Digital marketing in the Pharmaceutical market

Is your web presence tailored to your customers’ needs?

The pharmaceutical industry has been evolving for a number of years, as it adapts to changes such as patent expiries, the downsizing of sales forces and limited growth in established markets, coupled with an increased focus on the emerging markets. Perhaps the biggest change being seen is a shift towards digital marketing strategies - and these changes bring with them both challenges and opportunities.

Digital marketing strategies are a relatively new phenomenon for pharmaceutical companies, who can be somewhat behind their counterparts - especially those in the technology and consumer sectors. These areas have profited from their robust understanding of the use of digital media and their recognition that many consumers now prefer to go online to seek out information. It is time for pharmaceutical companies to catch up - and catch up quickly. 

Understanding the customer journey

Two of the major changes in the pharmaceutical marketing environment are the shrinking sales force and compromised revenues due to an increase in the number of brands going off patent. These changes are forcing big pharmaceutical companies to adopt alternative channels to communicate the clinical and emotional benefits of their brand. An increasing number of organisations are investigating the use of digital communication as a major promotional strategy for many of their pipeline brands and this seems to be a trend that is here to stay.  

Websites and digital communication are proving to be one of the most powerful tools which organisations have available in their communications toolbox. To fully harness this power, organisations must understand what objectives users have for visiting a certain site, which sites are being visited most often and what users are doing once they have been to a site. It is paramount to capture the thoughts and views of the end users of websites (e.g. physicians, patients), so that messages and navigation can be tailored to match visitors’ needs and expectations. It is very easy to get frustrated when you are unable to find the information you want on a site - and it is very easy to navigate away to a competitor site. Therefore the ultimate goal has to be to provide visitors with all the information that they require, accessed via clear, easy-to-use navigation.

Matching your site to visitor expectations 

Physicians and patients access websites for a wide variety of reasons including: to find prescribing information, a general understanding of the therapy area, to access clinical papers etc. Organisations who understand in detail the key reasons for (e.g.) physicians’ visits to their website, can tailor their navigation and messages for maximum resonance

Fig.1 Reasons for visits to a pharmaceutical company website By increasing visitor satisfaction with your specific website, you can encourage users to spend more time on your site and to return more often. The most important area for user satisfaction is whether your visitors are able to navigate around your site efficiently, so that they quickly find the information they are looking for.

In fig.2 the satisfaction with company A’s website is far lower than that of company B; if those are two competitor websites, the likelihood is that users will steer towards company B’s site in future.  

By identifying the most positive attributes of a website, you can identify what aspects are resonating well and having the greatest impact on your visitors. This allows you to focus resources on further improving or promoting those positive features, and in changing any features that visitors are finding less useful or harder to access.

Fig.2: Visitor satisfaction with individual pharmaceutical websites

Understanding the customer journey outside your own site

In addition to investing in one’s own site, a key challenge is identifying relevant, high traffic third party websites with which to partner. It is important to compare the different types of site (medical journals, patient support sites, general information or encyclopaedia sites, pharmaceutical companies’ own sites) and identify which are attracting the highest traffic from amongst your own core audience.

Fig 3: Website usage by category

Fig 4: Identifying click paths

Conclusion 

The digital revolution has begun in the pharmaceutical industry and it is here to stay. Many companies are only now beginning to embrace this relatively new communication channel in the industry and the key to success lies in understanding how customers behave in the online world. Companies no longer need to train sales teams and provide sales materials for all of their brands. Undoubtedly sales forces are here to stay, but they can be reserved for major brands in major markets. Pharma companies have the opportunity to develop low cost, online channels, to reach out to a much larger number and wider reach of their customers than was ever previously possible. Understand how your customers use the internet and you could be quids in.

For more information on this topic, please contact Vishal Jhanjee, Business Development Director at GfK HealthCare on +44 (0)20 7890 9402 or email vishal.jhanjee@gfk.com

More information

Vishal Jhanjee
Business Development Director
+44 (0) 20 7890 9402
vishal.jhanjee@gfk.com

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