In the current digital era, where the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries are interacting with potential consumers via social media, social media marketing has become a very relevant field. The total demand for marketing through social media platforms for pharma is anticipated to reach about US$ 55,500.0 million by 2032, growing at a CAGR of 17.5% between 2022 and 2032.

In addition, social media is quickly replacing TV commercials as the primary medium for direct marketing of products and services to consumers. The sales of TV advertisements dropped 7.8% last year, the most drastic decline outside of a recession in more than 20 years. Additionally, up to 20% of doctors in the US and the UK now reject meetings with pharmaceutical sales representatives.

According to the statistics above, it is clear that successful pharmaceutical companies have changed their marketing approaches to accommodate social media, which is now the primary information source for their target audiences. However, the use of social media in regulated industries presents particular difficulties that other sectors are not required to deal with. But with the right social media pharma marketing tool, pharmaceutical brands can improve their chances of connecting with customers, clients, and patients.

Social Media for Pharmaceutical Companies

Pharmaceutical companies do not have the same social media content freedom as other industries. Nevertheless, its advantages outweigh its drawbacks. Social media platforms for pharma companies offer more convenience than any other type of marketing.

With a thorough and accurate analysis, the right social media pharmaceutical marketing tool makes it simpler to target and position your brand in the market. Doctors and patients primarily prefer online resources when looking for medical information. You can reach a wider audience and communicate with customers in real time by having a social media presence for your pharmaceutical business.

Here are some things to consider when working in this highly regulated market.

• Inform everyone about the value of social media for a business. Start the process by emphasizing the importance of being active on social media platforms with educational and thought leadership content . For many years, the pharmaceutical industry has been wary of social awareness due to direct ROI recognition and long and expensive review processes that go on behind the scenes. Nevertheless, whether you are present or not, customers will be talking about you.

• Keep in touch frequently with your legal team. Working with your counsel is crucial when engaging on social media because marketers and lawyers frequently view risk-reward scenarios from different angles. Consider innovative ways to further your brand objectives and offer your legal team several campaigns. Find solutions to issues with your advisor’s help.

• Maintain brand integrity and develop options for disseminating risk information in various formats. Pharmaceutical firms cannot omit risk information just because the channels for sharing have changed. Monitor growth using the right social media pharma marketing tool.

• Establish strict internal policies for social media goals. Establish rules and guidelines for staff members who will engage the public before launching any social media programs. Create a list of regulatory restrictions and potential scenarios where legal counsel might be informed of customer complaints, similar to our social media checklist. After receiving approval, schedule regular reviews of the social media program to spot potential stumbling blocks related to important laws like patient privacy or adverse events.

• Tell human stories. Everyone recognizes the value of good health. People’s innate desire to connect with others is the driving force behind social media. Find interesting tales that highlight the advantages of the drug. Success stories like these should be examined and submitted per the established PRC (Promotionals Material Review Committee) process, but after approval, they can be shared on social media platforms for the pharma company’s promotion. It also provides a way to show a genuine impact on customers’ lives and boost the public’s perception of the business.

Now that you know the power of social media, it’s time to understand how the right tool could do wonders for you.

The Importance of Social Media Tools for The Pharmaceutical Industry

To identify your target market, appropriate influencers and to increase awareness of your pharma and wellness brand, social media monitoring tools are essential. When properly applied, they can aid in your comprehension of important market trends and consumer insights, which are essential for scaling your pharmaceutical operations and achieving success online and elsewhere. For example, as far as current trends go, Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and YouTube are where pharmaceutical companies are most active. That’s five of the six available platforms. Even though Facebook is the most widely used social media platform, the pharmaceutical industry uses Twitter and LinkedIn more frequently.

MERCK & CO. is a Simple Case Study to Understand How Social Media Pharmaceutical Marketing Tools Help You Get Insights

Merck & Co. is a global pharmaceutical organization that mainly uses Twitter as a social media platform. The business tweets more frequently than any other in its sector, with over 170,000 followers. On Twitter, the company posted 33 times in August 2019, while only posting about three times on Facebook. Considering how inactive other pharma companies are on social media, it was a lot of posting. They were able to identify the appropriate Twitter audience and level of engagement thanks to the social media pharmaceutical marketing tools they use.

Keep in mind that original content is just as important to the brand’s increased awareness and engagement as the frequency of posts. High-quality content is necessary for the engagement and likes it receives to translate into impressions, exposure, and shares. The only people who will engage with it at that point are those in the audience.

The information Merck and Co. posted on its Twitter timeline wasn’t always about its pharmaceutical products or services. The business used relatable content in various formats, such as GIFs, videos, and other interactive materials attracting a large audience. You can use social media platforms and monitoring for pharma, just like Merck, to determine how well your social media campaigns and posts are doing. It will assist you in creating an engaging social media campaign for your audience by helping you understand what motivates them.

But Which Tools to Use And How To Use Them The Best Way?

Today, there is only one Social Media Publishing tool, MarketBeam, that has done deep research into the challenges faced by the pharma industry. MarketBeam deeply integrates with the industry leader Veeva Systems. The integration with their product Veeva Promomats provides,

• End-to-end compliance in the social media publishing workflow from the time the content gets created to PRC (Promotional material Review Committee) review to publishing to social media channels

• Removes human errors in every step of the process

• Automates and reduces resource requirements

To give you a distinct advantage over the standard techniques employed in the sector, MarketBeam brings its social media publishing and employee amplification tool to create compelling, compliant content and uniquely integrate with social channels like LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.