Maybe it is the fast-approaching conclusion of 2009, but recently I have been doing a lot of retrospective thinking.  In some ways, 2009 was a banner year for pharma social media.  Look no further than last month’s FDA public hearings for proof positive.  For sure, significant progress has been made in paving the road to widespread adoption and acceptance of social media as a marketing tool for pharmaceutical companies.

On the flip side, huge challenges still exist.  Despite the fact that the FDA met to shape its thinking around how to handle new media technologies, guidance still seems like a mere speck on the horizon.  And despite all the great work that is being done to dispel the adverse event myth and quell fears around other regulatory issues, concerns still persist.  As much as we sometimes write off these hurdles as excuses to stay out of social media, I would venture to say they still stand as the greatest hurdle.

The good news is the nature of that challenge has changed.  It used to be that the first conversations you had with a pharmaceutical marketer were focused on selling the value of social media and why various emarketing techniques could provide more bang for the buck than traditional TV ad spend.  Discussion on how social media could help the company was not even on the table until social media itself was proved as a viable marketing vehicle.  A number of recent conversations I’ve had with people inside pharmaceutical companies have convinced me that we are moving beyond that stage.

The stage where marketing people need to be sold has come and gone.  For the most part, the marketing folks inside pharma companies understand the value social media brings to the table.  Instead, the selling aspect of a social media program has shifted from the marketing department to the legal and regulatory department.  Even if the marketing department believes in social media and is ready to move forward with a program, the legal and regulatory group can pull the plug at a moments notice.  In fact, some marketing departments are so close with their social media plans that they are literally ready to flip a switch once they receive clearance.

If pharma social media is ever going to reach its potential, the role of the agency is to arm internal marketers with the ammo to convince regulatory and legal that social media is not a lawsuit waiting to happen.  I firmly believe that the majority of this discomfort is a lack of knowledge and understanding around what these tools are.  The result is they are dismissed off hand.

In tomorrow’s post, I will outline the role of the agency in helping to arm marketers with the information needed to educate internal departments.  In the meantime, I am curious: what role do you think the agency can play in educating legal and regulatory departments inside pharmaceutical companies on social media?

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