Healthy Skepticism Library item: 17012

Warning: This library includes all items relevant to health product marketing that we are aware of regardless of quality. Often we do not agree with all or part of the contents.

Publication type: Electronic Source

Mack J
Filling the Social Media Void: Shout or Be Shouted At!
Pharma Marketing Blog 2010 Jan 5
http://pharmamkting.blogspot.com/2010/01/filling-social-media-void-shout-or-be.html

Full text:

Yesterday I posted a critique of Bayer’s use of YouTube to present the video “A Discussion of Oral Conception Using YAZ: Risks and Benefits” (see “The Trouble with YouTube: YAZ Case Study”).

The trouble comes from the fact that if you don’t have other videos in your channel, then competitor videos will be highlighted alongside yours. These “competitors” are often law firms suing your company, disgruntled consumers, or actual brand competitors whose videos are selected on the basis of some Google algorithm.

That is, the message vacuum opened up by this YAZ YouTube video was filled by some techie’s idea of relevance rather than the marketer’s. Marketers should abhor such a vacuum.

Kevin Nalts (@Nalts) offered a “workaround” in this comment to my post: “It’s kinda like the web… can’t control it but you can shout louder and hope the truth rises. Also there are 2 workarounds. First, branded channels put your own stuff above related videos. Second- You can buy a featured related video spot targeted to your own video.”

Bayer might try this solution: Instead of one long 8-minute video, break it up into 4 short 2-minute videos (the video should have been designed for this in the first place). Then the “related video” column would include all the YAZ videos at the top instead of a law firm’s anti-YAZ video.

Is this “gaming” the system by “shouting”? If it is, then it’s a beneficial form of “gaming” because it actually may make it easier for viewers to digest the message in short bites rather than one big gulp.

“Shouting,” however, is not proper social media etiquette. What is shouting any way? IT COULD BE USING ALL CAPS IN TWITTER POSTS. Maybe it’s using all CAPS in Twitter posts. It could be using all CAPS in posts made to Twitter. Or it could be repeating the same message over and over again as I just did.

I don’t think Nalts meant this when he mentioned “shout louder.” He meant populating the space with more of your messages than the other guy. Again, something frowned upon in the social media space.

My suggestion is that pharma marketers ENCOURAGE conversation even if it means critics SHOUTING at them.

My fear is that if pharma marketers are not going to encourage conversation, then their only alternative is to fill the vacuum by pushing out their own messages. If this is what the industry is headed for, then it will be marketing as usual.

Just a thought.