Hot Topics on Twitter in 2011

Twitter have published their review of 2011′s ‘hot topics’ showing the people, brands and issues that got people tweeting this year. In terms of brands hitting the list, Guinness makes the list of top five in the ‘Food and Drink’ category.

Check out the list here.

When’s the Best Time to Post on Twitter or Facebook? [Infographic]

Social media marketing can be tricky with a multitude of factors affecting the impact of each tweet or post. The words you use, whether or not you include a link, what ‘call to action’ you include (if any), the network you’re using, the content you’re leveraging (text, video, picture) and even the time of day or the day of the week.

So when is engagement highest on social networks for both B2B and B2C audiences? This infographic from Argyle Social which has some insights into Twitter and Facebook…

Twitter Facts and Figures [Infographic]

Here’s an interesting infographic by UK agency Touch which outlines a host of Twitter facts and figures. These stats have a UK focus but the latest data (May, 2011) on Irish Twitter usage from the Ipsos MRBI Social Media Quarterly Survey reveals that Twitter is now used by 11% of the Irish population (up from 7% the previous quarter).

Pharma Tweets Ruled in Breach UK Code of Practice

Despite moves by pharmaceutical industry regulators both here and abroad to clarify rules around use of social media, pharma companies remain wary of delving into the social networking site to promote their brand/campaigns. This reticence will not be helped by the announcement today that Bayer UK have become the first pharma company to breach the UK ABPI Code of Practice for the Pharmaceutical Industry through their use of Twitter.

@BayerUKIreland have tweeted just 93 times since Jan 25th 2010, posting news bites and links to PR materials. In March the company posted the controversial tweet: “First & only melt-in-the-mouth erectile dysfunction treatment launched by Bayer today http://tinyurl.com/6hfxymf” and linked to a UK press release announcing the launch of a new formulation of their ED drug, Levitra. This wasn’t the first time the company posted product-specific comments. Last year they tweeted about a product launch saying: “Sativex® launched in UK for the treatment of spasticity due to Multiple Sclerosis.”

When questioned by inpharm.com in March, Bayer UK’s PR and Media Relations Manager, Andrea Postles said that “All news releases are ABPI Code-approved before they are issued. Social media users only see our tweets if they have already elected to be ‘followers’.” However this wasn’t the case as their Twitter account was open to the public and regardless of their 521 followers (at the time); their tweets were publicly displayed and indexed by search engines.

Following online debate one anonymous ‘reporter from a healthcare publication’ took a complaint to the PMCPA about the promotional activity. Following a panel review of the case, the PMCPA reported that although the Levitra tweet did not cite the product’s name it “referred to its qualities, indication and launch“. Furthermore they said: “The Sativex tweet mentioned the brand name, indication and launch”.

The PMCPA ruled that the tweets breached the Code of Practice stating that “each tweet was in fact a public announcement about the launch of a prescription only medicine which promoted that medicine to the public and would encourage members of the public to ask their health professionals to prescribe it”.
Continue reading »

Digital Pharma Round-up – Social Media Moderation, Guidelines & Lobbying

A quick round-up of some of the recent digital news affecting the pharmaceutical sector posted on the M+C blog:

• Facebook Set to Prevent Comment Disabling on All Pages [Click here to read more]
• UK Get Guidance on Social Media for Pharma [Click here to read more]
• Boehringer leverages Twitter to lobby politicians [Click here to read more]