Social media has revolutionised the world of communication, evolving from a form of entertainment to a powerful tool for the instant dissemination of information to a limitless audience. Video content is increasingly popular, propelled by the COVID-19 pandemic, and with 80% of social media users browsing health-related information, the pharmaceutical industry is leveraging the format more and more.

Video content is increasingly popular, propelled by the COVID-19 pandemic, and with 80% of social media users browsing health-related information, the pharmaceutical industry is leveraging the format more and more.

In a recent article in Medical Writing, Ekaterina Bulaeva and Amalia Iljasova gave a case study on Industry Voice, a YouTube project created specifically for the professional healthcare community. The content featured includes interviews with leaders in the pharmaceutical and clinical research industries, who share their opinions on current trends and insights into research landscape issues. The channel has generated over 10,000 views since its launch in October 2019, and the videos have proven to engage their relatively niche audience, drive sales, and add brand value.

So, how did they do it? The key considerations in the process included:

• Topic selection: the authors combined survey results with other market research and internal expertise to select relevant content for their target audience.
• Choice of speakers: after initially using internal experts, the authors branched out to interviewing guests from across the pharmaceutical industry and international experts in clinical research.
• Location and format: COVID-19 restrictions forced the interviews to be conducted remotely, which proved to be an effective format.
• Results and analytics: analysing video view statistics over time allowed the authors to better understand their global audience and to determine optimal video length, topic trends, and the impact of cross-platform promotion.

Bulaeva and Iljasova went on to share pragmatic tips on building a company presence on social media, including how to create a strategy and content plan, optimise the frequency and length of videos, make the most of platform algorithms, and ensure the tone and content are appropriate and adequately briefed to the speakers.

With video expected to overtake text as the most common content type on the internet in the coming years, we are excited to follow future uptake of this format across the healthcare industry.

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