Clinical Researchers Proceeding with Caution on Social Media

This post was contributed by @MikeMadarasz The use of social media in the pharma industry got some extra attention this week as the FDA released a set of draft guidances on the use of social.  While many point to this as a reason to believe social will begin to gain prominence in pharma marketing, Tufts recently released a study that highlighted the guarded approach that many clinical researchers are currently utilizing.  The report found that while many of these companies have guidelines in place surrounding social, it’s currently only being used on about 11% of clinical trials for recruitment.  However, according to the report, many sponsors plan to expand their use of social in global recruitment over the next 12-18 months.  In addition, only about 20% of companies who say they are using social are doing so in a way in which interact directly with patients.  In terms of engaging patients, the majority are “using social” in other ways such as placing banner ads on social sites.  Where can social help clinical trials?Engagement isn't the only way these companies are reporting leveraging social.  Many are using it as a vehicle to distribute information as well as for “social listening” purposes.  The report cited social listening as one of the areas getting an increasing amount of attention; however, few sponsors have a formal plan in place for collecting and leveraging that information.  Of the t...
Source: ePharma Summit - Category: Medical Marketing and PR Tags: Clinical research social media Clinical Trial Social Media Digital Pharma Marketing ePharma FDA Social Media FDA social media guidelines pharma social media Tufts University Source Type: blogs