< 1 min reading time

As originally asked by Jean-Marc Wismer.

– Market is ophthalmology / glaucoma — very specialized
– Not a consumer market, the doctor is very much the prescriber
– Yet the device is sometimes used by doctors as a differentiator (“we have the latest hi-tech techno”)
– And what media should that be (LinkedIn / FB / Tweeter / …) ?
– I have been told Facebook is entering the professional space?
– How resource intensive is it to manage those channels?

---

Jean-Marc Wismer
Entrepreneur • Executive • Director
Again thank you all, very good points raised and most useful. I think Scott is right in that social media will help building that “persona” which people (doctors, consumers and others) would like get to know to do business with. And indeed the target audience has to be broader than one or the other of there people. This all controling discussions going on on one or more media, in one or more groups, and a very time fashion to avoid downwards discussions like mentioned by ROebrt. And making sure we stay in line with FDA guidelines. For sure not an endevour to take lightheartedly and without a resource dedicate to it for a fair share of her/his time!

Burrell (Bo) Clawson
I research patents & design products to get a patented competitive position: Over 30 patents.
Interesting comment on Slashdot about what can happen with “social media”.

“Vic Gundotra, formerly Sr. VP of Social (and now, of Engineering) at Google, and head of the company’s social networking service Google+, hasn’t posted anything on his Twitter account since July 2011. Why?”

“‘I was asked not to do that by my boss [Page]. I tweeted a tweet about two companies [Microsoft, Nokia] that went viral, went very very viral and made a lot of headline news.”

Burrell (Bo) Clawson
I research patents & design products to get a patented competitive position: Over 30 patents.
The word “social” can be a misleading term when thought of in terms of Facebook. Techniques and equipment get discussed all the time in clinical practice and this is certainly social interaction. Email can be considered slow, point to point social media.

The intent of a typical clinician to clinician “social media interaction” is often to get facts.

If social media with customers is to be acceptable, it seems it must stick to facts and not hyperbole and irrelevant TV advertising content about how good it is to have a laxative that works at the family picnic.

Scott Frangos
Digital Marketing Pro focused on ROI with Smart Content Strategy, Sales Funnels, & Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO).
Hello All – I agree that it will be wise to set up a smart policy, but recall that the point of “social” media is to be social. I’m not talking about sharing what you had for lunch, but social in the way that a smart sales person would do at a business gathering. And just as your sales people will not need to consult policy guidelines every time they chat with prospects at such an event, you can proceed and let them get to know you a bit and what you are about in the same manner. People buy on emotion.

Tom Albright
President and CEO, Board Member at Recros Medica
I’m not a Regulatory expert, but it is my understanding that FDA has postponed broad guidance on the use of Social Media in promotion. The only guidance they have provided (in Dec 2011) is related to the specific area of off-label communication, which includes a brief recommendation on responding to unsolicited off-label requests through social media. Here are good references on this topic.

[http://www.law.com/corporatecounsel/PubArticleCC.jsp?id=1202560843256&The_FDA_and_the_Regulation_of_Social_Media|leo://plh/http%3A*3*3www%2Elaw%2Ecom*3corporatecounsel*3PubArticleCC%2Ejsp%3Fid%3D1202560843256%26The_FDA_and_the_Regulation_of_Social_Media/UDyu?_t=tracking_disc]

[http://socialmediatoday.com/emoderation/431738/fda-guidance-pharma-social-media-and-label-use|leo://plh/http%3A*3*3socialmediatoday%2Ecom*3emoderation*3431738*3fda-guidance-pharma-social-media-and-label-use/l7fn?_t=tracking_disc]

[http://www.doseofdigital.com/2012/01/translating-fda-social-media-guidance/|leo://plh/http%3A*3*3www%2Edoseofdigital%2Ecom*32012*301*3translating-fda-social-media-guidance*3/D2Hz?_t=tracking_disc]

Burrell (Bo) Clawson
I research patents & design products to get a patented competitive position: Over 30 patents.
Any innovative product introduction faces the wall of a “lack of knowledge” in the market.

It is up to the marketing and sales planning to use all appropriate avenues to get the word out to both the clinical and patient sides of the marketplace.

In medical markets we want to avoid misstatements which get the FDA riled up as suggested by others here.

What guidelines do medical device makers use with their social media people to avoid misstatements?

Scott Frangos
Digital Marketing Pro focused on ROI with Smart Content Strategy, Sales Funnels, & Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO).
People buy from those they feel they know. For this reason alone, I am a strong advocate of social media in the B2B Medical Device space, as long as it is tied to measurable business outcome goals.

We like to cater differently to different “personas” you are trying to influence. You have mentioned Doctors, and I would second the idea that LinkedIn is a good place to hunt them down. I would also not underestimate the rise of Google+ — already it offers several SEO advantages (the other reason to factor in Social Media — it increasingly helps your SEO). You can also target another influencing “persona” or two — perhaps the office manager or practice manager, related specialists (optometrists?), and the end user — the patients/public. The key is Analytics tracking for this so you can calculate the ROI for your efforts.

Burrell (Bo) Clawson
I research patents & design products to get a patented competitive position: Over 30 patents.
Tom, I understand and after 40 years, I still want to learn and know I will never know it all. I am a designer-engineer and my partner in this is a Physician Assistant and we know our work very well. We are talking to a number of funding sources and the #1 need is for the sales & marketing executives to put the product out there with the right promotional materials. Thanks much.

