDA conducting hearings on social media and mostly listening to agencies pitch why they should be allowed to go to clients and say let us do it for you.
Well the other harsh reality is that people connect on social media for lots of reasons but nowhere on that list is I want to form a relationship with a brand.
Awareness, even in social media, does not translate into conversion. Forget the bullshit about having a conversation with people via social media because the realities are;
the path of influence is not predictable
a burst in traffic sent by an influential blog/event is not usually sustained
our influences change frequently as do our needs
influence can grow fast or slow, but can disappear fast or slow as well
there is a big difference between DISCOVERY and BUYING DECISIONS
in other words...
I may learn about a new healthcare treatment from the Internet, but I may actually ask my doctor for something completely different based on the experience and advice of a friend or relative I trust because I am going to check with them first before I decide to ask about your product. The decision by the FDA on social media is completely irrelevant because consumers are already talking and listening to each other about healthcare regardless of whether pharma tries to get into the conversation or not.
DTC marketers spend only 4% of their budgets on the Internet. 4%!!?? That figure is pathetic when so many consumers are going to the Web for health. Why are they doing this? Because in pharma you dont think and you dont push for new initiatives..you just go with your classic MBA thinking and spend money on TV and then work with market research to show false results.
Social media is not going to save pharma. Social media is NOT a strategy but part of an integrated approach to reach consumers. That means that the Web, at only 4% of marketing spending in pharma, has not even begun to leverage its potential. Even if the FDA gives the green light to pharma marketers I am not confident that enough of them have a clue as how to use it a part of an integrated strategy and thus lies the real problem within DTC marketing.