Several months ago, I agreed with many industry analysts that, in regulated industries, the question is not IF to embrace social technologies, it is a question of WHEN. I work across multiple regulated industries, including Life Sciences, Health Care, Financial Services, and Consumer Goods. So far, the only thing stopping organizations from embracing social media are the organizations themselves.
In a recent research report by Weber Shandwick regarding the Life Sciences industry, this was clearly articulated:
“A key finding from the study is that regulatory restrictions are no longer the primary barrier to social engagement, with pharma marketing and communications executives reporting that they are challenged to a greater extent by socialising their strategies internally, instilling social media confidence in their teams and aligning the right resources.”
It seems that many organizations now agree that the risk and costs of NOT going social seems to have gotten everyone’s attention.
What seems to be stalling organizations is the internal buy-in needed to adopt social technology. Once the company is ready to adopt social engagement (truly communicating in multi-directional, not one-way, conversation on sites like Facebook, Linked In, or in private communities), it can take more than a year to mobilize all of the approvals needed for strategy, adoption and compliance. Until now, social media adoption developed in a silo, got the attention of legal or compliance, and was shut down until all of the legal and regulatory risks could be addressed.
Adopting an enterprise social solution frequently overwhelms our customers. Years ago when intranets were developed, the same concerns were raised. Once the intranet was approved, project teams were overwhelmed with demands and requests for their portals.
Social media can provide great value, still has a lot of questions to be worked out, and is akin to previous new technology adoption challenges. While technology has now helped organizations overcome their fear of legal and regulatory issues, streamlining the adoption process remains the next big hurdle.
The level of risk varies across regulated industries, however, we frequently need to help organizations understand that social media adoption is like learning to walk –one step at a time. This is how we build confidence in our ability to run.