What YouTube can do for pharma
If done right, social media in general—and YouTube in particular–can boost a pharma brand
By on Jun 6, 2011Video is an engaging way to educate patients and healthcare professionals.
According to Manhattan Research: “1 in 2 ePharma consumers prefers video to text due to their learning style. The study showed that online health videos result in consumers following up on the call-to-action, with 3/4 of viewers doing additional research.”
Video is especially useful for patients with lower literacy levels.
Universal search (when search results offer images and videos, not just links to content pages on websites) is becoming increasingly important.
Videos, properly submitted, are 53 times more likely to generate a first page Google ranking than traditional search engine optimization techniques, according to Forrester Research.
Many pharma companies have heard this message and are creating videos that they are posting on their websites. So why not put them on YouTube as well? (For more on pharma sites, see ‘How to get marketing through unbranded websites right’.)
In January 2011, YouTube.com ranked as the top online video content property with 144.1 million unique viewers.
Data from comScore showed that 171 million US Internet users watched online video content in January for an average of 14.5 hours per viewer.
The total US Internet audience engaged in nearly 4.9 billion viewing sessions during the course of the month.
If YouTube were a search engine, it would be second only to Google.
Pharma on YouTube
As of today, there are more than 40 channels on YouTube from pharmaceutical/biotech companies.
These include channels around prescription drugs, unbranded disease awareness, and companies.
Comments on a single video or a channel on YouTube can be turned off, allowed to go live immediately, or sent for approval via email.
Most pharmaceutical companies choose not to accept comments via their YouTube channel and refer people to other communication channels.
The exception is the Johnson & Johnson Health Channel, where there are approximately 3,000 comments and 3.5 million video views.
Rob Halper, who manages the channel, guest moderated the #SocPharm tweetchat and shared his insights.
When asked about comments, Rob replied, “I moderate them myself. I only show them to lawyers if I think they involve adverse event reporting, which is very rare … I should clarify that there are no videos with specific pharma brands mentioned. Almost all the videos are patient stories.”
There have been four applicable FDA Warning Letters regarding video. (For more on social media and the FDA, see ‘Pharma marketing and social media: Don’t wait for the FDA’.)
On September 25, 2008, Shire was cited for putting a video on a website that was then copied by a user and put onto YouTube.
Shire was cited for overstating the efficacy of Adderall XR; the video also omits important information regarding the risks associated with Adderall XR use.
The key learning: Safety information must be embedded in the video itself.
On July 14, 2009, Abbott was cited for minimizing the risks, overstating efficacy, and including unsubstantiated claims in a Kaletra video.
The letter contends that the patient interview portion omits any discussion of serious risks, and relegates that information to the end of the program, “where it is unlikely to draw the viewer’s attention, and is displayed as a running telescript.”
Similarly, Wyeth received an FDA letter in August 2010 regarding a Premarin video; Warner Chilcott’s May 9, 2011 letter was about a video posted on YouTube by an overeager member of the Atelvia sales team.
The key learning from all these letters: As with any other medium, video must have fair balance.
It’s important to note that both these letters were not specifically about YouTube but about the content not following existing guidelines.
Creating a channel on YouTube, with a customized URL, is free. You can also customize the graphic look and feel of the channel.
My view is if you have videos, even a few, take advantage of the power of YouTube and post them there. Let me know if you agree or disagree.
Eileen O’Brien is director of search and innovation at Siren Interactive. She blogs at Sirensong. For more from Eileen O’Brien, see ‘When does a smartphone become a medical device?’ and ‘Be part of the social pharma conversation!’.
For more on marketing and social media, join the sector’s other key players at Customer Centric Marketing on June 27-28 in Philadelphia and the 11th Annual Marketing Europe conference in November.