Social or community context is what people learn on the social web that influences the meaning or impact of expert-created content, like brand marketing or the advice of healthcare professionals. It's part of a new, nuanced way both physicians and patients make Rx choices.
4. The way we make buying decisions has
fundamentally changed
Prefer the
opinion of
“someone
like me”.
In 2006, we turned our
collective attention to the
impact of social media.
5. The way we make buying decisions
has fundamentally changed
The value of
peer opinion
had risen to
surpass that
of doctors and
academic
experts for the
first time.
2003 2006
6. The way we make buying decisions
has fundamentally changed AGAIN
Today that peers-first trust
number has dropped to 37%,
falling behind everything from
analysts to news reporting.
2003 2006 2010
7. But that’s not the whole story
We haven’t turned away from peer voices. We’ve simply reached a more balanced
approach, synthesizing authoritative information with peer perspectives.
MEDICAL & COMMUNITY
MARKETING CONTEXT
Advice Materials Perspectives of Research I do
from experts. from brands. people like me. on my own.
RIGHT DECISION
FOR ME OR MY PATIENT
8. What people learn on the
social Web that influences
the meaning or impact of
expert-created content
such as brand marketing
and healthcare
professional advice.
Community
Context:
9. Two of the most critical decisions in
healthcare start with a little slip of paper
The moments when a physician decides to write an Rx and when a patient decides to fill one.
Content and context support 44% use content and As many as 22% of
the docs Rx context to evaluate prescriptions go unfilled – in
• ePocrates • WebMD part because of what patients
• Sermo • Online HCPs and caregivers learn from
• Patient communities • Peer-to-peer social context
10. The role of social is adding perspective.
It’s the element of “what do people like me
think?”
What they find acts as a filter for all that authoritative content:
Accuracy Relevancy Currency Authenticity Curiosity
Does the expert What would Does it reflect the What will it Have I asked
information someone like latest thinking? really be like? all the right
seem to reflect me choose for questions?
the experiences herself or her
of real people? child?
11. Using social context for your brand
Does the expert
What social context will information that you’ve Does the social context
people find when they created complement continue your message
look up your brand? and connect with and story or interrupt it?
that context?
Understanding
social context starts
with listening
12. Brands can use community context to
make their creative even more powerful
?
Answer the real questions
People ask their toughest, most straightforward questions online.
Using social context lets your brand answer questions people ask each other.
Speak like a native
Social context immerses you in the way people really talk.
Complete the puzzle for her
Social context lets you see across all the possible inputs in a person’s
decision making. Your marketing materials can complete that puzzle.
13. Community context is about connecting
brand marketing to human conversations
What
What we say you
find
It’s how print and broadcast become interactive.
The way people make buying decisions has dramatically changed. You might remember the headlines from circa 2006 that first turned our collective attention to the critical role of social media: That year’s Edelman Trust Barometer ranked “someone like me” as the most credible source of information about businesses and brands. The value of peer opinion had risen to surpass that of doctors and academic experts for the first time. In the USA alone, trust in "a person like me" increased from 20% in 2003 to 68% in 2006. In those boom years between dot-bomb and the most recent recession we looked to each other for what to expect and what to buy.
The way people make buying decisions has dramatically changed. You might remember the headlines from circa 2006 that first turned our collective attention to the critical role of social media: That year’s Edelman Trust Barometer ranked “someone like me” as the most credible source of information about businesses and brands. The value of peer opinion had risen to surpass that of doctors and academic experts for the first time. In the USA alone, trust in "a person like me" increased from 20% in 2003 to 68% in 2006. In those boom years between dot-bomb and the most recent recession we looked to each other for what to expect and what to buy.
The way people make buying decisions has dramatically changed. You might remember the headlines from circa 2006 that first turned our collective attention to the critical role of social media: That year’s Edelman Trust Barometer ranked “someone like me” as the most credible source of information about businesses and brands. The value of peer opinion had risen to surpass that of doctors and academic experts for the first time. In the USA alone, trust in "a person like me" increased from 20% in 2003 to 68% in 2006. In those boom years between dot-bomb and the most recent recession we looked to each other for what to expect and what to buy.
Two of the most critical decisions in healthcare start with a little slip of paper – the moments when a physician decides to write a prescription and when a patient decides to fill one.Let’s start with the physician. Say, she has a patient who isn’t tolerating her go-to first-line approach. Where to now? She’ll start with content. Probably on her smartphone. If we keep following the numbers, we’ll find that the app she’ll most likely launch is ePocrates.There, she’ll find the content: prescribing information, disease details and lab info – all the facts. She’ll decide what she’s interested in prescribing. But, often, she won’t stop there.The next step is context. Maybe she – like 115,000 of her peers – will go to Sermo.com to see what her fellow physicians have to say about her short list of Rxs. Thousands of drugs on the market and in the pipeline have inspired Sermo threads that start with queries like “have you heard of …” or “what’s your experience with…” a named drug. She might also check out the buzz in a patient community to tap into the experiences of real people – what are their concerns? How do they compare it to similar treatments?With the content and the context, the physician will write the Rx.Now, it’s up to the patient. Will she fill the prescription?In Will She Say Yes – a recent study about how women make healthcare decisions – GSW Worldwide's Pink Tank and Meredith Research Solutions found that 44% of women will continue to evaluate a new prescription before deciding if they will fill it after leaving the doctor's office. Some women want to check the cost, but most want to learn more about things like side effects.
Being aware of the social context is as easy – and as very difficult – as listening.It’s paying attention to the conversations that patients, physicians, caregivers, investors and even sales reps are having online. It’s listening for common threads in experience, key questions people ask each other (that they may not ask an expert), mentions of how and where they really use your product, the fears and doubts they express before trying it, comparisons between your brand and your competitors, and both what people love and hate about your product.
Brands can use social context to:• Speak like a native: Social context immerses you in the way people really talk. Mirroring the shortcuts, acronyms and lingo your audience relies on adds a powerful “get it” factor to expert communications• Answer the real questions: People ask their toughest, most straight-forward questions online. They ask what to expect and what it means and what’s next. Brand marketing can often feel like a monologue. Using social context to answer questions people ask each other can make it feel like a shared dialog. • Show savvy: Social context lets you see across all the possible inputs in a person’s decision making. Your marketing materials can complete that puzzle – what else do people need to know? How can we empower them with information only we have?
When you know all that, you can suddenly build more connected communications that add real value to the decision making process and create clarity among the many sources of information people turn to.