Health and Pharmaceuticals: Advertising Bang-for-the-Buck is in the Buzz

The Holy Grail of effective advertising has always been to stimulate both consumer use and productive word-of-mouth buzz. New research shows that social networking may help health and pharmaceutical companies reach that goal.

Turning on its head the conventional wisdom that the average consumer is neither highly connected nor highly influential is a recent study by my company, MedTrackAlert, and the Interactive Media Studies Program at Miami University in Oxford, OH.

This study of consumer attitudes towards messaging in healthcare-related display ads documents the strength of the average consumer in both respects. This is good news at a time when marketers are seeing diminishing effectiveness from traditional television, print and online media.

An effective word-of-mouth campaign can now exceed the audience level that broadcast media boasted only a decade ago – and it carries the added weight of authentic personal endorsements from fellow consumers.

The study supports the widespread belief that there are indeed individuals who have a vast social network and are quick to spread the word throughout it. These comprise approximately 13% of the general public. But the study presents substantial evidence that effort spent on identifying these super-influencers may be wasted.

Approximately 75% of consumers are characterized “moderately connected,” with an active social network of approximately 50 people. This is a surprisingly substantial figure and gives this group greater significance that previously assumed. Their instinct to share is triggered by the same message types that trigger behavior in the well-connected. This is a boon to marketers, who can direct a single message to this bloc of 88% of consumers. (According to the research, it is ads perceived as helpful, welcome, unique and trustworthy that most inspire sharing.) While consumers are more likely to share information than they are to use the product, the dual outcomes enable brand managers to realize new value from their DTC campaigns.

The more relevant the information, the more likely the consumer is to share it and act on it. Relevance, of course, is a highly variable value, and search engine marketing (SEM) attempts an ever-tighter focus to reach consumers at the most individual level with specifically targeted messaging. The new study supports freeing the resources involved in such narrow efforts, and creating broader – although still targeted – messages for healthcare DTC marketing.

Information-based messages that educate the consumer to symptoms are by far the most effective at both passing the message along to others and persuading the consumer to use an advertiser’s product.

Second place, in terms of positively influencing behavior, is held by DTC display ads that present information on how consumers can better control their disease.

DTC with an optimistic message – highlighting positive outcomes or promising good results – comes next in line.

Bottom of the list are ads that tout how easy a drug is to use, describe how it works, or – perhaps surprisingly – offer discounts on purchases of the medication. These approaches don’t need be scrapped entirely, but they may be more profitably incorporated with ads speaking to symptoms or other important considerations.

“We are witnessing the power of the individual to impact their social networks’ behavior,” said Glenn Platt, Ph.D., director of Interactive Media Studies at Miami University. “If marketers choose to create display ads that persuade an individual to both use and share information about their product with their social network, they will access a potentially unlimited, active audience for their branding and advertising outreach.”

Because the message is disseminated through the evangelical actions of individuals, pharmaceutical companies can reach this audience faster and more cost-effectively than traditional marketing models allowed.

Ted Smith, Ph.D., is president of MedTrackAlert, a consumer health information company dedicated to helping people better understand the scope of their chronic diseases and conditions, as well as the benefits and risks of associated medications. For more information, see the company’s new whitepaper, “Influencers and Health Advertising.”