I recently had a conversation with a friend about what good looks like in social media, driven by a positive article about Allergan’s US Restasis Facebook page.  The article talks about the Restasis brand’s foray into social media through this page and what great results it drove.

Naturally I went to have a look at the page but must admit that I do not agree with the article’s rosy glow.  Yes it may have had good results at the time but closer inspection reveals some serious flaws in the brand strategy regarding their approach  to social media.

The most glaring issue is that this is not a page but a campaign.  Looking at activity on the page it is clearly time framed around six months.  Since January this year there has been next to no activity.  The brand has gone from posting regular content, driving traffic to their savings programme or other relevant material, to posting only three posts since January 2017.  The content on the page is very clearly targeted and clearly driven by customer need, i.e. issues around how to pay for treatment, and for the most part drives to the brand website.  Within the six month period the team have done a good job at responding to and answering questions, which gets a big thumbs up and demonstrates the understanding that this is a two way engagement channel.

However the strong campaign focus coupled with the lack of recent content really flags this as a lost opportunity to me.  Rather than build a whole page, with a key purpose to apparently drive patients to the Restasis brand website, my recommendation would have been to focus activity and investment in promotion.  By this I mean the focus should just have been on placing targeted adverts, including on Facebook, to drive that traffic.  Building up a whole page simply for a six month campaign, rather than a concerted effort at driving long term engagement and value, is a wasted effort.  It also brings with it additional risk and work due to the need to monitor 24 / 7.

Another recommendation I would have would be to focus on building up and improving the corporate Facebook presence, which is currently lacking and confusing.  As a first step I would close the unofficial Facebook page which seems to be more of an employee forum but includes people replying to patient questions and issues.  Now I have no idea of those people replying are authorised to do so but I would not be surprised is they are not.  This is of course a huge risk to organisation but could be turned into an opportunity.  There are clearly people passionate about the organisation prepared to engage on behalf of the organisation – these people could be trained and used to support the official activities.

For that to happen though there needs to be official activities!  There is no official, professional corporate Facebook page, just some brand pages, and in this day and age I find this somewhat dated.  By having a strong corporate Facebook page it would also provide the opportunity for brands, like Restasis, to have somewhere to post content (which can be geo-targeted to handle regulatory issues).  It would also formalise and help control the discussions that are already happening – by not having a presence it does not mean that people are not talking to and about you.

To me this Restasis Facebook page, and Allergan’s approach to Facebook, is suboptimal and the sort of activity I would have expected from Pharma a few years back.  Today however the approach to social media really needs to be more strategic, serious and based on a solid understanding on the value, uses and impact of the various platforms to both customers and the business.  Today social media is a mainstream channel that can provide high value to both customers and the business and needs to be handled as such, and not as an “experiment” or “foray”.  Embrace it, optimise it and reap the benefits.

This time next week I will be in Austin Texas enjoying day 2 of SXSW.   If previous years are anything to go by I will be having an amazing time, but may be sporting a mild hangover. My first year at SXSW was a real life changing experience but sadly my second year, last year, was far less outstanding.  I still enjoyed last year but it lacked the “wow” of my first time.  I suppose though this is to be expected as with all things in life!

This year I am hoping to land somewhere in between.  Of course I am not expecting that same “wow” that I experienced the first time – the element of the unknown and surprise is gone – but I am hoping that this year I will be a bit more prepared than last year.  I have also been looking at the programme and I am already more inspired than I was last year.  I had struggled at SXSW16 to find things that really got me excited, with a few exceptions, but this year’s programme looks like there will be plenty to get me stimulated (besides all the parties and free booze of course!).

I am also really chuffed as this year I have an old friend my MBA attending along with a couple of my London friends so I have high hopes on the social side if nothing else.

This year I also have a clear objective – to gather as many freebies as possible!  In April I will be heading back out to Africa to join my boyfriend for the Namibia leg of his trip and I plan on restocking him with pens and other stuff that he can give away to kids as he travels through the continent.  It really struck me in Morocco that all the children just wanted pens – that was the first thing they asked for – followed by “bon bons” (sweets) and interestingly enough then following by “cahiers” (notebook).  SXSW will provide me with the opportunity to gather up freebies and put them to good use.  Rather than those free pens just lying around at the bottom of my handbag they will hopefully be used by some child in Africa in school.  Of course I will be on the look out for more than just pens – I will gladly swipe sunglasses, toys, etc.  Perhaps not the most digitally orientated objective but I a good objective nonetheless in my mind.

So if you are going to be at SXSW17 and want to ply me with free goodies just get in touch!

