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This week Boehringer Ingelheim held another tweet chat around Afib, which IMHO was a great success, like their other previous tweet chats. Using the #CHATafib, @Boehringer led the engagement, along with a few physicians who had been invited to join, such as DrXXXX.
Quoting @lenstarnes: “Have to congratulate @boehringer for staging the 2nd #CHATafib, not many pharmas have the courage or vision to do similar”. I think this sums up my point of view too – I genuinely congratulate Boehringer for their forward thinking and bravery in organising these tweet chats and continuing to use social media as an engagement channel, rather than just a PR channel.
I thought it was also great to see the @Boeringer handle being handed over to Dr Sona Tvrdonova, Global Medical Advisor, for the tweet chat. I have been telling pharma for years to get their medical teams involved in social media and this is a fantastic example of how that would work, and why it is a good idea.
The tweet chat itself was as always interesting and engaging. For me tweet chats provide value in a number of ways. The first has to be as a great way to introduce newcomers to twitter – give a live feeling of how twitter works and the dynamics of the platform. I also think it is a great tool for students. These conversations often include real experts and some great insights – which may be less interesting to people who know the content really well, but great for those trying to learn it can provide fantastic insights, and for free.
The other value I see in tweet chats, and again a favourite topic of mine, is how they can be used to develop relationships with people. One of the reasons this is one of my favourite topics is that it was through the #hcsmeu tweet chats that I really got into twitter and start to “meet” people via twitter, many of whom I have now met in person. People who do not use twitter do not always grasp how this is possible. The reality is there is a degree of trust and openness that is, IMHO, unique to social media. This comes from sharing and discussing common interests from the start, unlike a face to face meeting, where you have to first find out what people are interested in. The people I met through #hcsmeu all shared my passion for healthcare and social media – we had an automatic shared interest, and in the end this is the foundation that relationships are built of.
I know other pharma will start to follow @boehringer’s lead, but Boehringer holds that pioneer crown. It is well deserved and I look forward to many more successful and interesting tweet chats with @boehringer.
