Floundering in the Outback – Digital Pharma without a Strategy
This is the first in a short series of blogs that will look at the key discussions that came up at last month’s DigiPharm Conference and examine some key lessons pharma companies (as well as non-pharma companies in a lot of instances) can take from digital pioneers and thought leaders.
If you’re reading this blog, the chances are you are interested in how to maximise the effects of your digital and Social Media (SM) activities. To do that effectively, you need to be prepared. You need to know where you are going, and you need to have a plan.
What was highlighted at DigiPharm was the number of companies who were operating in the digital area, but with no strategy to guide them – no clear thought process or plan behind what they were doing. There is a clear need for companies to have some kind of a strategy that encompasses digital – be that a specific digital strategy, or as a distinct part of a wider marketing strategy. This strategy needs to encompass exactly what digital can achieve for the company and as with any other business strategy needs to include objectives that can be used to track progress.
Linked to this, and in a way a sub-strategy in itself, is the concept of a “Social Business Charter” – a statement of commitment from company management to the use of SM – if there is buy in from the very top of the company it makes it harder for middle management to resist the things that eMarketing and Digital teams are charged with implementing.
Despite the fact that almost 50% of the DigiPharm audience felt that the potential impact of SM was overrated in pharma, much of the conference focused on the impacts that it can have when harnessed and used to its full potential. How do you use it to its full potential though? By planning carefully and working with people who understand how it works and how it can benefit your company.
Even with these things in place, how can you guarantee the participation of either your colleagues or the people you are trying to target with your digital work? The short answer is that you can’t guarantee it but an engagement strategy that plans out how you will get colleagues on board and end-users interested will guide you along your way and stop you floundering and wondering why you ever started…
Digital strategy is one of the key areas where expertise really matters – among the DigiPharm debates were some tweets around whether it is better to outsource your digital expertise or keep it in house. This is open to some debate, and is largely a matter of company politics, size and ethos. What is not up for debate though, is that every company who is going to dabble (or more) in SM and digital communications, needs expertise in some format. As the old adage says, failing to plan is planning to fail. And you can’t plan without knowing the ins and outs of what you are doing. If your company doesn’t have the expertise in house to strategically plan for your digital activities, you need to be working with someone who does.
One underlying principle of an SM engagement strategy that everyone can bear in mind is to not use technology just for the sake of it –use technology because it achieves something for you. If you can’t work out why you should be doing something, the chances are you probably shouldn’t be doing it.
I realise that none of this is ground-breaking stuff – it’s pretty simple basics. But I think you’d be surprised at just how many people are floundering around in the Digital Outback with no map to guide them on their way. Let me know your thoughts and experiences in this – how has your digital strategy helped you achieve for your company? Or how has a lack of strategy impacted upon your bottom line?
Look out for the rest of the blogs in this series, looking at topics including Engaging Health Care Practitioners using communities, apps and games; measuring ROI of digital activities and the growth of mobile in the pharma industry.
NuBlue Digital Agency is a specialist in the field of Digital Pharma and Digital Pharma Marketing. With experience in creating online communities, E-learning and bespoke digital projects.
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