This weekend I had the pleasure of doing a long weekend in Morocco with my boyfriend.  He is driving down from Zurich to Cape Town and back in his Landrover and I flew over to join him for this part of his trip.  It was truly spectacular from the picturesque Riads in Marrakesh, through the snow capped Atlas mountains, to the sand dunes of the Sahara and the vast expanse of stony dessert and nothingness on its edge.  Being in a Landrover meant we could get to places not many tourists get to visit and we also were able to camp out in the dessert, whilst being totally self-sufficient (his car is even equipped with a travel shower, solar panels and a proper fridge).  I am truly fortunate that I was able to have an amazing experience like this and I had the most fantastic time … despite being offline for most of the time.

In this day and age to be somewhere were you truly have no internet connection, no wifi, no roaming, is remarkable.  It felt as if time had stopped and there was only the here and now – with all its beauty.  Of course I really wanted to share the wonder of my trip but at the same time I had no desire to connect to the outside world – to find out what new craziness was happening in the USA or what new issue was hitting the NHS. It really made the trip that much more magical being so cut off and it is an experience that I would not have valued perhaps quite as highly until I had gone through it.  I always joke that I couldn’t live without Facebook but I survived 5 days without it!

The only time I went online was briefly to email my parents.  They were naturally worried about their daughter going off road with some chap (they have not met my young beau yet) in a North African country and I wanted to let them know that all was good.  I therefore switched on roaming as we stopped in one of the towns and sent them an email.  This however is in itself remarkable because, just as I was connecting from the middle of nowhere in Morocco, they were picking up my email in the middle of the ocean somewhere off the coast of Hong Kong (they are on a cruise).  It was comforting to know that I could let them know all was good – and I am sure it was comforting for them to hear that all was good my end too.  Even in the remoteness technology enables us to connect with those that mean the most to us.

Of course I do have to admit that the first thing I did once I had been dropped off at the airport was connect to the Wifi and check the Beeb and Facebook (and send my parents another email this time with some photos).  I discovered that actually the world had not ended while I was away and that I really had not missed much on Facebook.  Oh what a surprise!  What had happened though was that Whatsapp had changed – when I went to post a status update (something mooshy along the lines of being in love … ahhhh) I discovered that I could no longer do this the normal way but now there was a status tab but it only allows for photo updates not text.  Change is not always good in my opinion!

Now that I am back home of course I am also incredibly grateful for technology.  I will not be seeing my boyfriend for another month or so, when I will go join him in Namibia for a few weeks.  Naturally I miss him like crazy but we can stay connected through Whatsapp and “old fashioned” text messages.   He is also using a  very cool tech device that posts his co-ordinates so I can also always see where he is and I am also comforted in knowing that the same device has an SOS function which will ensure help is sent to him wherever he is if he needs it.  So whilst he is literally miles and miles away technology will ensure that we can stay close and connected and that is truly magical.

This week I was giving a lesson on the basics of social media and I noticed that Tinder was included in Fred Cavazza’s awesome social media inforgraphic.  I have to admit that this surprised me – I’ve been using Tinder for years but I never thought of it as a social platform.  For me Tinder fits into the online dating category, not social media.

However this image made me think – what is social media but platforms were people can engage and interact … just like online dating.  The more I pondered this the more I began to see the sense of Tinder appearing on this image, especially with the new functionalities that Tinder has brought in recently.

With this new thinking I logged back into Tinder, and with my partner in crime and a few glasses of bubbly, we decided to test out the new Tinder Social.  This functionality is Tinder’s attempt to take the dating app into the more “social” realm. It allows people to form groups with friends of theirs who are also on Tinder and then swipe other groups to chat with and potentially meet up with.  You can only engage with these groups if you yourself are in a group – so a single profile can’t engage up with a group profile. There’s been quite a few comments about what this functionality is really for, especially given what many single people use Tinder for, and I have to admit that I was therefore not overly surprised to see a few male female groups, where it was clearly a couple looking for fun.

Anyway so there is me and my partner in crime, let’s call her Miss.B., playing with Tinder social.  It was Miss B. that set up our little group and this is where I stumbled upon my first issue with Tinder social – she could add me to a group without my permission or even notifying me.  I find this quite concerning – any of my friends on Tinder could use my profile and there is nothing I can do about it.  I pondered how I could use one of my friends in Australia’s profiles to form my own group – knowing she would be fast asleep I could in theory have fun with groups without having to worry about her quitting my group (well not until the early hours when she woke up).  I could image her waking up perplexed to find her Tinder inbox full of these group chats – how angry do you think she would be?  I know I would be pretty peeved! Mark one against Tinder.

