Importance of Digital Marketing in Pharmaceutical industry

 

                          Importance of Digital Marketing in Pharmaceutical industry

“I think the biggest innovations of the 21st Century will be the intersection of …biology [health, medicine] and technology [digital]. A new era is beginning…” –Steve Jobs

Digital marketing will be the next frontier for pharmaceutical companies as many of them are scaling up their consumer businesses and introducing an array of consumer brands. Traditionally, marketing innovation in the pharmaceutical industry has been stunted by heavy regulatory restrictions. Historically, pharmaceutical companies have had little to no interaction with their end-users-patients-since they depended entirely on their health care providers for medical knowledge and advice. With the digital medium democratising information in every sector, however, there is a huge opportunity for the pharma industry to develop patient-centric strategies and transform their fundamental business models. In fact, as patients become more digitally-savvy, the lines between pharma companies and patients will most likely become increasingly blurred. Digital marketing for pharma and healthcare will undoubtedly become the key differentiator for brands charting out a futuristic growth strategy.

Digital has already transformed the pharma and healthcare industry in many ways such as greater levels of transparency, patient communication and drug development.

Leading pharmaceutical marketing initiatives is challenging. The industry operates under intense regulation, making it vital that your pharma marketing strategies (and advertising campaigns) meet industry rules and regulations.

Pharmaceutical digital marketing, however, offers immense opportunity for your organization to promote its brand and products to the right audience, from doctors to patients. You can use multiple channels and techniques to build a competitive and legal pharma marketing strategy.

In addition, due to its unrivalled cost-effectiveness, digital marketing strategies offer a variety of meaningful ways to connect and treat prospective clients and customers.

Digital marketing in the pharmaceutical industry can transform the way how brands communicate with customers, increase transparency, engage, and grow.

Digital marketing is critical for all businesses who want to thrive in this digital age. Advertising on digital platforms such as Facebook, Google, Bing in pharma, and healthcare is expected to rise to $10 billion by 2020.

This ad spend is 13% more than what businesses are currently spending.

This is an obvious indication that more and more businesses are going online to promote their pharmaceutical products and services.

One of the most significant transformations seen by digital’s influence on the pharma industry is the fact that pharmaceutical companies are no longer the sole gatekeepers or providers of the information surrounding their treatments or products.

Through online communities, mobile applications and a wealth of web content, people now have wide access to a range of pharma-based insights.

There are factors which make digital marketing for pharma companies essential. These are:

1.Patients are better informed

Patients are not just passive recipients of prescriptions anymore. They are playing a more active role in their healthcare, researching various drugs and exercising their right to make the final decision about their health. This easy accessibility of information has both a negative and a positive side to it. On one hand, it means patients are more educated about their health than ever before. This empowers them to take more informed decisions about their health and fully understand side-effects that various drugs can have on their body. On the flip side, however, all information isn’t necessarily accurate information. To counter this, digital pharma strategies can help brands develop authority by providing patients with accurate, reliable information. By building a strong presence online and answering queries that patients might have, pharmaceutical brands can also develop a closer connection with their audience.

2.Outcomes-based care is moving to center stage

Payors and governments have an ever sharper focus on managing costs while delivering improved patient outcomes, putting an even greater onus on pharma companies to demonstrate the value of their drugs in the real world—not just in randomized controlled trials—if they are to retain market access and premium pricing. In this environment, digitally enabled "beyond the pill" solutions, which include not just drugs but also sensors to collect and analyze data to monitor a patient's condition between visits to healthcare providers, are becoming critical to serving both parties' needs. These solutions help drive the adherence to treatment and outcomes that payors and governments seek, and they generate the data that pharma companies need to demonstrate their drugs' superior efficacy.

3.Process efficiency and agility is improving dramatically

Advanced analytics, sensors, and the automation of complex decisions are capable of delivering a step change in the efficiency, speed, quality, and responsiveness of business processes in all industries. The pharmaceutical industry is no exception. To thrive in a digital world, pharma companies will need to deploy next-generation technologies to streamline their business processes. They need to achieve near real-time transparency of their clinical-trials portfolio in R&D, for example, and frictionless sales and operations planning in the supply chain, as well as meet new expectations in efficiency and agility from customers, employees, patients, and suppliers.

4.Shift from ‘patients’ to ‘consumers’

As a direct consequence of accessibility to information, end-users for pharma brands might soon be perceived as ‘consumers’ rather than ‘patients’. Marketing solely to health care professionals will not be viable in the long run as these might not be the actual consumers in the future. Armed with greater awareness, patients are in a better position to request or reject specific brands. The consumerisation of healthcare means that pharma companies will need to take a larger step towards consistently engaging users throughout their journey, ‘in good times and in bad’. Developing a strong and trustworthy brand image through digital pharma techniques has never been more important.

