Last summer, I started noticing something interesting about some of the requests we were receiving to join our Ticket to Biotech community.
Certainly, T2B is for industry comms practitioners who are veterans or already well on their way to becoming comms pros.
But in addition, there were folks who fell under two other broad categories that were asking to join us:
The first includes communicators in life science-adjacent industries.
These include tech, healthcare, maybe other consumer industries focused on helping people.
And the second includes biopharma industry executives who probably will never have “communications” in their titles.
At first, to be completely honest, I wasn’t sure if we should, in a sense, broaden the scope of who’s welcome to officially join the community.
I wondered if this would somehow dilute the power of our tribe.
And then I thought again and realized that, actually, both of these groups were already eligible to join us!
Why? Because these folks are all aspiring biopharma communicators!
They all have an interest in and a passion for what we do in our profession.
So, if we can create more awareness about the importance of our role more broadly in healthcare storytelling, that’s truly the highest measure of impact our community can have.
“Scientists and experts are expected to lead on the implementation of innovation,” according to the 2024 Edelman Trust Barometer.
And with more than 50 percent of people surveyed getting most of their information about new technologies and innovations from social media, we in biopharma are well-positioned to become trusted sources directly through our scientific leadership team’s social profiles.
Content from individuals at our orgs and clients is the new version of quotes in a press release.
Think about it – if a press release announces the news and quotes within the release comment on the news and add context, there’s a parallel opportunity here pertaining to how we can manage our companies’ and leaders’ social accounts, respectively.
Edelman’s Trust Barometer goes on to recommend that we can build trust via experts’ commentary by “explaining the research, engaging in dialogue, and harnessing peer voices as advocates.”
And, what’s more is that research from FTI Consulting last year found that “engagement rates for content from business leaders are more than two times higher than posts on company channels.”
With confidence increasing in advances like gene-based medicine if they’re shown to have been evaluated by scientists, we as biopharma communicators have a PRIME opportunity to not only control but also to directly shape the narratives of industry breakthroughs and their implications for society.
So, if an executive you work with is skeptical of publishing personal social content, or their next LinkedIn or blog post always seems to be an afterthought, we hope this helps you to make your case.