I then came across our next stumbling block with Tinder’s attempt to get more social … control.  While Miss B. was happily swipping away on other groups I discovered that as she set up the group (on her iPhone) she had all the control – I was unable to swipe groups on my side (with my Android phone).  This meant she could connect with whoever she wanted, using my profile, but I had no say in the matter, and again the result was a stream of discussions in my Tinder inbox that I may not have wanted to participate in.  Mark two against Tinder.

My final thought around Tinder and social is how the app now pulls in information from your other social networks.  To sign up to Tinder you can use your Facebook account – and Tinder now shows you common connections as you browse people’s profiles.  I have to admit that I do not always like this.  I am not sure that I want to know that someone I might hook up with on Tinder is also friends with my ex, for example.  I have also discovered another potential issue here too as I have started getting friend and message requests through Facebook (& Instagram) from guys who have seen my profile on Tinder and rather than use the Tinder app to contact me go straight to one of these other social media networks.   I’m not sure if I actually find this a bit intrusive – if I was interested in you I’d swipe right – but at the same time I’m always quick to move Tinder chats off Tinder  anyway (it drains battery like there’s no tomorrow) so maybe it’s not that bad.  But still a potential mark three against Tinder.

Having now played around with Tinder’s new social functionality and having looked at it from this new perspective I think I could agree to having Tinder appear in this social media image.  The question for me though is whether Tinder is on the right path with these new “social” features?  I have been a huge fun of Tinder for years and have been very successful with it’s basic functionality, but I am starting to feel it may be getting a bit intrusive, as it leaches into my other social platforms. Maybe it is time to find a more anonymous dating app?  Especially given the potential intrusion of Tinder Social where I have no control over whether someone uses my profile or not.  Or maybe I’m just being a bit bah humbug because Miss B. got to enjoy all the fun of Tinder Social while I just watched helpless as she swiped some dodgy looking guys, and then found my phone constantly vibrating with these said groups trying to chat with me.  Either way whilst Tinder could be considered a social media app they also need to tread carefully as they are walking a fine line between being social and being intrusive.  What do you think?

Over the years I have often been asked what good looks like when it comes to digital in pharma.  I have been asked for benchmarks and examples from other pharma.  Who does digital best is another popular question.  My answer to this is there is no single answer. There is no single pharma company that stands out across the board in digital.  There are some that have done great apps but have terrible websites, or have done great apps but failed on social media.

So when I am asked what good looks like I tend to reply – what do you think?  As a pharma company whether you are targeting HCPs or patients it is important to remember that these stakeholders are people – just like you and me.  Sometimes the way I see pharma talking about HCPs it is as if they are a separate species, a species that does not use Amazon or Tripadvisor, or any other online services.  Our stakeholders are however people like you are me, and like you and me they use online services for everything from shopping to banking.

That is why when I am asked what good looks like I ask my clients to think about their own use of digital.  What is that they like about Amazon?  What do they hate?  What are their own online behaviours?  Whilst where we shop and go for news online varies country to country basic behaviours and expectations are very similar.  No one likes pop up ads or pages that take forever to load.  No one enjoys clicking multiple times trying to find basic information.  In this day and age we all have certain expectations when it comes to digital, and we expect to be able to access information quickly and easily.  Why should we not expect the same basics from pharma?  Why should we are users have to battle to get to the information we are looking for?  Will we keep trying or just go somewhere else?

I don’t know about you but I know if a website, or other digital tool, does not give me what I want, and quickly, I will go elsewhere.  I am fairly certain the same rings true for pharma customers too.  Therefore when someone asks what good looks like – the answer is already there in our own day to day behaviours and expectations.  Don’t you think?

I had a rather unpleasant surprise today when I found out that one of my “friends” had shared some of my personal Facebook posts with my current boss.  Given the privacy settings of my posts I presume this was done by the said person physically showing their screen.  I was absolutely mortified to discover this infringement on my privacy but was also very angry and upset by this blatant abuse of my trust.

I am very picky around who I friend on my personal Facebook account (including never accepting friend requests from work colleagues) and that is precisely so that I do not have to feel like I have to censor what I write.  My friends know that I share very personal information, whether it be around my health or my love life, and to find that one of them thought it would be appropriate to share this insight into my private life with my employer is disgusting.  In fact I actually even have a “disclaimer” on my Facebook page to flag the personal and private nature of my posts.  Needless to say said “friend” is no longer a friend in my book … if I ever find out who it was.

