While digital marketing is the new norm today, in pharmaceutical marketing (like its traditional counterpart), it requires a different approach for doctors & Rx products and a different one for consumers & OTC products.
When marketing to doctors, according to an IBM report on E-Detailing published in 2019, there are certain factors important to doctors that need careful consideration. These include:
- Time
- No disruption to routine
- Objectivity
- Quality of care
- Simple-to-use technology
- Ability to address patients’ needs and questions
Consumers, on the other hand, are posing a bigger challenge for both Rx and OTC marketing. Consumers are hyper-aware today, constantly looking for information and opinions regarding health issues and medication - both, the drugs being prescribed to them, as well as OTC products. They rely on their doctor but will also consult their friends/family who have had similar experiences and research heavily online regardless of their doctor's visits, to validate the opinions put before them.
This change in consumer behaviour, coupled with a keen insight into what is important to doctors, calls for a change in marketing that goes beyond the websites, social media, and SEO typical of a digital strategy today.
We’ve compiled 5 different pharma digital marketing strategies to adopt for your brand today:
- 1.
Launching a Content Marketing Portal [Rx & OTC]
Helpful, informative content is the most powerful tool in pharmaceutical marketing today, valued by doctors and consumers alike. With increased focus on their use of time, doctors are constantly on the lookout for thorough, vetted information that will allow them to better form opinions and make decisions about drugs and treatments. For Rx drugs, in particular, a content marketing portal proves valuable for dispelling information and maintaining top-of-the-mind brand recall among doctors.
Consumers, too, are spending more and more time online researching symptoms, drugs and off-the-shelf products that can help in prevention and treatment. In this case, a content marketing portal acts as an effective tool to educate, engage and create awareness & thought leadership for your brand.
Includes content of all types - blog posts, videos, infographics, interviews, and more.
Vetted information from experts is a must to establish trust and returning audiences
There needs to be a balance between the scientific information you want to publish as a brand, and the engaging content your audience wants as internet users
Constantly analysing your website traffic will help ensure you’re publishing content people are actually interested in
An up-to-date User Experience (UX) and User Interface (UI) will make all the difference in increasing traffic and engagement
Effective Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is a must to ensure you’re visible on search platforms such as Google
Cross-promoting the content on your portal via paid media, social media and email marketing will help drive value from new and returning users
- 2.
Leveraging E-Detailing For More Effective Marketing [Rx]
We won’t go into the specifics of what e-detailing is, but we will say that the value derived from e-detailing can be vastly increased by adding on functionalities to your medium:
Consider taking your doctors from a presentation about your new drug, to a landing page where they can order a trial pack.
Or holding a webinar for your doctors on a certain medical condition affiliated with your drug, telling them how it works to treat the condition and any other literature they would need, directly from your R&D department.
Perhaps you’d want to follow up on the webinar or your presentation with email marketing that nurtures the doctor towards trial packs and orders.
Important points to remember:
- You need to understand where each doctor is in their journey relating to each of your products and create tailored e-detailing experiences. The more personalised the experience is to each doctor, the greater your chances of conversion via the supplemental marketing collaterals.
- Keep your marketing short, informative and direct. Time is still a big factor in terms of value.
- Videos and graphics are the best-working formats for getting maximum digital engagement, and doctors are no exception to that.
- 3.
Building a Community of Consumers (patients) and Doctors Alike
This community could be a part of your website, an existing social sharing platform, or even the aforementioned content marketing portal.
The portal will already have blog posts and videos of interest to your end-consumer. Take it one step further by creating a forum for users, or listing affiliated doctors, creating doctor-written content of immense value to patients, and driving patient traffic to those affiliated doctors. It’s a win-win-win!
Additional benefits:
- Analysing the traffic on this portal, where patients are actively contributing, gives you immense insight into consumer behaviour and preferences
- Top-of-the-mind recall for your Rx and OTC products among affiliated doctors present on the portal
- A direct platform to market your OTC products
- 4.
Leveraging Offline Recall for Online Conversions
Creating maximum buzz and establishing identity plays a large role in marketing OTC products, which is why most giant OTC-driven pharmaceutical companies would refrain from taking channels such as TV and radio out of the marketing mix just yet. What we recommend is to supplement that with digital media - a bit of buzz on TV, followed by highly-targeted online marketing campaigns, is the answer for conversions today.
After you run your campaign offline, you’ll have two sets of audiences exposed to your brand and product:
- An audience that directly fits the parameters of your TG
- An audience that does not immediately fit into your primary TG
Reach out to Audience 1 online, where they spend time every day, showing them multiple ads that they will connect with your TV/radio spot. Do this smartly, with the right media mix, targeting and contextual strategy, and they will convert and buy your product offline - first as a trial, then to stock up.
Audience 2, on the other hand, can be considered as having some amount of brand exposure to possibly convert at another time.
01
Advanced targeting parameters -
to reach exactly your audience
02
Higher returns on ad spend -
since you aren’t targeting anyone and everyone, and you can keep optimising based on the response you’re seeing
03
Easy measurement & attribution -
from each touchpoint and channel
04
Maximum Customer Lifetime Value (CLTV) -
created by constantly re-engaging even existing customers via email and social media
- 5.
Building Trust with Influencer Marketing
‘Influencer marketing’ aren’t two words commonly associated with the pharmaceutical industry, due to the many complicated rules governing the marketing of drugs & products. Done subtly and smartly, however, it can be one of the most effective strategies in your mix.
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We hope you found these 5 different digital strategies for pharmaceutical marketing useful. You’ll find that a targeted strategy; consistent analytics; experimentation; and personalised, data-driven creativity are key to implementing these ideas.
