Raise your right hand and repeat after me:

I (Insert name here of pharmaceutical marketing executive) do solemnly swear to focus on the patient first in all my social media efforts.

I will ignore the desire to chase shiny objects, will not refer to Facebook as a strategy and will focus on setting a clear social media strategy before putting a finger to a keyboard.

All key stakeholders across the company regardless of department will be involved from the onset of a social media engagement (yes this means legal, regulatory and IT).

I promise to spend time listening to the social media communities I intend to engage with before I make assumptions on what they want.  I will commit to always representing myself and my company in an ethical, authentic and honest manner.

When offering content or having discussions on social media platforms, I will not resort to promotional messages and will instead aim to offer educational and helpful resources.  I will not merely use social media as a megaphone to shout messages to the masses.  Rather, I will seek to engage in a dialogue on a one-to-one basis whenever possible.

I will expect a crisis to occur and when it does, I will avoid knee-jerk reactions such as shutting down all social media channels.  There will be a crisis communications plan in place even when regulations limit what I can say.  I will let patients know that they have been heard and offer alternative ways to get information.

When I receive criticism via social media they will not be discarded as some rogue, disgruntled individual.  They will be considered carefully and remediation will be taken when warranted.

I will insist on social media measurement but not blindly demand ROI without a true understanding of what ROI is—a lagging indicator.  When I measure social media, it will be with a more sophisticated set of metrics tied directly back to my original strategy (see sentence two).

Above all else, I will make helping the patient my central goal  and will walk away entirely if that ever changes.

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