Reinforce Pharmaceutical Messages with Email Fragments 

Email fragments help MedReps connect with busy HCPs fast. When promoting a product, reps naturally come across as biased, as their goal is to show that their drug is more effective, safer, and more cost-efficient than others. And HCPs can spot that bias a mile away.  

You need to provide real value to ensure your email gets read. And that value will vary depending on who you’re talking to. You’ll need data, segmentation, and approved email fragments to compose a highly personalized email quickly. This post explores how the Viseven team helps pharma brands ensure tailored messaging using email fragments. 

What Are Email Fragments in Pharma Marketing? 

Email fragments are reusable pieces of content that reps can add to emails for quick personalization. Since marketers usually plan and build email templates well in advance, there might be a need to add time-sensitive information, like an event invitation or a clinical study update, closer to the send time. Email fragments can be approved text, images, or links stored in content repositories. 

If you’re familiar with the modular content approach, you might wonder: “What’s the difference between content modules and email fragments?” 

And it’s a great question. Here’s the main difference: 

• Content modules are pre-approved, design-less blocks marketers use while creating emails. They deliver a specific message, tied to a rigid layout, and are added early in the process using content authoring tools like eWizard. 

• Email fragments, on the other hand, are added by MedReps just before sending to tailor the message to a specific HCP’s interest. Unlike content modules, which deliver a complete message and usually include a block of content (a paragraph with an image, a paragraph with a CTA, etc.), email fragments may not convey a whole message and can be as short as a single sentence. 

Let’s look at email fragment examples:  

• A new Phase III study suggests improving treatment response with Drug X. 
• Join [Doctor’s Name] as he discusses the latest breakthrough in [the therapeutic area]. 
• Here is the link to our latest guide. 

Two Ways to Use Email Fragments 

There are two common practices to use email fragments to reinforce your message: 

Adding value after a visit or call 

After a visit or call, MedReps usually follow up with an email. But more often than not, it is a thank-you note and a request for feedback. Yet, these messages fail to keep the conversation going or get the provider invested in your cooperation.  

So, instead of sending the same generic approved email to everyone, try personalizing your follow-up. Include email fragments that reflect what matters to that HCP, whether it is a specific topic you discussed during the meeting, or something you know aligns with their clinical interests. 

Delivering one key message many times 

If you are hosting a virtual event, you don’t need to start from scratch for every email. Create one reusable email fragment with the key event details and link, and insert it into various messages, like invitations, reminders, or follow-ups with the recording.  

Even if the email is not primarily about the event, you can still include the fragment as a subtle promo at the bottom. This approach helps you keep HCPs informed without overwhelming their inboxes or pulling focus from what matters most — their patients. 

Why Personalizing Emails with Fragments Matters 

There’s a growing trust gap that pharma companies can no longer ignore. Over 80% of healthcare professionals (HCPs) distrust pharma’s digital content, viewing it as overly promotional. As one respondent put it: “They will often provide clinical trial information, and although I think the data’s correct, it’s presented in a way that is maybe skewed. If endpoints weren’t favorable to the drug, they may not be there”.  

This level of skepticism is a wake-up call for many. Pharma must go beyond surface-level engagement to earn trust, and personalization is an essential first step. The goal should be to show HCPs that you value long-term relationships and their clinical priorities, not just short-term conversions.  

The same report reveals a common frustration: reps who read from a script on their iPads. In many cases, HCPs would rather access the information on their own. Ideally, it would be personalized to meet their current needs. 

These findings show that brands must leverage data analytics to understand audience preferences and reuse email fragments that match their needs. For example, you might include a fragment linking to independent studies to help persuade skeptical providers, or one that invites them to a conference covering a topic relevant to that specific HCP. 

Best Practices to Reinforce Messaging with Email Fragments 

If you want your open rates to reach more than 25%, you’ll need to leverage greater personalization and email fragments. Here are some tips to do it right: 

Gather data to craft fragments 

Every personalized experience starts with data. Before anything else, you need to understand why you’re collecting it. Ask yourself: “How will this data help me achieve my business goals?” “Will it improve the customer experience?” “How exactly am I going to use it?”  

