Does your pharma marketing campaign use the most effective channels?
After decades in pharma marketing and measurement, I’ve heard my fair share of conventional wisdoms, many of which directly impact marketing decisions. One of the most common thoughts that comes to mind is this: If your brand has a limited budget for multichannel marketing (MCM), journal ads and digital banner ads are a good place to start.
It’s easy to overlook the plethora of effective sales and marketing tactics that can contribute to an effective MCM campaign. And if you’re like many pharma marketing pros, you implement the best practices that are supposed to drive ROI but often don’t get the returns you’re seeking from your MCM campaign. However, it’s important to remember that effective 360 marketing supports the customer journey across many channels, and in many cases untapped tactics can be the key to boosting your net revenue. Consider these three strategies to embrace the full potential of your 360 MCM campaign.
Consider these oft-overlooked tactics
The MCM world is ripe with personal and non-personal tactics for reaching and engaging your target segments. Keen insight into your target segmentation should direct your choices as you determine the best target match and course for your brand and audience.
Marketers are often astounded by the number of personal and non-personal channels available to them. Speaker programs, internal sales reps, KAMs, field force, edetails, KOLs, digital, mobile, banner ads, journal ads, social, EMR, direct mail and fax all lead the way to a successful MCM strategy—if these efforts are guided by data and insights. A key thing to remember is that both pharma marketing and sales efforts should be included in your measurements.
Another challenge for busy marketers is finding the time to meet with multiple vendors, listen to their pitches and try to discern if they would deliver results for their brand. In-depth measurement and data-driven strategy are essential ways to gauge the audience and ROI of each tactic, and will give you the confidence that your vendors, tactics and optimizations will produce predictable results.
Embrace traditional media and targeting
Don’t let digital media drown out the potential and value of traditional media, a channel that can help you build brand awareness across a broad base. At the same time, be aware that mass media falls short of being an end-all approach, as it prevents targeted and unique calls-to-action—the driving forces of 360 engagement and sales.
No matter the size of your target audience, you should use segmentation and other advanced analytics to discover the segments or sub-segments that provide significant sales opportunity and ROI. These insights offer excellent direction for customizing content and campaign triggers, and can also help you develop business rules that support the 360 customer journey.
Implement direct to HCP tactics
As savvy marketers, you know that metrics are the driving force behind achieving net revenue and ROI. But did you know that marketers incorporating direct to HCP MCM tactics see a rise in engagement of 17-32%? By directing your marketing efforts to HCPs, you can tailor your message, CTAs and offers to your target segment—“customization” strategies that are proven to increase engagement. Your approach should be informed by your target list, and of course should be measured using a test/control. Remember, HCPs show 51% more engagement with multi-channel tactics than through sales alone.
As you sort through the architecture of a successful MCM campaign, don’t overlook the importance of a healthy mix of personal and non-personal tactics to drive 360 customer engagement. Each tactic provides a unique benefit if guided by measurements and data-driven insights. Mass media, for instance, provides the coveted trend information, and influences behavior by creating visibility and awareness for your brand. The direct to HCP approach provides marketers a highly-targeted, measurable tactic tailored to your specific targets. Both are necessary to delivering a 360 customer journey that today’s customers have come to expect.
Launching and maintaining a successful pharma marketing campaign can be a challenge, especially when you lack clear performance goals and solid metrics. Measurement Mojo’s data scientists and marketing strategists help pharma trailblazers uncover insights that drive net revenue, key campaign optimizations and stronger customer-brand relationships.