Now there is plenty of debate around privacy, and expectations for privacy, in social media, and some would question whether it was stupid of me to post personal things to my Facebook page if I am concerned about other people reading these posts.  I push back on this though as I believe the right to privacy exists just as much online as it does offline.  Platforms like Facebook provide the option of restricting who I share my posts with and I trust my friends to respect that.  The fact that a friend has abused that trust says more about that person than social media.

Despite my beliefs on the right to privacy I would still be cautious about posting anything that could get me into trouble – but this is not my point here.  The content that was shared was not in anyway related to work but related to my personal life and related to information that I like to share to with my friends, and which my friends like to hear about.  If it were public content or content I was happy to share with a wider audience I would have changed my settings.  To me it is a sad day that I feel like I can no longer stay connected with my friends across the world because one person decided that I do not have a right to privacy, despite my clear disclaimer on what I post to my page.  The sharing of private content from a private and closed social media account is akin to photo-coping someone’s private letter or recording a private phone call and sharing that around.  It can happen but one does not expect a friend to do that.

There is though a broader issue here too.  I mentioned that I share very personal health information on my Facebook page.  Now I am actually very open about my health so I have less of an issue with someone sharing this – but for many people this is not the case.  For many people private social media offers a very valuable resource to connect and talk with people about this very personal topic.  I have been involved in supporting people with severe depression whose only outlet was their private Facebook account.  For someone like this to find out that a “friend” has shared their highly private and sensitive posts with a member of the “public” could be devastating.  For me again this highlights my beliefs that just because a person shares information digitally does not mean they automatically lose the right to privacy.  Regardless of which channel or medium a person shares information – if it is in a private setting and clearly highly personal their right to privacy should be respected.

It therefore with heavy heart that I find myself now having to either censor my content, and no longer share my private news, or to start de-friending people.   If whoever did this to me is reading this – thank you very much for abusing my trust in you and putting me in this situation.  I hope it was worth it for you.

Being passionate about social media and the latest technology I felt obliged last year to have a look at Snapchat and sign up for it.  I had a couple of friends who are using it and raved about it and it was “the” latest trend so I just had to join the craze.  So I signed up.  Or rather my friend helped me sign up and get started.  She swore I’d love it – she told me about all the fun she was having with her colleagues in the US and all the jokes and laughs they shared.  It sounded pretty fun.

I am a very active Facebooker and have always been.  I am also very active on Twitter and Pinterest.  In fact I love these three social channels and think I would really struggle not to use them on a daily basis.  I have even considered doing a sponsored week off social to raise money for Hope for Romanian Strays … but I genuinely do not know if I could do it!  One week without any online social interaction?  One week with no browsing and sharing?  OMG!

So one of my concerns was Snapchat was that I was potentially adding yet more to my social routine – where would I find the time?  If it was a great as my friend made out I would soon be addicted!  However part of me also questioned the “why”.  As mentioned I was already very active on two high engagement channels (Facebook and Twitter) and for communication with my friends I was also very active on Whatsapp.  What role would Snapchat play?  How would it enhance what I already had?  Or would it not enhance but rather replace something?

I was not sure so I gave it a try to try to answer these questions.  I tried it.  I really did try.  But I just did not get it.  I really did not see the “Why”.  It offered me nothing that my current social channels were not offering.  It did not enhance these either.  While Pinterest, for example, does not offer much in terms of “engagement” with my friends or network it did provide me with content to share to my network or content that I could enjoy looking at or using (e.g. recipes).  Snapchat just did not add anything to my life that I did not feel I already had covered. I gave up.

A few months later my friend was at me again, this time with support from a second friend.  I really should give it another try. They got me active by sending me some stuff.  This time round I could start to see some of the “Why” but again it really was not enhancing any of my engagement or relationships.  I also began to suspect that this was a channel that you only really got if you were very active and had a big group of active friends too.  I had neither – after all I am about 20 years older that the average Snapchatter.  So I gave up again.

Then today as I headed off to a business meeting I got a message from one of my Tinder dates who I have been seeing for a while (did I mention I am a huge fan of Tinder?).  He happens to be younger than me and fits easily into the top end of the average Snapchatter demographic.  He is on Snapchat and yes he asked me to add him on my Snapchat.  And so it is I am now giving it another go – maybe third time lucky.  Maybe this time I will see a different side to the “why”?  I must admit that I have not yet snapchatted with him but I have discovered another venue to bombard my friends with funny photos of my cats.  I think I may finally be seeing some value in this channel!  Whether my friends will agree with this as they see more and more photos of “King” Don remains to be seen.

The Don looking all regal