When it comes to promoting their products, pharmaceutical firms are required to be more careful than the typical marketer. A traditional print advertisement is often accompanied by an entire page of compressed text that details possible side effects that might result from taking medications. Pharmaceutical companies are currently in negotiations with the FDA about how they might be able to use social media while still meeting legal requirements.  A big area of discussion is how to deliver the text regarding side effects through a format such as Twitter. One possible solution being reviewed is the concept of providing a link from any site to another page that displays the required data about the drug.

In the meantime, pharmaceutical companies are using unique social media approaches to reach out to consumers. In some cases, pharma companies are sponsoring a social media site that is dedicated to a specific disease their product is designed to treat. For example, Gilead sponsors a site called Gilead B Here which addresses the topic of Hepatitis B and targets younger Asian Americans.  Gilead turned off the comments section on its YouTube and Facebook efforts to avoid appearing as though they were promoting their specific drug Viread.   ‘We’re launching a disease awareness educational campaign that includes X, Y and Z and our website, live educational events and media outreach,” says the product manager.

Thus, the social media tactics used sound a lot like a traditional website. However, because the sites are attached to the YouTube and Facebook channels, they should be more effective than websites in reaching the targeted consumer groups.

Other manufacturers are launching unbranded sites dedicated to disease information and supporting the sites with printed materials that they distribute in physician offices or with traditional advertising. Some of these manufacturers are allowing the more traditional commenting features on their social media sites but they are careful in their approach to disseminating information.

Pharma companies are also interested in using Twitter. Companies such as Shire, maintain a one-way communication system. The company sends out tweets but does not accept comments.   Carl Desmond, creative director and partner at Awaken Interactive  says “it’s very tempting to want to follow [patients], but obviously the tweets would appear in the feed and that’s not something we’d be able to monitor and get approved.”

For now, pharma companies have just begun their foray into social media. As they are able to get additional permissions from the FDA, these marketing efforts should grow and evolve over time.

[Source: Comer, Ben. Patient Marketing Report: Friending Social Media, Medical Marketing and Media, 1.15.2010]

Marketing in the B to B sector was not been immune to a drop in spending during the recession.  But last fall, BtoB’s “2010 Outlook: Marketing Priorities and Plans” report noted that over a third of surveyed businesses expected to increase their 2010 marketing budgets and another 47% were planning to maintain spending.  Another recently published study by AMR International also found optimism in the B to B sector, especially when it comes to online marketing.

AMR reported that the annual compound growth rate for online  B to B marketing should reach 12% between 2009 and 2013. As a percentage of total B to B marketing, online comprised 7% of the total in 2008. Look for that figure to jump to 12% by 2013.

Individual sectors may experience higher than average growth rates:

• Social media 21%
• Lead generation Web sites 17%
• Online marketing services 15%

Notably, AMR believes that spending on online directories will drop 2% during this same time period.

Keep in mind that the final chapter for traditional media has not been written yet. The report indicates that  “two thirds of B2B marketers believe that online must be complemented by traditional marketing activities.”  As B to B marketers continue to fine tune their media mix for 2010 and beyond, watch for increased spending on social media, especially as more of these businesses use better tools to measure ROI.

[Sources: B2B Online Marketing in the U.S., AMR International, February 2010; BtoB's “2010 Outlook: Marketing Priorities and Plans” ]

Market watchers have been waiting for the breakout year in mobile advertising. According to Forrester projections, spending on this medium should increase from $391 million in 2009 to $561 million in 2010. While the overall numbers are still small in comparison to total interactive marketing spending, estimated to reach $29 billion in 2010, the 43% growth rate makes mobile an exciting category.

According to a survey released by R2Integrated, marketing professionals are sometimes having trouble making the case for increased mobile budgets and feel hampered by the following factors:

• Not knowing how to make the business case 32.2%
• Lack analytics to measure ROI 28.9%
• Mobile has not yet become part of strategic road map 28.9%
• Believe audience is not yet mobile 21.7%

Those marketers who are using the medium to raise awareness and generate leads often turn to the following metrics to measure their campaign effectiveness:

• Increase in customers 48.7%
• Increase in sales 38.5%
• Increase in company visibility 34%
• Increase in mobile subscribers 24.4%
• Increase in market share 14.7%

Businesses are also considering the variety of  existing and competitng platforms which would require separate development efforts. Currently, survey respondents gave the following importance ratings to the varying platforms:

• iPhone 59%
• BlackBerry 40%
• Android 7%

Matt Goddard, co-founder and CEO, R2Integrated remarks that “most marketers are playing it safe by focusing on the mobile browsing experience.. rather than on mobile marketing where the ROI proposition is still being evaluated.” Goddard also notes that marketers are using 2010 to experiment and educate themselves on the technology and ROI possibilities associated with mobile marketing. So while most analysts still expect mobile marketing to be a big player in the future, hypergrowth rates may be a few years off.

[Sources: Forrest Interactive Marketing Projections, 2009; What’s News @ R2i, company release, January 2010]

Coremetrics calls its new study “The Face of the New Marketer”.  The title calls attention to the fact that more companies are shifting resources to online marketing. As this shift occurs, marketers can’t be sure if their efforts are paying off or if they could be more successful with their online strategies. It’s an important topic to consider as marketers continue to face a difficult marketplace.

The study authors note that “[o]nline marketing’s greatest strength is its ever-increasing measurement capability” but that “half of marketers (62%) claim they are not confident they are tracking the right metrics for online marketing performance”. Here’s what marketers call their biggest challenges:

• Integrated view of customers across all online touch points 45%
• Understanding marketing influence beyond acquisition/conversion  45%
• Interpreting data to make business decisions 41%

To get to the details of online effectiveness, study participants indicate they are using the following methods:

• Individual online marketing campaign performance 77%
• Online customer behavior per visit/session 76%
• Display advertising – measuring impressions 69%

Study analysts note that senior management may be accustomed to reviewing the effectiveness of an offline marketing campaign on a monthly or quarterly basis. The new marketer, with a growing emphasis on online campaigns, should be monitoring performance on a daily basis. Those who do typically outperform those who don’t.

According to results measured in this study,  30% of revenue comes from online marketing efforts while 60% comes from offline marketing. As online marketing continues to influence purchase decisions,  look for more senior managers to refine measurement metrics and to quickly shift their campaigns as they review effectiveness on an ongoing basis.

[Source: From Survival to Success: Online Marketing Measurement, Businessweek Research Services, 2010]