The world changed. Besides of the self-care measures we had to take for over 2 years due to the Covid-19 pandemic, that seems to be completely overcome, audiences have increased their expectation levels when engaging with content and formats.
Being exposed to electronic devices for long periods has turned them into almost the only way of connecting with the world, which led people to be more thoughtful of details and have new requirements when receiving information.
Details like dynamism and image quality of audiovisual content, the different options of participation a format has to share our thoughts on whatever subject or just the way a story is told, are some of the details that used to go unnoticed when receiving the message however, the scenario has changed.
In a world full of content and media, the only way out is creativity and innovation. Be different from the rest is the main objective of pharmaceutical marketing.
How does marketing work in the pharmaceutical sector?
Pharmaceutical marketing is a set of actions required by laboratories or medical establishments, to inform the benefits of a product to a specific audience, who usually are healthcare professionals or people involved in the health sector (pharmacy supervisors, scientific communities, and sometimes, consumers or patients)
However, the implementation of these actions depends on each country’s regulationS. Some of these regulations go from restrictions when using social media to surveillance when using some tools at mass events. Unlike the mass consumer industry, we stick to a better control of communication to avoid information getting directly to patients.
Another important part focuses on understanding that, pharmaceutical subjects involve scientific studies from international institutes or universities or, important clinical cases which are shared in a specific way.
Communication strategies can only consider private channels which are exclusively used by laboratories, with whom sometimes, collaborations are made to achieve an effective approach with the doctors to guarantee that the message gets directly to healthcare professionals.
This also means, the methodology and terminology are different from the ones used by the consumer product industry.
Why is pharmaceutical marketing important?
Pharmaceutical marketing aims at accomplishing a clear mission: be successful at efficiently sharing the information of each product, molecule, indications and contraindications, scientific backup, etc.
But this process isn’t easy because it focuses on the products the laboratories couldn’t directly sell to the consumer and need to be prescribed by a doctor.
The used communication strategies must be truly effective in order to close the purchasing process. When doing all of this we have to take into account the little time we have to address our target public, that as a result of their profession, is constantly searching for knowledge.
Finding balance between sharing information and keep contributing to the daily task of healthcare professionals, must be our starting point when applying any strategy within this sector.
What do we seek to achieve with the relationship between laboratories and the public?
As we have mentioned in other articles of our blog, we seek for an unbreakable bond between laboratories and the public.
Patients’ lives are in the hands of healthcare professionals and in laboratories’ hands is doctors’ reputation. That’s why it is so important to ensure that our brand is properly ranked in doctors’ minds when they are looking for treatment options.
Based on this, pharmaceutical marketing does not only focus on the final sale but rather in having full knowledge of the brand, its benefits compared to other brands and its commitment to patients’ quality of life.
Also read: What is pharmaceutical marketing?
Advantages for pharmaceutical laboratories.
The dynamic of pharmaceutical laboratories suggests a high level of communication due to the complexity of the information the sector has, which turns out to be a significant factor when facing new challenges as a society.
The study and discovery of new molecules, the improvement of treatments of some molecules or the changes on the indications of a medicine to improve its effectiveness, are some of the subjects handled by experts which must be clearly informed to avoid assumptions.
At this point, pharmaceutical marketing plays an important role as an ally in the process of promotion and prevention of illnesses, not just for keeping an eye on the sales of a product or service, but rather for turning scientific information into tools capable of controlling and eradicating illnesses.
Benefits for the public
As for pharmaceutical subjects, everyone focuses on only one argument: to care for life.
Patients who go to doctors’ appointments look for solutions to their illnesses, therefore, healthcare professionals have the permanent duty of updating their knowledge. That’s why, the dynamic used at laboratories focuses on helping doctors provide answers to patients.
Transmit information to healthcare professionals about scientific developments and the benefits of a molecule, clearly, benefit patients who trust on treatment and medical advice.
However, it is really important that these professionals really understand the action mechanism of such molecules, which obviously becomes the main requirement when using any medicine.
Pharmaceutical marketing strategies must be addressed as a contribution to the important mission of saving lives by being a communication tool for laboratories, doctors and their patients.
Why choose pharmaceutical marketing strategies?
As we all know, healthcare professionals get information from different laboratories about similar molecules, all the time. Only those who achieve a significant engagement make sure its brand will be positively remembered.
To achieve this, is really important to not only clear up the benefits, distinguishing factors, indications and the scientific backup of a molecule, to the doctor, but also, make it possible for the doctor to combine this information with the information of a patient’s illness so he can prescribe some of the medicine we are promoting to finally, provide the medicine to the patient.
This process acknowledges only one thing: knowledge management. More information leads to a better use of the molecule. That’s why we cannot leave the responsibility of being aware of our brand to only the healthcare professionals, we must make this task easier and catch their attention by being strategic and efficient.
Which factors are involved in a pharmaceutical marketing strategy?
Through all of the previous information, we realize the important task is to step out of the box and explore really innovative formats which contribute to professionals’ knowledge. To achieve this, we must keep in mind some important factors that will help us accomplish an effective pharmaceutical marketing strategy.
The first important factor definitely is creativity: when we open up to new formats and experiences, the task of finding the best strategy to reach our public, becomes easier.
The next one is quality of information: we must create positive content that encourages our audience and defies them to go forward with learning new things.And last but not least, we have clarity in the message: due to the content being scientific, we must avoid complex language, instead, turn it into user-friendly content. Collaborative content with scientific communities guarantees the application of these three important factors because it supports and ensures the follow up of the information used for our strategy.
We can add two more important factors to these three, which guarantee a total success of our audiences: phygital experiences and hybrid events.
In the last few years, we have experienced some significant changes in the way we influence different publics from the sector. Face-to-face master classes and traditional medical appointments were left behind to be replaced by phygital experiences (physical+digital) that are now an essential part for achieving a better engagement. Holostreaming, Holodisplay, Mapping and Augmented Reality are some of the tools that we can use to spread the information we want in a more dynamic way.
Another tool we can add to this list are hybrid events. Due to digital tools, events that used to be held face-to-face for exclusive public, have increased their reach to other parts of the world, so the participants won’t have to travel or move around which breaks time and space barriers.
Another advantage of this method is the inclusion of gamification elements that defy participants to new challenges which result in achievements, whether it be by being physically or remotely at the event.
Think outside the box to go further. At igloolab we help you do it.
With more than ten years of experience, at igloolab we change well-structured scientific subjects into dynamic, easily understandable and entertaining content, which promotes to keep learning.
As pioneers in phygital experiences, in our creative laboratory we design effective strategies for brands on the therapeutic sector and make sure they have effective results.
To make sure they are effective, we include innovative tools of EMC-Continuing Medical Education, through a suite full of information and tools like e-learning, clinical cases, virtual congresses, conferences, organ charts, etc., for sales managers or, any member of the pharmaceutical or scientific industry to use.
Also read: Importance of virtual education
We focus on constantly updating and innovating our work, to provide the pharmaceutical industry with solutions associated with what’s going on inside the international market.
Luis Alfonso Ruíz
Igloolab– CEO
