The Latest Healthcare Trends (And How to Leverage Them)

People are excited about the future of pharmaceuticals, so use this to your advantage and share your latest breakthroughs, upcoming trials, and how your company is planning for the future. Keep your followers up-to-date on the ins and outs of your work to encourage excitement around your brand. And if you’re using AI at your company, share that with your followers.

2. Misinformation sharing

Misinformation spreads across the internet quickly. And in an industry as potent as healthcare, tackling this misinformation is paramount.

A recent study found that users’ social media habits doubled and sometimes tripled the amount of fake news they shared. More specifically, habitual social media users forwarded six times more fake news than occasional or new users. Instagram takes such sharing of fake information seriously, and in 2019 the platform committed to reducing the spread of false information by marking posts that spread misinformation with a label.

In 2022, there were over 6.3 million social media mentions about false, misleading, or fake misinformation within the healthcare conversation. That’s almost 2% of the entire conversation, which – when it comes to healthcare – is substantially more than it should be.

Pharmaceutical companies can fight the sharing of misinformation on social media by creating marketing campaigns around data-led, well-researched conclusions. Educating users on facts can reassure worried consumers, preventing unnecessary concerns.

Brands can use data intelligence, like Brandwatch, to detect misinformation before it grows. This way, you can stay ahead of upcoming crises.

3. Battling negative sentiment

In 2022, 31% of healthcare mentions were categorized as negative by Brandwatch Consumer Research. Compared to the 7% of the conversation, which was categorized as positive, that’s a considerable proportion of negativity in online healthcare conversations.

People are skeptical. When it comes to the healthcare conversation on social media, consumers want to feel safe and secure – but that can be difficult to achieve. And when there’s uncertainty, there’s skepticism.

From misinformation to scaremongering, healthcare brands have to navigate a difficult space when using social media for marketing. Companies in this industry should keep this negativity in mind when interacting with patients and consumers via their marketing efforts. Consumers want to be reassured, understood, and feel heard.

4. Healthcare concerns are heightened

Utilizing social media to follow and impact the healthcare conversation is more important than ever. In a post-pandemic world, consumer concerns around healthcare are heightened. People want to educate themselves and are reaching out to verified healthcare providers for the facts. This is where healthcare brands can really make a difference.

It can be difficult to measure the impact your marketing efforts are having on the healthcare conversation. But by understanding your competitors’ efforts and how you compare to your industry, your brand can drive real change in the healthcare space.

By utilizing a dedicated competitor comparison tool, such as Brandwatch Benchmark, companies in the pharmaceutical space can understand their share of voice in the healthcare conversation on social. Rather than guessing what’s working, you can compare your social strategy directly with your competitors.

5. Have a people-first strategy

In healthcare, the heart of the conversation is people. Whether it’s to get patients stronger and healthier or to cure them completely, pharmaceutical brands aim to help people. And this is replicable across the healthcare social media landscape.

We analyzed over 330 million conversations about healthcare throughout 2022. Almost 69 million of these conversations discussed people. That’s 20% of mentions having a people-first mentality.