5.More information is available about product performance

Historically, pharma companies have controlled both the generation and dissemination of information about their products. Digital technologies have weakened that control, opening an array of new, independent information channels. There are online communities for sharing and discussing patients' experiences, apps and sensors to monitor the impact of therapy on a patient's daily life, and advanced data aggregation and analysis to link disparate, complex data sets and generate new insights into drug safety and efficacy. In response, pharma companies will have to build the capabilities to anticipate or react rapidly to these new sources of evidence, and remain the main source of authority on the performance of their products.

6.New competitors are closing in

The pharmaceutical industry is unlikely to preserve the oligarchic market it enjoys today. With the proliferation of technology making user’s vital information more accessible, patient healthcare information is no longer in the sole control of healthcare providers. This has led to the emergence of new competitors in the pharma space -particularly from the tech industry. These digital pharma companies are moving beyond just drugs, providing patients with high-tech solutions that offer them greater visibility and control of their healthcare. Some of these include wearable activity trackers, ‘chips’, AI, VR and other potential disruptors in the space. If traditional pharma companies do not realign their strategy, they might not be able to compete with recent entrants to win the new age ‘consumer/patient’.

7.Transparency is forcing greater accountability

One patient’s experience with a drug no longer operates in a vacuum. The ability to track key physiological responses, progress and efficacy of medication (made possible through wearables and the interconnected Internet of Things network) has given individuals greater visibility into their healthcare. If they have a negative experience, they are very likely to share their journey publicly over social media and cause large-scale damage to a pharma company’s brand image. Unlike in the past, companies cannot control how much information about their product is available and how it is distributed. In this environment, digital marketing for pharma brands can effectively communicate the USPs of their drugs and develop a bond with consumers to win their trust.

How Digital Marketing Can Excel Pharma Business?

1. Build digital culture and not apps

“Digital is a revolution and we need to build a culture rather than focusing too much on various apps and gimmicks. The industry needs to define digital marketing strategy, to be divided between, health professionals and patients.”

With a digital boom in the country, marketers focus only on building apps and give attention to other gimmicks. We must Focus on building a digital culture to reduce the increasing gap between doctors and patients.

2. Pharma is not boring and mobile holds the key

Pharma is not boring! Doctors love social media too, they also go out and spend time on Facebook and more essentially use social media for information and communication. Mobile is going to be the driver for learning and training industry as well. m-health or mobile will change the way treatment will happen and the way information will flow and be collected.

3. Focus on the ‘why’ and not ‘I need a mobile app’

“You can’t get up one day and say I need an app, ‘why’ has to be worked on – only then it can meet your objectives.” The focus should be on “Why” and not building another mobile app or building a video or being present on a new social network. “The move has to be doctor and patient centric; you need to touch lives rather than being just a logistic company.”

4. Make data the currency of pharma marketing

“Nobody trusts our Pharma industry, why would today’s evolved world do?” There is so much of data available, why are marketers not using it to serve a customer better. It is being a wasted opportunity. “Let’s make data our currency and build a patient centric environment through digital so that people start trusting in our business.”

5. US models won’t work in India

One needs to be better equipped in this digital world but we also need to understand what can and cannot work in India. “We can’t pick up US models just because it has worked there. We need to understand Indian doctors, patients and the regulated industry we work in here.” data being used as the Indian Pharma market is a highly regulated one and one needs to think twice before playing with data.

6. Digital PR is a must in Pharma

In today’s times Digital PR is very much required for Pharma Marketing. “The biggest issue is that people who work with or use digital marketing or social media marketing thinking it can replace PR. CEOs and CMOs are looking for quick marketing growth hacks and don't realize that third-party validation and strong press are the only true way to get your company's story told. PR Pros need to really step up their game when it comes to educating clients or potential clients about this, while trying to land more solid results so less clients are disappointed and feel like they have to rely on digital marketing to move the needle.”

Digital Marketing is thus important for pharma sector. Some pharma companies have not yet fully embraced the digital revolution and changing times, while others have. Well, we should understand that it doesn’t matter to the patients out there, the patients are increasingly expecting, and rightly so, and demanding the pharma and healthcare industry to engage themselves and provide end-to-end services.

Digital marketing for pharma has the potential to completely change the face of the industry. Getting a head start and adopting a strong digital strategy will give pharma companies the edge they need to stand out from the competition.

The pharma companies that are aligned to changing times, and are using digital mediums, are also the ones reaping the benefits. Big prizes are waiting for those who can cut through all the digital noise and come-up with sustained competitive advantage using digital mediums. The others will also align soon or go out of business.

Refrences:

1.   1.Digital Marketing for Pharma: Why Your Brand Can’t Afford to Neglect It

Rhea

2.   2.The road to digital success in pharma

          August 1, 2015 | Article

          By David Champagne, Amy Hung, and Olivier Leclerc

          Open interactive popup

3.   3.Digital Age – A Boon for Pharma Digital Marketing in India, 2020

          March 8, 2020 / by moPharma