Medimix International’s New Report Provides Wealth of Information: Social Media Activity of the Pharmaceutical Industry
Social media has taken the world by storm and the pharmaceutical industry is certainly not immune to its charms. From Twitter to Facebook, many pharmaceutical companies have taken the leap and established a presence on social platforms, even as they await impending rulings by the FDA and other regulatory bodies.
However, compared with other industries, pharmaceutical and biotech companies lag behind. Packaged goods companies spend on an average 10% of their marketing budget in social media, but pharma on an average spends less than 2%. And even though their consumers are already actively engaged online and interested in more online communication, most pharma companies have not responded with an active presence and may be missing important opportunities.
Utilizing a proprietary analytical framework, Medimix International has produced a new report, “The Pharmaceutical Social Media Landscape,” which takes a look at the current level of social media adoption by 20 major drug companies worldwide and compares their efforts with a random basket of blue-chip companies.
A social media matrix that Medimix International presented lately at various conferences evaluates the online consumers’ level of interest in a company’s online updates, the company’s awareness of its clients’ social media usage and also measures its attempts to engage them in meaningful conversation.
According to the Medimix report, Pfizer, Novartis, and Roche rank as the most active pharma companies in social media. However, that may not be saying a lot since even the top 20 companies are posting on an average less than one Tweet per day! This figure is even more striking when compared, for example, with the 2,500 Tweet per day of the whole food industry or the approximately 1500 Tweets of a JetBlue.
Social media tends to reward early movers and risk takers. So some key questions remain to be asked: How effective have these companies been? Is their social media strategy working? What can we learn from their efforts?
It is interesting to note that the bulk of internet and social media usage by pharma firms has been on US websites, where DTC advertising has been allowed for more than 10 years. Yet therein lies the root of the problem: Drug companies have historically had trouble communicating and engaging online, where the tendency has been to “broadcast” messages, not to invite open communication or encourage dialogue.
In other world regions, online campaigns have more often focused on building communities and raising disease awareness (Roche, NovoNordisk, Johnson & Johnson). So even though Pfizer may have more followers, it is currently losing online share to Roche & Johnson & Johnson who work at “engaging” their followers.
At the end of the day, all pharma firms face the same challenge: the need to adopt new methods of communicating with a far from “captive “audience. What is the key to shaping an online image?
To obtain more information about this report or to order your copy of “The Pharmaceutical Social Media Landscape”:
Please email Kathryn McAdam at kmcadam@medimix.net
Or Alex de Carvalho: ADecarvalho@medimix.net
About Medimix International
Medimix International is a dynamic provider of advanced marketing research solutions for the healthcare industry worldwide. Medimix’s proprietary panel provides direct access to more than 550,000 physicians and healthcare professionals from around the world, making it one of the largest panels in the industry. Medimix has various offices across the globe, including Sao Paolo (Brazil) Hong Kong, Beijing and Shanghai (China).
Medimix specializes in global research. Learn more at www.medimix.net.
Contact for this press release:
Kathryn McAdam
Email: communications@medimix.net
35 NE 40th St., Suite 200 Miami, Fl. 33137
