In this article, you will gain an insight into the social media status quo in the healthcare & life science industry. Using best practice examples and specific recommendations, we show you what you need to bear in mind and what the key success factors are.

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Healthcare & life sciences industry lags behind in social media

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Sometimes there is a gap between aspiration and reality. Many companies in the Healthcare & Life Sciences sector currently find themselves in such a situation. Only 13% consider their own social media measures to be very effective(1). In contrast, 88% of doctors use the internet and social media to research information on pharmaceutical and biotechnology products or medical devices(2). On the patient side, more than 90% state that online communities influence their health decisions(3).

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So there are actually plenty of reasons to tap into the potential of social media. For example, if a life science company wants to introduce a new product to laboratory employees, Facebook ads can be used to reach over 68,000 people from this target group in Europe alone at a comparatively low media budget. We have seen in many campaigns that these laboratory employees are very open to content on social media. There is also immense potential on Instagram. For example, there are around 15,500 entries for special healthcare and life sciences topics such as #Pipette alone and as many as 350,000 for #Microbiology, and the trend is rising sharply (as at March 22, 2019).

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Reasons for digital restraint

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There is no doubt that the target groups of healthcare and life science companies can be reached on social media. There are several reasons why many companies in this sector are still reluctant to use social media. One reason is the strict compliance guidelines. Health-related topics are sensitive. It is not for nothing that their dissemination to the public is restricted by law. After all, health-related issues are about the safety and protection of consumers and patients. The German Therapeutic Products Advertising Act (HWG), the FDA (Food & Drug Administration), i.e. the US Food and Drug Administration, or the stock market listing of larger players often contribute to a restricted field of action and risk aversion.

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Success factors and examples Healthcare & Life Sciences Social Media

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In order to overcome such hurdles, it is important to focus on target groups, content and processes with regard to security and approvals in the social media strategy. It is important to involve as many decision-makers and knowledge holders from the company as possible in the development of the strategy and to empower the right people with sufficient room for maneuver and training during implementation. Last but not least, the social media strategy must not ignore current social media trends and framework conditions. Below we show you three examples of successful healthcare social media campaigns.

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Example 1: Macma - Viral social media video

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The first example we would like to present here is the viral social media video by the Argentinian organization MACMA (Movimiento Ayuda Cáncer de Mama), which stands for "Movement for Breast Cancer Aid". The video "Man Boobs for Boobs" deals with the topic of early breast cancer detection in a humorous and serious way. The makers asked themselves how it is actually possible to adequately explain in a video how one's own breasts can be examined when it is also forbidden to show female breasts on social media? The trick: the woman uses the man's breasts to demonstrate the necessary steps. The fact that the video was viewed 48 million times in just one week, shared 700,000 times on social media and received more than 193 million impressions says it all. It was not for nothing that it won the Golden Lion for Best Campaign Video at the Cannes Film Festival in 2016.

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Example 2: Humana - "Employee Advocacy"

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We also find the "Employee Advocacy" program of Humana, a US health insurance provider with 50,000 employees and several million customers, extremely successful. "Employee advocacy" means the promotion of a brand by its own employees by sharing the company's content and products in large numbers and in an appealing way via their private social media channels. Basically, such programs are based on the power of storytelling: All people like to tell and read stories. The two central goals of the campaign from that year were to strengthen customer trust and to spread the brand story (making people healthier: "wanting people to be healthier and to live a lifestyle focused on well-being") as widely as possible. To this end, employees who are particularly social media-savvy were invited to write personalized posts on their preferred social media channel, which were tagged with previously discussed hashtags such as #HUMemployee. In preparation, the employees received short training sessions to improve their social media skills. Watch the video "Humana: Build a social employee advocacy program, presented by Jason Spencer" for more information. You can find an introduction to the topic of employee advocacy in our blog post.

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Example 3: Merck - Influencer marketing

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In our opinion, Merck is exemplary in the field of influencer marketing. Its "Bio Informatics LLC" social media campaign was honored with the "Life Science Industry Award" in the "Best Use of Social Media" category in 2018. According to the company's official press release, the interests of followers on social media channels such as LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram were "taken into account and valuable content was provided for the online communities". Sharing industry-specific know-how on social media and "increasing Merck's global visibility as a leading life science company" was central to the award. We find the "Curious Minds" influencer campaign particularly successful. Merck interviewed influencers from all over the world, including doctoral students and neuroscientists, about the influence of curiosity on science and technology from different perspectives. This resulted in a web series that demonstrates in a very direct way how openness to ideas or stress tolerance can help solve problems.

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Pilot projects get you started

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These examples show: There are different paths to success. Be it a high-reach video on important awareness topics, the involvement of your employees or collaboration with opinion leaders from research. What is important is the strategic foundation for reliable implementation. This requires a clear framework. Such a "social media framework" consists of content and technical elements. In the basic strategy, you should first clarify the key points such as objectives, target groups, messages and responsibilities in order to then translate these overarching framework conditions into guidelines and tools for your social media team. Important elements of such a framework include a "code of conduct" for colleagues in the social media area, as well as social media guidelines for all company employees. Due to the high security requirements, for example, crisis and response processes as well as approval processes for content must be defined. If required, these processes can be mapped using specialized software solutions. There are a range of other tools depending on the company's requirements.

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The possibilities of social media are often underestimated in healthcare and life sciences companies. In our experience, it is therefore tactically wise to start by working with selected target groups and launching pilot projects. With the first, actual experiences and successes, any doubters can then be convinced to invest in a social media strategy. With social media advertising, your pilot measures can only be sent to a very specific target group without attracting the attention of a large public. For example, you could take a country-specific approach and address healthcare professionals in your sector in Brazil or re-run an existing campaign for pharmacists in Germany via social media. In this way, you could not only inspire skeptical decision-makers with tangible KPIs, but also find out exactly who your target group is, what interests them and to what extent the strategy is successful.

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If you have any questions or would like a personal presentation of further practical examples, please contact Social DNA.

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Sources

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1. Social Media in Life Sciences: Adoption and Trends, Benchmarking Report, 2016
2. Social Media & Health Care By the Numbers, 12.07.2017
3. Role of Patient Influencers: How do patients truly share information? Behavioral intent survey, 05/2017
4. Social media trends 2019 - analyses, strategies and recommendations for action, 21.12.2018
5. Employee Advocacy - How do you unleash the potential of your employees for marketing and sales?, 07.06.2018