Customer story · Pharma intelligence

Inside Norstella, the intelligence partner to every top 100 pharma company.42% more posts. 60% more clicks.

Norstella brings six pharma intelligence brands under one roof and serves thousands of clients across the drug development lifecycle. A team of 25 publishes for those brands in several countries and time zones, reaching 553,000 followers. Since moving that work to Vista Social in April 2025, its flagship brand posts 42% more often on LinkedIn, and post clicks are up 60%. Brenton Marcum, Senior Social Media Manager, told us how they did it.

A group of Norstella team members smiling together in an open office

Norstella on social

553Kfollowers across Norstella and its brands

2Kposts published every month

30Klikes and comments on those posts every month

Through Vista Social

+42%more LinkedIn posts per month from the flagship brand

+60%more post clicks at the same time

+29%higher engagement rate, year over year

The business

100 of 100top pharma companies are clients

6intelligence brands

25people publishing to social

The story

Six brands, 25 publishers, one time zone

Norstella unites Citeline, Evaluate, MMIT, Panalgo, Skipta and The Dedham Group behind one mission: getting therapies to patients faster. Its clients include every one of the top 100 pharma companies. Each brand speaks to its own audience, so the social team publishes for all of them, on several platforms and in several countries, every day. Journalists, heads of marketing and demand generation managers post alongside the core team without carrying a social title.

The Norstella stage at the company's June 2024 event in India, with the Norstella name in large letters — Norstella in India, June 2024.

Before Vista Social, the team used a well-known enterprise platform that had barely changed in two years. It allowed one time zone across every account. To get a post for UK-based Evaluate out during business hours, Brenton converted the time from Iowa by hand, and a teammate posting for Japan ran the same math against Tokyo time. Approvals were worse. Every post was screenshotted and pasted into Monday.com for review, and every edit meant a new round of screenshots. Features that should have been standard came as extras.

Brenton had already tried Vista Social when he met the founder at Social Media Marketing World in 2025 and mentioned the one feature he still needed. Forty-five minutes later an email told him it was already in progress. Norstella moved off its old vendor within weeks.

The difference from our previous vendor has been night and day. It's almost dizzying keeping up with everything Vista ships, in the best way possible. Our feedback is heard, and the tool keeps getting better and better.

Brenton MarcumSenior Social Media Manager, Norstella

Brenton on LinkedIn

What changed

Before

One time zone for every account, so post times for UK and Japan brands were converted by hand
Approvals ran on screenshots pasted into Monday.com, redone after every edit
A platform that had shipped very little in two years
Features that should have been standard sold as extras

With Vista Social

A time zone for each brand, so posts go out in local business hours
Live calendar links any stakeholder can review and approve in real time
Tags, search and filters that keep a crowded calendar readable
A vendor that ships fast and acts on feedback, at a lower cost than before

From request to live post

The switch was the kind of project that worries enterprise teams. Brenton and his manager worked through Norstella's security policies with the legal team, set up single sign-on with IT, and connected Vista Social brand by brand so nothing went dark during the handover. Once SSO was live, the learning curve was short.

Today every organic social request still arrives through a Monday.com form, with the campaign, brand, creative direction and publish date attached, and then moves into Vista Social for scheduling. Review no longer means screenshots. The team shares a live calendar link with any stakeholder, who can comment and approve posts as they are. Tags sort content by campaign, filters show how many product posts are booked for the month, and evergreen scheduling keeps thought leadership, case studies and whitepapers in rotation through the quarter.

A Vista Social calendar with a review card to approve or reject a scheduled Norstella post — Stakeholders approve Norstella posts straight from a shared calendar link.

“Live calendar links that can be shared with any stakeholder or leader changed everything. The ability for real-time review, feedback, and post-approval has made our processes more efficient and streamlined.”

Brenton MarcumSenior Social Media Manager, Norstella

Brenton's advice

For a team weighing the same move, Brenton keeps it simple: commit to the free trial and use it as if it were your only tool. That is the fastest way to see what changes in the day-to-day workflow.

Your turn

Six brands. 25 publishers. 60% more clicks.

See the calendar, approval links and reporting Norstella runs on every day. Start a free trial, or book a walkthrough and we will set it up with you.

Start your free trial Book a walkthrough