A recent Epsilon survey of 1,350 US consumers revealed that four in ten Americans use social media for health information. More than 80% are “highly engaged patients who take an active role in health management,” said Epsilon. Not surprising, this survey also revealed that respondents engaged social media primarily to fulfill emotional needs for reassurance and support, and that rational needs for knowledge sharing and current news about their ailments are secondary but also very important drivers. The individual patient is forcing the evolution of the pharma industry to operate on a new set of business models and practices in digital client relationship and brand marketing.

This month, WebMD Health Corp launched a new social networking platform called WebMD Health Exchange.  It serves as an online community that seeks to connect patients with each other and with health experts. This new format offers two types of patient engagement– WebMD-moderated or Member-created exchanges. WebMD-moderated exchanges are staff-moderated by WebMD and feature designated experts selected by WebMD. Member-created exchanges are self-moderated and operated by WebMD members. In the past, WebMD chose the community topics discussed online; however, it’s evident that the industry is embracing the patient-control paradigm shift very cautiously.

WebMD Health Exchange also offers pharmaceutical companies the opportunity to sponsor discussions on specific health topics. This opens up the dialogue to include branded knowledge sharing exchanges which can bolster a closer brand-to-patient relationship. As pharmaceutical companies face upcoming industry trends such as the increasing role of branded generics, emerging market price pressures and personalized medicine, the call for highly specialized and transparent marketing for direct buy will be more prevalent than ever before. Those pharmaceutical companies that embrace these growth opportunities first, listen before engagement and measure their customer’s voice will have a competitive edge in a soon-to-be noisy digital market.

About Michael Fisher

has written 5 post in this blog.

SVP of Sales for Alterian’s North American Operations, Michael has brought together industry visionaries to define and create a new service model focused on opening a two-way dialogue with customers through multichannel engagement. The result of these efforts, the advent of the Customer Engagement Agency, aims to provide marketers with a 360 degree view into consumer behavior by integrating data, and the necessary skills such as analytics, strategy, creative and technology thus allowing marketers to create individualized dialogs that break down the silo barriers that exist in today’s traditional service delivery organizations.

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