Medical device marketers want to join their pharma counterparts in the use of social media. Although many of the challenges are the same – and the folks in legal and regulatory are just as skeptical – social media may actually offer greater opportunities to courageous device marketers than it does to pharmaceutical marketers. Device marketers are becoming increasingly aware of the value social media can have in the marketing of medical devices and related products. Like their pharma counterparts, however, they continue to face great resistance from within their organizations.

“To say that medical products companies remain skittish about social media is, unfortunately, a bit of an understatement,” says Eric Trow, VP, account strategy director at Brunner (Brunnerworks.com). “Tight industry regulations, HIPAA laws, and perceived liability issues encourage many medical device companies to avoid engagement in social media altogether. To them, it is an uncontrollable medium where anyone can say anything that he or she wants to say, good or bad, without the manufacturer’s approval.”

Different marketing agencies have different strategies for dealing with this fear. Jason Whitney, a partner at Rosetta (rosetta.com), told Med Ad News that his agency has three key principles when working with nervous device marketers. Not surprisingly, these principles are similar to those told to pharmaceutical marketers: listen, get legal and compliance people involved early, and start small.

“What is being said about your device/category in the social media space?” Mr. Whitney says. “Understand what is out there, and what you may experience if you enter social media.

Getting legal and compliance early means framing the conversation carefully. “Try to shift the conversation from ‘No, because…’ to ‘Yes, if…’” Mr. Whitney says. “Nothing is more frustrating than spending time and money developing a detailed plan or program only to be shot down by legal at the last minute. Work with them to define the boundaries of what they will allow. Share with them the listening exercise, what competitors are doing, etc.”

Starting small offers a gradual arc for skeptics to develop confidence. “Start small – even if it is just adding ‘Share This’ functionality to your site,” Mr. Whitney says. “You will learn the world will not end, and invariably, legal becomes more comfortable with allowing more over time when you enter social media. You will also be able to gradually determine what, if any, content you need to moderate to deal with potential adverse events.”

And technology is beginning to catch up with the paranoia. A number of vendors are developing offerings that use language algorithms to reduce the risk of working in social media.

“The ability to filter and influence conversations in an open manner so that they remain compliant under current guideline interpretations is possible today through advanced semantic filtration,” says DJ Edgerton, CEO of the digital agency Zemoga (zemoga.com). “We have several projects based on this approach. Some do it automatically on the back end, some through manual flagging through a review process that provides a clear workflow that can be tracked and managed.”

Another option that can reduce risk is requiring agreement to restrictive terms and conditions. “I already see users finding so much value in participating in a real online community that they agree to more restrictive T&C’s,” Mr. Edgerton says. “Couple that with an application that monitors posted text on the fly, while people are typing, reminding them of the rules, directing them to the location for adverse event reporting, etc. These types of strategies will help train users to stay inline with what the mission of the community is and not turn it into a bulletin board for brand bashing and complaining.”

These options are good news for device marketers. One way in which social media tools are particularly well-suited for medical devices is that they offer the opportunity to establish credibility by showing off the company’s depth of knowledge about the science of its products. Much of the audience won’t have a Ph.D., though, so marketers must be brief and clear.

“Social media can be very good for demonstrating expertise,” says Matthew Arndt of Turbo Social Media (turbosocialmedia.com). “With that in mind, device manufacturers need to produce and share content similar to white papers, but in shorter snippets, such as 200-300 word blog articles.”

Establishing such credibility may be even more important with devices than pharmaceuticals. Although some device marketers can aim their campaigns straight at the consumer, many others – especially bigger-ticket campaigns – are attempting to appeal to physician practices who must pay out of pocket for their equipment.

“With a high-ticket device, the more your potential client gets to know you, like you, and trust you, the more likely it is that you will be able to sell a device,” Mr. Arndt says. “Unlike pharmaceuticals, where the prescriptions are typically covered by insurance, medical device companies must strive to build the relationship even more because of the investment necessary by the practice.”

As such, sometimes device social media campaigns must go beyond patients and physicians to those with the power to sign very large checks. “We are working on a site to target the C-suite and purchasing groups at hospitals, so they can interact with one another, share best practices, and take advantage of already developed materials and information from our client on devices and managing their business,” Mr. Whitney says.

Whatever the audience, though, the world of social media presents an enormous, and potentially confusing, number of tools to the prospective marketer. According to Mr. Arndt, a good social media campaign for a medical device should include a small number of key elements.

“With medical device companies, social media plans tend to focus around three main social media components: blogging and SEO, Facebook and Twitter (social networking Websites), and video marketing (YouTube, Vimeo, Viddler, etcetera),” he says. “The combination of using these three categories of social media marketing leads to the best visibility while at the same time establishing trust and credibility, as well as brand building and lead generation.”

But whatever components are used, it is important to keep any social media campaigns in line with a brand’s overall marketing plan. “Do not attempt to develop a social media strategy!” says Nik See, director of brand strategy/planning, Seidler Bernstein Inc. (seidlerbernstein.com), and veteran of several social media campaigns for medical devices. “Social media tactics should be integrated as part of a larger brand communications plan and not as a separate strategy. Conversations do not occur in a ‘social media’ vacuum.”

Other marketers take a similar view. “Social media activities can’t be conducted in a stand-alone fashion,” says Kirk Williamson, senior VP, marketing, Digitas Health (digitashealth.com). “For them to be truly successful, they need to be linked back to a broader digital strategy, which in turn is tied back to the overarching marketing strategy. It has to be integrated into the larger strategic effort to really have an impact.”

Whatever approach device marketers choose, they need to choose soon, because device-related conversations are already happening online without significant marketer participation, just as in pharma. “Much of the device social media activity is happening very organically – patients seeking out and connecting with peers who are experiencing similar symptoms and/or had similar surgical procedures on sites like PatientsLikeMe, or physicians sharing techniques, etc. in private communities like Sermo,” Mr. Williamson says.

Although social media use in device marketing is still in its infancy, there are already a number of good examples in the wild for beginners to study. Mr. See cites two, Wherebiobegins and illumiNation. IllumiNation is a campaign by Thermage and Fraxel, laser aesthetic device makers. The campaign is anchored by two road tours, with custom-designed buses, across the United States and Europe and supported by a microsite, YouTube channel, Facebook, and Twitter.

“[The campaign was] very successful in getting customers engaged along the way with meaningful events, blogs, promotions, etc.,” Mr. See says. “Wherebiobegins is by Sigma Aldrich. Great tools, meaningful blogs, and an excellent ‘learning’ resource. The gateway page strategy is a clean and understated method to promote the company’s commitment in engaging with customers.”

Mr. Whitney’s favorite example comes from GE Healthcare and its healthymagination campaign. “They have a well-integrated Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, blog, and Website and are supported by offline media,” he says. “Rather than directly market its medical devices and equipment, GE Healthcare is trying to grow their categories and their customers’ business.”

These examples are only the beginning. As social media grows and expands into the mobile space, the opportunities for medical device marketers will only become greater.

“While we still have a long way to go in the industry, we certainly have made great strides in getting our medical products clients to recognize the value of social media and their role in it,” Mr. Trow says. “And, as these previously computer-bound tools move rapidly to mobile applications, virtually all audiences will have ready and active access to the conversation. We believe so strongly in the importance of this shift that we have devoted an entire practice to mobile marketing. Social media is here to stay – and will also be on the go. Those who embrace it in medical device marketing will see how easily they can become a vital part of a conversation that links manufacturers, clinicians, industry media, advocates, and end users everywhere.”

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