July 2011

Tricks of the Social Media Trade for Healthcare Marketers

Working with medical device, medical tech and pharma companies, social media is top of mind.

Healthcare marketers grapple with timing, resources, and understanding the appropriate/effective mix of social media tactics in a communications program. We counsel our clients all the time and field the questions: How much should we/can we engage? What should we post? Are we doing enough? What are your other clients doing? Some are understandably cautious and some are trailblazers.

There are plenty of ways for marketers to engage in social media initiatives today that align with your overall marketing goals. Schwartz Communications runs successful social media campaigns for our healthcare clients with business-impacting results and we'd be happy to help you.

Download our free social media eBook to learn best practices and guidance for social media. It includes the results of a survey we conducted with regional medical device trade association MassMEDIC to learn what healthcare marketers are doing or not doing with social media, as well as suggestions on how to navigate internal regulatory and legal waters. Find out which types of social media tools have been most effective for healthcare organizations and our seven basic tips for social media participation. You'll also get interesting perspective from David Harlow, lawyer and author of HealthBlawg.

 

Do you have questions about your own foray into social media? Do you have a social media policy or need help creating one? Get in touch with us at healthcare@schwartzcomm.com.

Posted by Risa Goldman Burgess on July 26, 2011 at 2:10 PM
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5 Questions on Healthcare with... Margaret Mayer of Boston Software Systems

It’s summertime, and that means having some good old fashioned healthcare PR fun. To cap off the summer, Schwartz Communications will be speaking with healthcare clients about their perspectives on healthcare and other slightly random but certainly humorous issues. Although this might be a Q&A "lite," it still reveals interesting insight.

Today, Schwartz spoke with Margaret Mayer, director of marketing at Boston Software Systems…

Meaningful Use or Messy Undertaking? 
Massive Undertaking

What three words would you use to describe Healthcare Reform?  
Hyped. Complicated. Unlikely

In ten years, the American healthcare systems will…. (fill in the rest of the sentence). 
Still be messed up and in need of an overhaul

What is the most underappreciated trend in healthcare IT today? 
Real care for patients

What is the most hyped trend in healthcare IT today? 
The word “meaningful”

Where is your dream vacation?  
A Grand Tour, à la the late 19th century

What three things would you take to a desert island?  
1.    A case of Duckhorn merlot
2.    Sunscreen 
3.    Schwartz Communications to get the word out and send for help. {note: we did not tell her to say that}

Posted by Davida Dinerman on July 25, 2011 at 10:28 AM
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BIO delivers for now, but what about Boston 2012?

Schwartz's Joint Managing Director UK Richard Hayhurst's thoughts on BIO 2011

So another BIO is over, and despite some groans from my Nordic friends that it was eating into their sacrosanct summer vacations, it seems a good and profitable time was had by all. Funny, since I would think that the casual observer would see BIO as more of as a celebration of all things biotech rather than a business arena. Walk down the aisles of the exhibition hall and you are serenaded by a succession of international pavilions, each trying to outdo the other and impress with the size of its commitment to this politically sexy sector. In fact, BIO seemed determined to prove itself as flashy as those other current upstarts in the glamour stakes – cleantech and mobile apps. From iPads to Harleys, the competition was myriad, while the live entertainment ranged from Hong Kong drummers to the now traditional ABBA tribute band. By the way it constantly amazes me that whichever city the convention pitches up in – Chicago, San Diego, Atlanta - the Scandinavian Pavilion always seems to rustle up a fully believable ABBA band – how many of them are actually out there?

Not to be outdone, the various US states also have their pavilions, with Massachusetts determined to reassert itself as the Daddy of all Biotech clusters.  Governor Deval Patrick was pitching his commitment and next year’s “Road to Revolution” theme as the 2012 conference is coming home to Boston as he put it. But is it all necessary?

I look after the Norwegian contingent – a record 24 companies this year – and both they and my contacts at other pavilions all reported that casual visitors are by far the minority. Most visitors come already with a clearly researched list of who they want to talk to. So surprise #1.

The second is that year after year, the BIO partnering set-up delivers. Again my contacts reported that notwithstanding the to-be-expected pitches from professional service providers, the vast majority of their partnering meetings were excellent and productive. So the basics are in place – the world of biotech comes to BIO to do business. Nevertheless, it seems to me BIO sometimes forgets this – they went completely overboard on social media this year. Time and time again I heard the refrain: BIO is late this year, I haven’t had time to look at any of that stuff. I’ve arranged my appointments and I know I’ll bump into old contacts I need to catch up with either on the exhibition floor or at a reception.

In fact, the one innovation that to my mind improved BIO the most this year was completely fortuitous. The exhibit hall in Washington D.C. was very narrow and the reduced number of aisles ensured that visitors could see all the stands in just a couple of swift logical sweeps rather than the usual haphazard meander associated with other venues.

Finally, a word of caution. BIO seems to be a bit complacent about 2012 and expects a bonanza with a record number of visitors in Boston, over 25,000 I heard. This ignores the fact that most European stands at least were budgeted for last year, before the full impact of the cuts.  Thus it will be interesting to see, not mentioning any countries in particular, who retains their commitment to biotech next year!

 

Posted by Lauren Arnold on July 7, 2011 at 12:01 PM
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Thoughts from @bio2011

Nigel Smith (@Virgillove) here, just back from a great few days at the Bio International Convention(@bio2011) in D.C. A few observations stand out among the chatter being discussed on the show floor:

First, All eyes were on the FDA panel meeting being held a few miles away regarding the cancer fighter Avastin to treat breast cancer. An FDA panel ultimately voted to halt the drug use for breast cancer, stating that studies have failed to demonstrate its effectiveness. Genentech, the developers of the drug, has successfully marketed Avastin for the treatment of colon, lung and brain cancers. 

Secondly, I was struck by the unity of international countries and the US demonstrating their smarts, innovation and access to pro-business policies from around the world.  It’s clear that great work is being born in institutions from around the world where access to shared information and smart ideas is nurtured. Investments are pouring into geographies which may not have been originally top of mind with business development or VC folks. In fact, sounds like we should be keeping an eye on Poland and Brazil as both countries are emerging hotbeds. In a few years we’ll all be thinking, of course these locations are important.

All in all, it was a great conference and always a pleasure to connect and network with my biotech colleagues - old and new - from across the globe.

Posted by Lauren Arnold on July 5, 2011 at 11:48 AM
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