An easy way to make website content shareable is by using “share this” functionality 

I’ve written before about the concept of shareworthiness: creating content or tools of value to your target audience and making them easy to share. If you do this, then your audience will share it for you and spread the information on your behalf. When your audience shares your material, they are also endorsing it, which adds a layer of trust for their recipients.

An easy way to make website content shareable is by using “share this” functionality. You’ve seen the graphics on many sites that allow users to click a button to share the link and a description on social sites, such as Facebook, Twitter and Google+. It’s an extension of the “email to a friend” concept that’s been around for years. Using a “share this” tool reminds visitors to take this step and makes it as easy as possible.

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It is human nature to enjoy helping others. 

Before you venture into social media, it’s a good idea to think about who will share your message. But more important, why would they want to share it?

Social media offers a powerful platform for spreading messages, but your strategy will only be successful if it’s aligned with the needs of your audience.

“It’s not about you,” is a slogan that could have been expressly written for social media.

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The real opportunity for creativity lies in the still unchartered waters of social media for pharma.  

Disciplined creativity is often, as Ed McCabe said years ago, the last remaining legal means you have to gain an unfair advantage over the competition.

In a recent article in Advertising Age titled Pharma Marketing is Embarrassing, Marc Brownstein laments the lack of creativity in pharma advertising as it appears on TV that he sees with his children. Personally, I don’t really have a problem with my children hearing about the dangerous side effects of taking drugs (!). Drugs are powerful, and I don’t think people should take drugs unless they need them. Maybe that’s the legacy of having a doctor/scientist for a father, but frank discussions about how the human body works don’t bother me.

I agree with one of the comments from ‘Agency of One’ about the lack of creativity in pharma advertising:

“I think everyone is missing the forest for the trees. Pharma advertising is not lacking creativity. MOST advertising is lacking creativity. And by creativity, I mean “advertising creativity” which is creativity used for a business purpose… Focus on making money by doing work your clients will continually buy. And trust me, they won’t continually buy it if it is not working. And if it is working, it is by definition good. (And perhaps by David Ogilvy’s definition, is therefore creative.)”

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there were five essential components to integrating social and email marketing that every pharma marketer should adopt 

Katie Mihelich, VP Account Services at Siren Interactive, contributes this post:

As we have discussed previously, there are risks and rewards to social media in health care. With more and more patients and caregivers seeking information online and creating their own online support groups through social networks, pharma has been challenged to figure out how to participate within the regulations without jeopardizing trust.

At last week’s Online Marketing Summit (OMS) in Chicago we revisited how the Internet has changed the way we market and manage our brands.

While the gamut of key metrics and online solutions were presented, the one thing that bubbled to the top for me and that was most relevant to the rare and chronic disease industry was the steady growth in email marketing, and how social marketing and email marketing are converging.

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