Developing and Managinga Social Media Presence for

Stakeholder Interaction

March 13, 2009

• Uses of Web-based, mobile and desktop platforms to share and leverage others’ beliefs, knowledge, skills and experiences

•Components of a distributed computing model

for meeting professional and personal needs; building consensus and supporting decisions

• An evolution of the linked strands of “the Web” as originally envisioned

What Are the Social Media?

Key Assumptions

• The power of social media, like all media, rests with the perceived value of participation, even as a “lurker”

• As content models change and new players enter, it’s just not a case of “what’s cool” but to what extent media are used to drive decisions

• Building traffic for a microsite is a slow, deliberate, planned process

• Viral marketing applies to all channels, with the power of peers and unasked validation

• In new-to-you networks, participation must be fueled strategically via existing network members, providing sustainable value propositions (i.e. not just another “chat board,”) and phasing engagement in collaboration with network influencers

• While recognizing that social equity is organic and cannot be bought

Leveraging Social Media Interaction• To bring best marketing practices into social

space:• Ask distinct audiences their most specific, relevant

questions, that challenge and engage constituents on a professional level

• Share and build on the outcomes, leveraging the spirit of open access while maintaining exclusivity with the breadth and depth of your content or offering

• Build and maintain collaborations across time and space

• Use social media as a frame for rich media initiatives

• This will generate social and intellectual capital to fuel offerings that outpace competitors’

Success in the Digisphere• Inducing “naysayers” comfortable with their existing

information channels to participate in a new channel requires saving them time, providing a greater value for the same time and/or benefits that existing channels cannot match

• As with clinical practice and beliefs, targeting individuals who bridge networks, are articulate, thought leaders and/or have unique opportunities for influence, is key

• “Digital thought leaders” may or may not be as influential off line

• SEO and SEM require daily updates of search engine policies and procedures, constant monitoring

• As well as consideration of the nascent “semantic Web” where social and search converge based on vocabularies and tagging; where natural language search will be “the next big thing” and content defines the difference between a commodity and a relationship

• Faster connections across devices will bring podcasts, Webcasts, mobile applications that leverage GPS/GIS and other immersive experiences to the forefront

Unique Biomedical Considerations

• Clinicians already have multiple “portals of necessity,” such as those associated with payors, practices, hospitals, universities, libraries, journals, databases, e-rx, EHRs, information products, e.g. Epocrates (800K HCPs) – as well as, for some, market research panels, Wall Street consultancies, manufacturer networks

• Every clinician and researcher has natural collaborations that may be primarily virtual or live: grantsmanship, research, publication, patient care and training/mentoring

• Legal and regulatory pitfalls in disseminating clinical information abound: HIPAA, med mal concerns, increased transparency around manufacturer payments and conflicts of interest; FDA limitations on unapproved usage; even as open access journals and publishing models flourish

Social Media for HCP Marketing

• Support positioning

• Add value to existing products and services

• Raise awareness; create loyalty and engagement

• Create new revenue streams and brand support

• Leverage shifts in distribution models• Only a couple of decades ago, “searching the

literature” meant walking into a medical library• Then and now, clinicians looking for the “best option”• With dx and rx support accessible on the desktop,

mobile and social Web, the clinician seeks “instant access” to what’s relevant to her right now

• De-identified data from claims, labs, charts and more have created richer datasets but also more ways to be wrong

With Content and Value Still King, New Models Emerge

• New table stakes: improved stakeholder interaction and micro-targeting

• Facebook page, allies’ blogs, Twitter, branded portals, online offers, rich media products

• Infrastructure to support democratic marketplace of data, ideas, interaction and pricing by quality

• As professional domains and information sources become more transparent to public scrutiny, HCPs remain interested in communities in which they can find and share insights

• Pre-eminent peer-reviewed content providers should nurture these

• As the print subscription model shifts into new channels and media, stakeholder communities can provide invaluable market insight

• While also building cross-company, cross-channel stakeholder databases that remain a profitable asset for years to come

Why Social Media Now?

