Digital communications in pharma

Digital communications, or eMarketing, is a fascinating and rapidly growing discipline for pharma – and one that I feel passionate about developing to its full potential.

Data show most of us have used the Web to gain health information at some point in time, and by now, most pharma marketeers have made tentative steps into the digital space.

The power of digital communications in pharma is significant, and it’s come a long way in recent years, but has yet to reach its full potential.

Websites and HTML email have become embedded as ‘traditional’ outreach activities, and are now used effectively to enhance appropriate communications initiatives, with real results.

Meanwhile, social media is on everyone’s lips but has yet to gain a foothold in pharma. This is often been put down to pharma marketeers being too conservative, or in some way against social media.

I disagree, I think many of us are interested; but, we are looking for a way of leveraging the benfits of social media whilst comlying with the necessary code constraints.

But can we use it in a way that is most unlike pharma – to develop and share our ideas and experiences with each other as peers? It might well be worth the effort!

I for one, will be joining Andrew Spong and Silja Choquet for their new Friday Tweet-up to discuss social media in healthcare within the EU:

http://stwem.com/2009/08/04/use-hcsmeu-to-join-the-european-healthcare-and-social-media-discussion/

Go on – join in – what’s the worst that can happen …?