Would you ever discuss your health problems on Facebook? 80% of young American people between 18 and 24 years old, recently surveyed, said that they would. Surprising?

The study completed by PWC in the USA in 2012 throws-up some interesting statistics. 33% of people surveyed confirmed that they use Social Media for health related matters. Specifically they sought medical information, tracked and shared symptoms and broadcast how they felt about doctors, drugs, treatments, medical devices and health plans.

Almost 90% of 18-24 years old trust social media research in the medical area. These statistics offer innovative marketing opportunities to pharmaceutical companies to dramatically change their marketing strategy in order to capture this segment of consumers. PWC said age is the most influential factor in engaging and sharing through social media.This is particularly interesting in healthcare in the case of educating young adults with chronic disease, foster good practices and promote prophylactic measures like immunization.

In the USA, where Direct To Consumer (DTC) promotion is permitted for drugs under prescription, which is not the case in Europe, the integration of social media in the pharmaceutical marketing is becoming mandatory.

In Europe things are more complex due to regulatory conditions. However social media marketing will be a key success factor in teaching teenagers and the young adult segment about health topics.

See on marketing.blogs.ie.edu