Identify influencersEvaluate against KPIsRefine strategyIterate content

Identify influencersEvaluate against KPIsRefine strategyIterate content

Launch contentCreate trackingContinue monitoring

Launch contentCreate trackingContinue monitoring

Key platformsUser stratificationQueue contentDetermine KPIsSpecify tacticsIdentify internal staff participation/process

Key platformsUser stratificationQueue contentDetermine KPIsSpecify tacticsIdentify internal staff participation/process

Internal auditExternal auditEstablish monitoring

Internal auditExternal auditEstablish monitoring

Deliverables:Monitor resultsAudience identificationAli activitiesEngagement planGuidelines

Possible products:Widgets/applicationsSocial media page designBlogs/community-buildingScreensaversAnd more

Refine Refine Engage Engage Plan Plan Learn Learn

Social Media Project Process

Phase I: Gather What’s Within

• Internal interviews, audit• How do departments communicate with

stakeholders?• What opportunities and barriers exist for improved

interaction?• Whom do you know who’s already part of the

conversation, either as an individual professional or an official representative? How can this social equity be leveraged?

• What primary and external syndicated research exists to support audience knowledge base:

• Media use and extent of interaction; influence on decisions of interest

• Evolving networks• Daily/weekly/monthly information receipt (e.g. RSS

feeds, e-newsletters, portal log-ins, blogs, aggregators, blog carnivals, etc.)

Phase I: Monitor the Conversations

Third party tools help answer:

• What, when, how, why, where are authors, journals, papers, books, rich media, databases being discussed?

• Where could they be?

• How are clinicians and HCPs communicating with each other?

• How is this changing?

Phase II: Stratify by the Evidence

• Identify extent of overlap among your markets (specialties, roles, settings) and social media use

• Specify what media, for what kind of messaging, are supporting what decisions or needs

• Understand where a feasible amount of education and incentives for trial may facilitate “jump-starting” a new feature or offering

• Assess how the competition is viewing and implementing audience stratification – what opportunities have been created?

• Does existing stratification seem to work well or does audience interaction seem restrained?

• For example, in some contexts, cardiologists and internists could interact well, in others not

Phase II: Plan Engagement

• Prioritization: which audiences are most accessible, and which platforms are most important?

• What is the voice, vocabulary, positioning that we will use and support?

• How should you engage in these communities?

• Appropriate internal training and content repurposing• Outlining goals, teams, resources, timelines,

milestones

Phase II: Develop Social Objects

• Widgets/blidgets

• Desktop applications

• Screen savers

• Social network applications

• Offer management

• Focus on same elements as other marketing mix components:

• Importance to meeting needs, relevance to role, setting and given any technology constraints (e.g. broadband access not always a given), ability to perceive value with and without education

Phase II: Develop Metrics

• What evidence of benefit can we convey to our primary targets and influencers:

•To encourage use•To demonstrate and promote value proposition•To increase lateral (peer-driven) communication

• What are the important KPIs for the business?

• How will these be measured? (e.g. downloads, page views, click-throughs, comments, use of referral codes)

• How will success be defined?

Examples: Program Concepts

• Widgets, blidgets, desktop/Web/mobile apps

•Author publication (including videos, CDs, etc.) tracking; ability for “fans” to interact w/ author

•New product release tracking, selectable by media type, specialty, role, MESH term

•Topical search across entire catalog with any filter combination, and streamlined purchase process

•Ability to annotate, comment on, rate content items

•Authors’ annotations/introductions of new content

•Create sharable favorite authors list, top papers of the quarter/year, overlooked journals, overlooked findings

•Abstract downloads that integrate with existing Web-based notes apps and/or reference managers

Examples: Program Concepts

• Offer management•Journal, audience and program-specific discount codes

•“Frequent flyer” (cumulative purchases) tiers

•Special discounts/add-ons for social collaborators

•Rewards for referrals/recommendation via embedded content, buttons, affiliations, networking

• Strategic use of incentives to reward:• Content creation and sharing• Usable insight (without falling into the

Sermo trap of potential shilling)

Phase III: Engagement

• Implement tactics •Program goals and objectives•Complete, high-level campaigns and

development maps•Roles and training of employees•Metrics definitions and implementing tracking

• We accumulate data to understand:•Where social media succeeds and does not; how

other channels can be leveraged to integrate your presence

•Desirable strategy refinements•Primary and secondary targets for phased

expansion of presence and available applications

Refine Strategy

Evaluate

Market

Launch

Phase IV: Refinement

• Paralleling EDC in clinical trials, social media enable accelerated marketing campaign launch, testing, refinement and ongoing evaluation