How to create an interactive multichannel presentation (from that PDF file you have)

So you want a full-function interactive presentation – one that is clickable, tablet-tappable, swipeable, and ideal for reps to use – but what you’ve got at the moment is a static PDF file? Maybe the file came from the agency, or was sent from the global office as a guideline – and now your department is facing the perspective of hiring a whole digital content team to create a multichannel wonder based on this. Maybe it is also upsetting that the project is nearly a from-scratch one, what with the whole HTML+CSS things to think of – so how challenging will it be for the budget?

Have you wondered whether there is a shortcut from PDF to interactive format? In that case, you’re not alone – and yes, that’s an excellent idea! HTML presentations, eDetailing, interactive visual aids (IVAs) – whatever they are called in your organization, they are THE content in many cases, especially when it comes to rep interactions. Besides, once you have the presentation, it can (after just a little tinkering perhaps) be used in a variety of channels, including remote conferencing. At the same time, just having everything delivered by IT team is, well, not as cost-efficient as using the file the designers have carefully styled through.

That is why Viseven team has created a PDF-to-HTML converter as part of the eWizard platform – a response to the many requests that (mainly) life sciences brand managers and marketers had. In this brief guide, you’ll see how this works and what can be achieved with the possibility.

[in case you are curious] When best to use the PDF converter

There are these moments is pharma communications where the responsible executive just needs more content. Preferably with minimum investment, of course. Since the “digital transformation” gained its full speed several years ago, the marketing budgets have grown slowly but steadily – a sign that the global offices started taking digital content very seriously but are reluctant to “overfinance” it. Out of the marketing directions considered in statistics, it is precisely the HCP audience that gains the steadiest attention, with about 50% pharma endorsing the effort to that end. A lion share of that content is presentations, of course.

Yet, it’s not secret budgeting is also careful – about 1.5-2 years ago, only 30% of enterprises could track digital spending fully, mostly the more digitally savvy ones, according to McKinsey. As more pharma has been digitalized, the question has become more pressing, and regional affiliates are often left with a product/campaign launch in a new (emerging) market – and with restraints to comply with. At the same time, no one wants to sacrifice time-to-market (in fact, the #1 area of opportunity, as attested by 67% of companies). This is where the possibility to convert comes in handy.

In general, it’s up to the organization to decide when to use a PDF converter to get an interactive aid – and when to go old-school and develop from scratch. Here are the three situations in which conversion becomes indispensable:

• Launching a new multichannel campaign that needs to be filled out with content really fast – and there are preexisting static assets.
• Budget restraints and focus on content reuse – but that content needs to get a “new life”.
• More and more content is required for field force efficiency – and a general strategy to foster in-house talent.

Now, the converter itself. In fact, the procedure of creating an IVA is very simple, and only spans 3 steps. Ready?

Step #1. Open the PDF converter in eWizard

In your eWizard account, go to your eDetailers gallery – the place where you can see all the presentations you are (or have been) working on. In the corner, there is the +ADD NEW button, which presents you with several options.

The last of these is Convert. Once you select it, you will see the popup that asks to upload the original file.

The default method is simply to drag&drop the PDF from a folder on your PC. If your company is using Veeva Vault PromoMats, the left sidebar of the popup presents an option to load a file from Vault.

Step #2. Find the PDF file you want to convert

Rather self-explanatory, in fact. You can either drag&drop the file or click anywhere inside the popup to open the file manager.

Your PDF file will most likely contain text on top of the background (so that it’s selectable with the mouse). Such text will be recognized by the system during the conversion so that you will later be able to edit it in the resulting HTML (the background will be, of course, preserved). All pages in the PDF will become separate slides.

As soon as you select the file, a conversion starts, taking a few seconds before the magic begins…

Step #3. Edit and add interactive components (events, actions)

As soon as the conversion finishes, you will see the new presentation right there in the gallery. If already have some experience working with eWizard, you know what to do next: click the Edit icon (“pen”) and voilà – you can tinker with your new presentation, changing whatever needs to be changed.

The selectable texts from the original PDF are up to you to change:

You can even add new elements and whole new slides, expanding the presentation.

Quite simple, isn’t it? If you have followed along, you can already consider yourself to be at quite an advanced level in content management.

And, of course, if you are completely new to eWizard and have not yet got an account, don’t hesitate to request a demo to try out what you have read.

Get creative with your digital initiatives – because multichannel excellence relies on your freedom of action. Now is a perfect time to start!