Yes, in fact, we are obsessed with Twitter hashtags, terms that are added to status updates surrounding a topic, event, or chat. They give insights into the discussions and trends by anyone on Twitter who wants to join in, and allow us to discover new people and ideas. We track all the life science hashtags we’ve found, with a bent towards the research tools area (e.g., non-FDA regulated products). We’ve analyzed the utilization of all hashtags in our compilation and have identified the top 10 in 2011 based on the number of Twitter status updates tagged with them. We’re also enamored with word clouds and have displayed them in a clickable image below linked to a Twitter search of the term, the largest words indicating the top hashtags in 2011 (note Twitter searches go back only 8 days, some links may give no results).

We’ve listed the top ten in the table below. Note that this list is by no means perfect, we’ve tried our best to find all the life science hashtags, but may have missed a few, be sure to comment below if you’d like us to track others. Additionally, some topics may extend outside of life science, such as #phdchat. The top ten indicate the versatility of hashtags to discuss topics, events, or to have a targeted chat. It is interesting also to note the prevalence of open access themes, and the influence of the ‘BlogFather‘ Bora Zivkovic who is heavily involved with three of the top 10: #openaccess, #scio12, and #sciamblogs. It shows how digital influencers can impact the landscape of an ecosystem. Two ‘traditional’ conferences made the list, #sfn11 and #bio2011. There are no life science company hashtags in the list, which is of course a big opportunity. A Twitter user recently started a meme with the hashtag #chemistrythemovie, generating 800 Tweets in a few days, something that should make life science companies drool.

Outside of hashtags, life science terms can also be tracked to pick up trends and find influencers, let us know if we can help you with a Social Media Compass analysis.

Just a quick note to let you know that our Social Media for Life Science and Biotechnology Workshop series is starting again with a Workshop 1 interactive webinar April 14th. Also our Twitter Workshop is now available on demand. We hope to help you meet your goals in 2011 with social media workshops specific for life science and biotechnology, contact us if you want more information or require customized training.

A recent survey of life science marketers found that 52% plan to increase their level of new and social media advertising in 2011. The study, conducted by life science consulting firm Comprendia LLC, was comprised of thirty-three respondents working in the non-FDA regulated sector, dealing with products for research use only. When asked which social media applications were most utilized, Twitter and Facebook were the top results, with 58% and 39% using them daily or one or two times a week, respectively. Respondents indicated that social media monitoring is also prevalent, with more than 60% indicating they track mentions of their brand on social networks. The long term effects of these trends are unclear, but it is possible that increased interaction between these life science companies, their customers, and independent science communicators portends the development of better products and increased progress in biotechnology research.

These results indicate a shift from traditional, broadcast marketing such as print advertisements and even online banners to new, more engaging methods such as social networks and blogs. Are life science marketers fully ready for this drastic change, which involves much more engagement with their scientific customers? When asked how they’d create the additional content needed for new and social media, 67% of life science marketers indicated that their existing staff would allocate time. Anticipating this unreasonable expectation, respondents were also asked about partnering with existing websites such as science blog aggregators. Initial interest in collaborating with existing entities was low, but respondents indicated a willingness to work with web 2.0 sites such as Benchfly, LabSpaces, Science 3.0 and Scientopia, and events such as ScienceOnline.

The results of the survey were presented at the ScienceOnline 2011 conference in January, where several involved in the ‘science 2.0’ movement expressed interest in working with life science companies. These blogs and sites are filling an important niche as scientific content is becoming scarce on traditional sources such as newspapers. Some bloggers expressed concern with corporate content intermingling with their own, an issue that does not exist with traditional media where distinctions between editorial and advertising content are usually clear. However, ideas for creating new boundaries emerged from discussions at the conference, and all of the findings from the meeting and this report can be found at http://comprendia.com/lifesciencesm Support from life science companies could bolster the independent science entities, resulting in more scientific information being disseminated to the general public via these routes. Company representatives, bloggers, or writers who are interested in participating should fill out this form.

Mary Canady, Founder of Comprendia, said “Life science companies appear eager to embrace social media, and it is clear that forming close partnerships with independent science entities such as blogging networks and open science conferences are necessary. New advertising models that will meet the companies’ needs while not sacrificing the integrity of the science communicators will result in a collaborative environment benefiting all involved.”

Comprendia is a California-based LLC which develops social media marketing plans for life science and biotechnology companies. Comprendia is actively implementing related strategies and tactics in a variety of projects and also provides monthly life science social media workshops and customized training. Based on the results of the survey, we’ll begin with a Twitter Workshop March 10th.

Twitter is perhaps the best application for life science companies to use to get started with social media, and based on our 2011 poll of life science marketers it is the application you are most interested in. Join us for this 2.5 hour webinar which will answer the following questions:

• How can I effectively use Twitter to grow my company’s brand?
• How do I find and engage with influencers and life scientists who will help me reach my goals?
• How do I find my company’s messaging and voice, and how can I easily find content that matches?
• Which tools will save me the most time?
• How do I track the return on investment (ROI) for Twitter?
• Why is etiquette so important for the life science community on Twitter, and how do I fit in?

The workshop is offered online March 10th, and will be available for on demand viewing after this date. All participants will received a printed booklet, and registrations must be received by March 4th. Cost is $275 per individual and $500 for groups of 2-4. Contact us for pricing of larger groups and visit our life science social media training page for information about other workshops.

Note: our workshops are intended for marketing and business development professionals in life science and biotechnology who do not manage FDA regulated products.

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Are you a life scientist or marketer planning for 2011? Below, we list resources for you, including a Google calendar which you can add to yours with reminders for major conferences and their due dates for abstracts, etc. We’ve also included editorial calendars and media kits for traditional publications. We’d also like to help marketers learn how to support ’2.0′ publications like blogs and wikis, and we’re working on that, stay tuned!

Life Science Conferences

Here is our list of life science media kits and editorial calendars. Marketers use them to plan their tactical schedules.

Life Science Media Kits, Editorial Calendars & Contacts

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