Social Media will determine the next pharma giants.

The battle for the best pharmaceutical marketing practices has begun. And the big guns are now digital pharma marketing gadgets. Social media has slowly but surely bought its place in the pharma marketing budgets, reducing traditional marketing budgets. 

Channel mixes are now placing use of digital tools, devices and analytics support systems as the next strategic advantage and area of development. Multichannel marketing in pharma therefore is in vogue.

In the US on digital marketing spending by pharmaceutical industries is in billions. 

Many trends are shaping this change. The stakeholders of the healthcare industry are evolving and continue to expand their roles both within and outside of their domains. With the rising healthcare costs, the need to develop virtual solutions is also becoming eminent. Furthermore, the customer directions are changing. Physicians are not just passive recipients of information, but now seek active engagement and input from pharma companies to ensure they provide the best care to patients. 

The patients themselves are becoming aware and active regarding their health decisions. This again creates a new channel of consumer engagement for pharma, which can only be successfully attained with the help of social media. 


It is important to understand the magnitude of growth of social media overall to perceive the kind of benefits pharmaceutical marketing can obtain using this medium. 

Social media has become the key source of health seeking information for patients. Around 34% of Americans regularly use social media for this purpose. Twitter became a popular means to send information among physicians. It has now become a common ground for physicians to share information and ideas. Finally, the same has become an effective medium for patient education and connection by health policy makers and providers. The social media therefore is the new front to engage both physicians and patients.

Pharma marketing strategies therefore need to infuse digital media as a key ingredient in their efforts to drive optimum results. (Ver)

  Author: Hassan Javed Bahria University Islamabad

Ver también: 
Social media y Marketing en PHARMACOSERÍAS