Asia Pacific is most attractive market for health care social media marketing
The increasing number of internet and social media users in the Asia Pacific region coupled with the developing technological interface in the countries such as Japan, China, India and Australia makes the region the most attractive market for health care social media marketing, according to a new report by Transparency Market Research.
According to the report, called “Health Care Social Media Marketing Market”, geographically, North America has the largest market for the health care social media marketing market.
Europe comes in second due to large pool of tech savvy consumers in the region. According to a study, almost 72 % of patients searched for online information before or after a doctor visit. Moreover, the pharmaceutical giants turning to social media for interaction are majorly based in this region.
However, Asia Pacific is quickly becoming a very attractive market for health care social media marketing as more and more people turn to the internet and social media for quick answers.
Social media is a virtual platform in which people interact, create and share content, information, ideas and views using online tools and related networks. Social media is building connections between end users and service providers by providing relatively simple, easy to access and unbiased platforms for sharing feedback.
Social media marketing is a process of achieving network attention with the help of social media platforms. Social media interactions are integral part of marketing and customer service relations in any industry, hence social media in healthcare industry is no exception.
Healthcare organizations and healthcare personnel have started considering social media as an important tool for connecting with the end-users and keeping the consumers updated about their products.
The increasing number of consumers using social media for accessing and seeking information related to healthcare issues is acting as the driving force towards the progress of the health care social media marketing market.
As a result, healthcare professionals and service providers are seeking global social media websites such as Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus and others as a networking platform. This enables them to gain the trust of the end-users with easily accessible healthcare information, assisting the market growth. Increased expenditure on web advertisement by healthcare companies is also a factor propelling the market growth.
However, there is an inherent risk correlated to social media marketing in healthcare which makes its usage a debatable subject. All the information available on internet is not authentic, making it vulnerable for creating mistrust among the users.
Similarly, privacy is also susceptible factor while associating and engaging with patients via social media. These factors act as a challenging aspect for the health care social media marketing market.
Today’s generation is extremely tech-oriented and health conscious. As a result, people are seeking for information and interacting with the healthcare industry by the means of web forums like never before.
On the other hand, social media is providing a cost-effective and reasonable platform for the healthcare industry to reach out to the prospective consumers, making it the best suited forum for transparent communication.
The participation of regulatory authorities in the issues related to drafting the guidelines for the healthcare organization regarding the use of interactive media for the biologics and drugs has proven to be a contributory factor for the use of social media marketing for healthcare.
As per US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), pharmaceutical companies can promote their products inthird-party sites such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc. The firm shall be responsible for the product promotional activities on the sites.
While getting feedbacks from the customers is important, incorporating these feedbacks into the organization’s business and business strategies in a meaningful manner is equally important.
Some organizations have taken the lead in this area, but many others are still struggling to understand this new medium of opportunity.
Novartis has enhanced the sales of their over-the-counter (OTC) products by promoting it on social media forums. Similarly, Johnson &Johnson (J&J) has utilized social media for idea generation and in crises management.
According to the report, using social media platforms is no more an option today but a necessity.
Some of the major players engaging in the health care social media marketing are Bayer AG, Johnson & Johnson, Inc., Novartis AG, Novo Nordisk AS, and Pfizer, Inc.
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