If you’re ready to get started, feel free to reach out to us below!
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Comments (41)
Great post, very informational. Nowadays, in presence of so many brands in every niche, it is not enough to put information related to your business online like overview, services, area of service, etc, you also need to reach out to people through proper marketing tactics.
Leave a ReplyThank you, It was very informative and helpful
Leave a ReplyThanks for sharing this article! Can you please mention some important marketing strategies for pharmaceutical companies today, in the current situation?
Leave a ReplyInteresting read. Most of the strategies for RX marketing are long term strategies. Are there any prerequisite that a brand might need before applying and scaling these strategies
Leave a ReplyLoved the e-detailing part, that would definitely help increasing brand and product recall for doctors. Could you please recommend some of the best e-detailing platforms, would love to explore them in detail and take it forward for implementation.
Leave a ReplyI am impressed with how you've covered leveraging of online recall for offline conversations. That's a very effective strategy.
Leave a ReplyI advocate for direct marketing over the use of influencers. It just gives you more control as to how your product is advertised.
Leave a ReplyOf importance is choosing the right celebrity when going the route of influencer marketing. Your brand is only as good as your influecer.
Leave a ReplyInfluencer marketing should be approached with lots of caution. If not done well, it could lead to disastrous results.
Leave a ReplyI am happy to see that a lot of pharmaceutical companies have started using email marketing to great effect. It's a good step in the right direction.
Leave a ReplyHolding webinars for your doctors can be very effective. It goes a long way in putting your company's name out there and giving it that much needed exposure.
Leave a ReplyA content marketing portal can also help set one's product apart from the rest. It's a strategy I wouldn't mind getting on board with.
Leave a ReplyMany pharmaceutical companies and jumping into the digital marketing scene with no clear strategy. Employing these techniques can help them a great deal.
Leave a ReplyI really like the idea of Launching a Content Marketing Portal. That's one most pharmaceutical companies should adopt.
Leave a ReplyDoctors are not experts in technology. As such, any digital marketing strategy used on them should be fairly easy to use.
Leave a ReplyIndeed, different approaches should be used when dealing with doctors and consumers. There's no one size fits all when it comes to digital marketing.
Leave a ReplyGreat advice, particulary about tapping into the influencer marketing. This is where a bulk of all marketing is headed I do believe.
Leave a ReplyVery useful digital strategies for pharma marketing. This article is highly informative and you can find about targeted strategies and aspects such as creativity that is driven by data.
Leave a ReplyStrategy is the guide to all businesses. If you are able to strategies things, you will definitely cone up with positive results. This information is so cool and good. Thanks for this informative post.
Leave a ReplyThis initiative has been adopted even so now I think. With face to face approach hard these days. In any case this is a good thing. I just hope it can be global since everyone needs it.
Leave a ReplyI love your blogs. They are very timely and full of great info.
Leave a ReplyThe content was easy to understand. I love your posts.
Leave a ReplyThese 5 strategies are the key to be successful in digital marketing. I have learned a lot.
Leave a ReplyAmidst this situation as of the moment these companies may get do these strategies. This will help build trust for the consumers and make a larger market for the pharmaceutical companies.
Leave a ReplyThese are very neat strategies and not just for pharmacies but for everything in general. Advertising evolves with time and often case technology is the trigger of it. I welcome it to be honest.
Leave a ReplyThere are some digital strategies which are very useful. You may find a strategy that is personalised and is very creative.
Leave a ReplyThanks for this beneficial tips on digital marketing strategies on pharmaceutical companies. Now I know how to reach my target.
Leave a ReplyThe key is being simple and problem solving. People will go to a system that get's their problems answered.
Leave a ReplyThese strategies as I've read are really helpful, not only in pharmaceutical products, but also in any product one wants to market in a digital platform. Very helpful article.
Leave a ReplyAgreed! As everyone is shifting to digital, one important aspect is trust. Could you suggest some more strategies to build consumer trust
Leave a ReplyIf people are talking about your company then that can be a part of an advertisement. Such buzz can help your company grow and sell out their products.
Leave a ReplyThanks for the information!! Would it help after COVID-19 to survive in the market competition?
Leave a ReplyThis is an easy way for us to further understand this strategies. It will make it easier for us to handle our businesses.
Leave a ReplyThe detailed information on strategies to use for pharma customers is really timely. it will be great for all
Leave a ReplyThis is already a known fact even more so now due to this virus. It fast tracked if you ask me. Sure older people might have a difficult time but it is what it is. The future is here. We should all embrace it.
Leave a ReplyThe 5 various digital strategies mentioned here are very beneficial. A targeted strategy is the need of the hour.
Leave a ReplySeriously, going digital is the only way pharma companies can make a living aside from traditional ad placements in broadcast and broadsheet format. People are more connected to the internet nowadays, and being able to provide a way for consumers and pharma companies to interact digitally will really make it easier for everyone.
Leave a ReplyThanks for sharing. What sort of metrics do you think we can track to measure the consumer engagement?
Leave a ReplyWith the advent of the new online platforms like Pharmeasy, Medlife and Netmeds, it is much clear that Pharma companies are adopting new digital marketing strategies to reach and acquire new customers. Would like to know from the above 5 digital marketing strategies which strategy would be the best for pharma business with a limited marketing budget.
Leave a ReplyAny suggestions on how to scale these strategies? What are the important parameters which will measure the doctors and customer engagement?
Leave a ReplyThe blog has focused on various strategies that can be used as per different consumer. Being into a Pharma business, how can I reach & educate my consumers more effectively? and create awareness for my brand?
Leave a Reply