Tom Albright
President and CEO, Board Member at Recros Medica
Bo: I probably could have been a bit more tactful:) I liked the concept of your product, just felt it needed to be explained in consumer-friendly terms…if you intend to communicate to them in the future. Best of luck!

Robert Urbina
Sr. Electrical Engineer Consultant at Spirosure, Inc.
Going back to Jean-Marc’s point …
Yes the doctors and clinicians will become frustrated.

Patients on Facebook will ask questions the company may not be able to address at this point and if fluid answers are not given by your company, the “viral” result may not be favorable. I base my point on my experience. (If you post it, non-consumers will see it. Facebook is not a secure means of data transmittal at any level)

Be aware of your audience and the potential observers.

Burrell (Bo) Clawson
I research patents & design products to get a patented competitive position: Over 30 patents.
Facebook, et al: The question still comes back to whether a medical device company uses the social media as a way to redirect to their company website or is it worthwhile to have the social media sites do more, knowing you have to be very careful to avoid making notes that the FDA could object to.

Using social media would mean having carefully trained people who responded on those sites it seems.

Burrell (Bo) Clawson
I research patents & design products to get a patented competitive position: Over 30 patents.
Tom Albright replied that our website is not sophisticated and that is absolutely true. We are not engaged in selling yet and the information has mostly been used as we finish preparations to restart our production.

We will definitely have professional medical device promotional people handle both the retail and professional sales side as we move forward from this point.

Tom Albright
President and CEO, Board Member at Recros Medica
Bo: I spent a few minutes visiting your website to see what benefit your test provides for consumers…even as a fairly sophisticated medical consumer, your website is difficult to follow. It is laden with abbreviations and complicated terms, which would need to be refined before you commence any outreach to consumers….fortunately, in today’s market you can create a new website with a minimal investment. In the section called “Colon Cancer Facts”…there is really good information that needs to be brought forward in order to give the consumer a reason to read more. I would recommend that you spend time on WebMD and Mayo Clinic’s websites, seeing how they communicate to consumers about your disease state….and that you invest in consumer market research. Consumer market research is not as expensive as you may think, and it can dramatically improve your success with consumers/patients.

Tom Albright
President and CEO, Board Member at Recros Medica
Jean-Marc: the decision to engage consumers in your marketing/communications campaign to accelerate their transition to patients of your product is highly dependent on: 1) the features and benefits of your product, 2) the conditions of your marketplace, 3) and the ability of your company to sustain sufficient engagement with consumers to achieve success. I personally believe that there are probably few brands that would not benefit from some level of communication to consumers, however the approach should be guided by the factors listed above. In all cases, you should be careful to communicate in a manner that is consistent with the needs of our targeted medical professionals…and that is honest, accurate and balanced.

Jean-Marc Wismer
Entrepreneur • Executive • Director
Thank you all for sharing all these insightful comments.
How about the double-edged sword of pull marketing, i.e. doctors being annoyed and alienated because of patients coming to them asking for a specific procedure? I guess US and Europe would be quite different to this regards.

Robert Urbina
Sr. Electrical Engineer Consultant at Spirosure, Inc.
I like the comments posted and some very valid points are given for embracing social media and the medical device environment. The only comment I would make is based on my experiences prior to social media.

When I was new to the med device environment I was told propriety was paramount. Never disclose any information without regulatory approval. Any information distributed by an employee may be considered a liability if incorrect even if the person was not authorized to disclose. I have also seen a quick verbal comment cause a full FDA audit.

My comment would be to be careful with this. If one person is known to broadcast company information on twitter or Facebook, then other employees may feel naturally entitled to do the same. Other employees may not have a full understanding of the legalities or the ramifications of their post. Something as simple as, “hey guess what we are doing at my company…” can create a difficult situation for the company as a whole.

I would say that if social media is considered as a means of distributing company information, then policies and procedures in managing this process should be put into place. Regulatory would be a good start for this process.

Tom Albright
President and CEO, Board Member at Recros Medica
There is one way to use Facebook, which costs nothing and does provide some advantages in the market. Over the past several years I have used Facebook as a medium to maintain close social connections with influential physicians in my targeted space. While I have a few hundred friends on Facebook, over 35% of them are actually doctors. They are all individuals that I know very well, and we use this as a means to keep up with each other. I often gain insight into intriguing new scientific and clinical developments first from my many physician friends, who daily post updates that are often quite useful. I also know well ahead of time who is attending which conference and on which topics they will be presenting. But, in addition I learn a lot about their personal interests…which supports stronger social bonds…they also learn a lot about me…so “post” with caution:)

Joe Hage
🔥 Find me at MedicalDevicesGroup.net 🔥
Thanks, Marc, for your reply and for agreeing to help manage the Ophthalmology subgroup at [http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=4398985|leo://plh/http%3A*3*3www%2Elinkedin%2Ecom*3groups%3Fgid%3D4398985/kHa9?_t=tracking_disc].

Marc Hollingworth
Proven Business Leader in Medical Devices and Healthcare
In my opinion LinkedIn is right now the best space for professional networking. There are many ophthalmic and eye care groups on here that get good readership. In addition you can join ASOA as a vendor and have access to the administrators’ discussion site. Plus there are many on-line journals that place news items of interest in eye care. Facebook is going more professional however in order to be effective you would need to invest in a program that targets certain members. This is in all probability not a tremendously resource intense project but will need to be managed regularly to keep posting information as the product approaches launch and responding to requests. Many companies feel that social media is plug and play. It is a marketing program like any other that needs to be managed.