MERGING EDETAILING WITH CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE
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Although pharmaceutical industry is adapting the new role of technology in creating the marketing results and engagement it needs with its customers, the basis of the same remain undefined. There are many reasons for it. Firstly, the medical industry overall has had a difficult time creating the kind of solutions needed to address the complex dynamics of the healthcare industry. Second, the industry itself has been slow to adapt to it. Third, the cost benefit analysis is yet to show itself in areas such as digital pharma, which causes many pharma gurus to remain conservative in a time of cost cutting.
However, there are many success stories and statistics to support the initial efforts related to digital pharma marketing efforts. Edetailing in particular has shown much promise in terms of engagement and ROI with the target audience. More data is on its way, and analysts and futurists see this as a dawn of a new age in pharma industry.
The key goal in all this remains deceptively simple; consumer engagement and enhanced customer experience. Whether using digital technology alone or in combination with traditional marketing tools, it is important to understand the key outcome is still customer engagement. This means that to succeed in digital efforts requires going back to basics.
The first step to ensure accurate results for your digital pharma efforts is creating a strategy that is highly focused. This means that the target.
customers must be specific few (at least in the initial stages) who are more likely to respond to the efforts and have a greater say and influence on the market. This prioritization will pay dividends as the customers become your own brand advocates, discussing your efforts to others and thereby creating the ripple effect you need for penetrate the market. The impact and engagement is lasting.
Secondly, many pharmas rely on their company name and history to sell their new products. While this is indeed an important factor, it must not be the standards rolling out marketing approach. The product manager must focus on the drug attributes and what key features make it different from the market. An edetailer is the perfect medium to highlight these attributes if the content is created with clarity. Understand your product fully before venturing out in the industry.
Finally, start small. Start your digital efforts in a small area or market before going out regionally. Each country has a different set of medical and drug regulatory compliances, which need separate considerations. Working on this one step at a time combs out any technical challenges on the country level.
The strategy can only work if you do your homework on the customer itself. Customer research will give insights on how to design the experience which ensures engagement. The same helps later on in the implementation when marketing analytics and measurements can be directly attributable to the objectives laid out in the initial phases.
In conclusion, going digital requires going customer centered. Pharma companies must move towards a customer centered approach to direct all their marketing and engagement efforts. Digital tools must be used to compliment a well thought out strategy, not as a quick fix tool for a poor one.