Two of the more interesting people I follow are @edbennett who has a website, Found in Cache where he tracks hospital social media use, and @pharmaguy (John Mack), publisher of the website Pharma Marketing News. Both sent me updates this weekend regarding the use of social media in the healthcare areas they follow, and the side by side comparison was very interesting.
According to Ed Bennett’s accounting: 1,188 Hospitals were using social media via the following chanels:
- 548 YouTube Channels
- 1018 Facebook pages
- 788 Twitter Accounts
- 458 LinkedIn Accounts
- 913 Four Square
- 137 Blogs
According to numbers John Mack compiled on a slide share presentation he posted, Pharma accounts for:
- 38 YouTube Channels
- 65 Facebook pages
- 70+ Twitter Accounts
- 37 Brand Sponsored Patient Communities
- 10 Blogs
I never would have thought hospitals would be ahead of Pharma in any marketing endevors, especially social media. Yes, Pharma lives in a VERY regulated world regarding how they can communicate their brand message to patients. And Yes, one of the tenents of social media is transparency, something that pharmecutical companies are not always good at. However, I say that for as sophisticated as Pharma is about DTC, and other outreach tactics, they need to recognize they are missing the boat (no pun intended) on social media. Banking and other regulated industries have figured out. It is time for Pharma to get creative.
Patching the Boat 