And remember — your data must be current. HCPs, like all of us, change jobs, move to new locations, update their contact info, and shift their interests and communication preferences. Don’t rely on virtual interaction from two years ago and expect it to be relevant today.  

Sometimes, HCPs will tell you directly what they prefer through surveys, face-to-face chats, or remote conversations. But there’s also another layer of insight you need to uncover, the kind you must dig a little deeper into — implicit data.  

This means understanding how HCPs interact with your content. What interactive elements do they click? Which pages hold their attention for a few seconds longer? Which webinars did they attend?  

Events are an excellent opportunity to collect explicit data, like survey responses, and implicit data, like engagement rates. Event tools like our Lexi allow your reps to plan surveys and show presentations while automatically capturing how HCPs engage with them. All this data feeds directly into your CRM, so your team can craft more compelling email fragments for effective follow-up. 

Assign a tag to each of your email fragments 

The more email fragments you create, the more cluttered your content repository becomes. You need a clear organization to make these fragments easily findable and reusable.  

And that’s why you need to tag them. Daniel Atieh, Head of eWizard, explains: “And before you think it’s just extra work for your team with no consistent process, hear us out: this is the perfect task to outsource to AI. With tools like eWizard auto-tagging, you can instantly tag all your fragments and retrieve them up to 100x faster.” 

Capture engagement data 

The beauty of tagging also lies in gaining precise analytics. Based on you real-time metrics, you can see which fragments perform better and optimize accordingly. This is your chance not only to improve your current campaign but also to better understand your target audience.  

For example, Dr. Whitmire clicked on the peer-reviewed article about rare diseases but ignored the content on patient centricity. Insights like this will guide you to the next step.  

Refine your segmentation 

Insights from email fragments can confirm that your segmentation is on point or offer a fresh perspective on what content HCPs expect from you. 

For example, you might refine your segments by adding descriptive layers, such as:  

• Relationship seekers: HCPs who value interaction with MedReps and likes to participate in events.
• Independent. These providers do not want promotional noise from brands and prefer engaging with content featuring real-world evidence.
• Knowledge seekers. Providers who are interested in educational materials and news about medical advances.
• Transactional: HCPs who think a lot about costs and like patient-centric content. 

Audience descriptors, uncovered through fragment engagement insights, can help you personalize your communication and create more tailored customer journeys.  

So next time, instead of always stating that your brand integrates the latest tech in your clinical studies, you can include a fragment linking to a tech-focused healthcare event you’re hosting. It is a natural way to continue the conversation and appeal to knowledge and relationship seekers. 

Best Practices to Nail Email Fragments 

From our experience with life sciences brands, here are the dos and don’ts for making email fragments function properly. 

Avoid creating too many template fragments 

Once you see how easy it is to add fragments and personalize content, you’ll probably want to create a lot of them. Yet, this approach suffers one major downside: your digital asset management system will become messy, and your marketing team may get overwhelmed by the sheer volume, which will lead to a lower reuse rate. 

Don’t fear repetitions 

We’re often told that tautology is bad, and we should avoid it at all costs, but research shows otherwise. One study found that the more often people were exposed to a message, the more trustworthy they perceived it to be. So why not send email fragments that repeat the same message within your email? 

Edit fragments to sound natural 

If your readers can tell a piece of content is a fragment, chances are it is not working as it should. Fragments should flow naturally with the rest of your content, without feeling forced or out of place. Reread your email and edit when needed. 

Don’t always align with the email topic  

Of course, you’ll need to choose fragments that support the main message you’re promoting. But sometimes, it makes sense to add a side note or postscript, like offering support, sharing helpful resources, or inviting your audience to an event. 

Update consistently 

Every now and then, take time to review and update your email fragments. Remove anything that no longer aligns with your brand messaging, tone of voice, or references outdated events. 

Closing Thoughts 

Building a library of email fragments helps you make every interaction with HCPs feel like you’re speaking directly to them. It is the final touch that can turn silence into engagement and engagement into response.  

For the past 15 years, Viseven has been helping life sciences companies get their approach right, execute without hiccups, and connect with HCPs in meaningful ways. Six out of the top ten pharma brands trust us with their marketing and content creation.