We launch our 2023 social media observatory for the pharma sector

At ROI UP Group we love challenges. If we recently published a pioneering and comprehensive study on SEO in the Spanish pharmaceutical industry (study on organic search engine positioning) from our Life Science area, the next step was clear from the beginning: social media in the sector in our country. And said and done, we have just presented the Pharma Social Media Observatory 2023: Analysis of the TOP 25 pharmaceutical companies in Spain, a very revealing work on the social media communication of pharmaceutical companies and the perception of their audience.

How are they communicating on social networks, are they making good use of the channels, has anything changed since the outbreak of the pandemic, and what is being said about the main companies on the networks? These are just some of the questions we set out to answer. The pharmaceutical industry is a complex sector, with many restrictions and regulations and therefore very interesting to investigate. With this new report, we are taking a new step in our strategy of specializing in the Life Science sectors in which we already have a great deal of experience and our own team of experts. We tell you step by step how we have done it and what we have discovered.

The methodology of the Observatory of social networks in pharma 2023

We selected the 25 pharmaceutical companies with the highest turnover in Spain, namely: Cinfa, Kern Pharma, Pfizer, Roche, Astra Zeneca, Almirall, GSK, MSD, Abbott, Sanofi, Novartis, Ferrer, PharmaMar, Lilly, Janssen Rovo, Bayer, Merck, Menarini, Boehringer Ingelheim, Teva, Esteve, Grifols, Abbvie and Gilead. For each of them we conducted a complete qualitative and quantitativebenchmark of all their social channels, analyzing from the size of their communities to the tone of their communications.

We also wanted to gain an in-depth understanding of people’s perceptions of the sector. To this end, we conducted two investigations. On the one hand,social listening with the aim of listening to the conversation generated about the companies analyzed in networks, blogs and other digital media. Finally, we conducted a survey of 300 people to discover their perceptions about the sector’s communication.

How are the social media profiles in pharma?

There is a big difference between the social channels of the companies we focus on. Most of them, 82% of the more than 100 profiles analyzed, are local channels, specific to the Spanish market. Eighteen percent of them are global networks, without local distinction and in English (the networks of Grifols, Abbott, Gilead and Almirall). In general, presence is diversified by networks, with Twitter being the most used (22%), followed by YouTube ( 21%), Instagram (20%), Facebook (18%), Linkedin (18%) and Tik Tok (2%).

At the top of the topics addressed, we find amajority use of corporate aspects (56%), followed by those focused on products (17%) and foundations and sponsorships (11%). To a lesser extent, information useful for patients with different ailments (9%), information for healthcare professionals (4%) and employer branding (3%).

The outbreak of the pandemic in 2020 put pharmaceutical companies in the spotlight and was a turning point for both their business and their communication. Thus we could see how some of them have boosted their social communication with new channels such as TikTok or podcasts as well as collaborations with influencers, especially for Instagram.

In the case of Tik Tok, we can see how it has timidly begun to be used in the sector. Roche was the first to take the plunge: it uses it to give a voice to patients and their families as well as to healthcare professionals or its own team on educational, CSR or employer branding issues. Cinfa is another of the companies present on Tik Tok. In its channel, a medical expert reports on health, wellness and healthy lifestyle habits. On the other hand, Kern Pharma uses the channel of the cycling team it sponsors to show some of its products. From the study, we conclude that the use of Tik Tok is still at a very early stage for Spanish pharmaceutical companies.

Podcasts are an ideal channel for pharmaceutical companies. Thirty percent of companies use them on a regular basis. It allows them to develop specific topics in depth with renowned medical professionals and pharmacists. GSK has even gone one step further with the launch of an audiobook to prevent smoking among young people.

What is being said about pharmaceuticals

In order to carry out the social media listening on pharmaceutical companies, we analyzed more than 42,000 mentions issued during the month of March 2022. The first conclusion is that Twitter is undoubtedly the place where most people express their opinions about these companies.

The sentiment detected is mostly negative in 41% of the mentions, neutral in 37% and positive in 21%. Novartis, Roche and Merck are the companies with the best positive sentiment ratings. In contrast, Pfizer, Sanofi and Rovi were the companies with the highest negative sentiment. COVID 19 vaccines were the main topic of social conversation in the period, generating a lot of controversy about the companies that manufacture the vaccines. Pfizer, in fact, had the most mentions, reaching a significant 71% of the total.

We also detected a lot of negative sentiment and controversy focused on the adverse effects of drugs or the complaints and sentences faced by some of the companies analyzed. On the other side of the coin, CSR events and actions, new research on pathologies or innovation in the sector are the most valued topics among the target audience.

Finally, the survey we conducted among 300 people yielded some conclusions about how the public uses pharmaceutical companies’ networks or their perception of their communications. To begin with, one of the data that speaks for itself is that only 27% of the sample stated that they follow the social networks of a pharmaceutical company. Among them, what interests most is content and brands about cosmetics, selfcare and parapharmacy. As for corporate accounts, only 18% of respondents reported following one.

The reliability of pharmaceutical messages is also an issue that deserves to be analyzed. Forty-four percent consider the content to be sometimes reliable, 36% reject it and only 16% consider it to be truthful. These data highlight the need to adopt new communication models and strategies.

Pharma and social networks: a long way to go

In general, we have been able to confirm that, although the social media communication of pharmaceutical companies is evolving little by little as a result of the pandemic, there is still much to be done. The sector is experiencing a boom and it is essential to constantly update its messages and social channels, paying special attention to the demands, preferences and uses of social media by users and healthcare professionals.