Digital trends are changing marketing strategies within the pharmaceutical field

Changing physician, patient, and consumer trends in today’s increasingly digital society are forcing an evolution of pharmaceutical marketing strategies, according to business intelligence provider GBI Research.

The company’s latest CBR Pharma Insights report states that while the pharmaceutical field is renowned for experimenting with cutting-edge technology to facilitate medical advancements, it has been much slower to adopt new technologies in its marketing efforts, mostly relying on traditional channels and methods.

Arshad Ahad, Analyst for GBI Research, explains: “Certain digital channels and marketing methods have traditionally been perceived as too risky by pharmaceutical marketers, such as social media, Big Data for personalized targeting, and programmatic advertising.

“However, effective implementation of digital marketing, in conjunction with traditional channels in an integrated multichannel marketing strategy, has the potential to expand marketing reach, increase audience engagement, and provide a higher return on investment.”

While the challenges and risks posed by new digital channels and overhauls of traditional processes are very real, including regulatory compliance concerns and privacy issues, the pharma industry can no longer ignore them given the widespread advantages they can provide, and should instead look to minimize the risks through best practices and guidelines.

The traditional relationship between a physician and sales representative is evolving. Given the easy access to medical information via the internet, pharmaceutical companies are now offering eDetailing, online customer service portals, mobile apps and other sources of online promotion and information.

Ahad continues: “Through effective digital strategies, companies can reach a larger audience, often at a much lower cost, and can personalize their message with significantly greater precision, while simultaneously tracking audience engagement at each step of the way”.

A successful multichannel marketing strategy does not, however, entail replacing all traditional processes with newer digital ones. Instead companies should seek to use digital to enhance existing processes. Digital marketing methods can be as simple as the use of tablet devices to complement face-to-face detailing by sales reps, or can involve more complex approaches such as programmatic advertising.