The situation with the COVID-19 outbreak is influencing all business areas, including Pharma. Changes are now inevitable. We need to be ready to face those new challenges ahead. We’re all witnessing a big marketing shift in the Pharma industry, and no one knows when we can go back to the regular life. The type of content that matters has completely shifted. Remote lines of communication have become more important than ever before. Creative Agencies must be quick to adjust to the “new normal” brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic – or be left behind. Let’s talk about how to adapt your agency to the shift in channel usage, effectively accept new challenges, and stay on top.
Market Situation and Pharma’s Trends in 2020
It’s not yet time to look back on 2020, but it can already be said that it is one of the most challenging years for pharmaceutical companies. The conventional way of doing business has disappeared. Pharma companies and Life Sciences are being put under significant pressure related to cancelation of medical congresses, business trips, and remote working. However, sales reps are probably affected the most. The routine of med sales that were driving from one hospital to another, shaking hands with physicians has flipped on its head. Nearly 60% of the larger companies are already considering the possibilities to roll-out/upgrade and implement new technologies to engage HCPs. The relatively limited use of “online” industry communication models in the past has now proven to be a problem. Let’s take a look at the major challenges that have become more apparent since the coronavirus outbreak.
Shift in channels usage as the latest trend in pharma marketing (F2F vs remote)
Face-to-face visits are ruled out from the daily routine without a date. The question arose: how to keep HCPs with med reps? We are starting to realize the importance of digitalization for the pharmaceutical industry. The shift toward remote visits (remote detailing) has become a very digital way out, enabling close cooperation with physicians at a safe distance. In the end, the pandemic may shift pharma sales to remote detailing permanently because of the flexibility of this solution.
However, the shift to remote communication channels may become a bumpy ride for some agencies. So, where is the complexity? This is a completely different type of content, requiring a completely different approach. First, customize your process of content production to remote communication channels. It means that agencies should not focus on manual technical work, but rather bring content solutions to the table. Flexible modular content can become your selling point in this case. It can be easily adapted to remote communication and can be later reused in other channels – embodying the true essence of cross-channel marketing.
To learn about the ultimate concept of modular approach in about 3 minutes – download our free PDF.
Diminishing resources
Pharmaceutical companies are busy evaluating the long-term effects of the coronavirus. Experts are racking their brains about how it will eventually affect their business model and operational processes. According to a survey, cash flow and financing problems are the main concern for 50% of companies. 20% of the respondents believe that sales will drop somewhere up to 20%. Accordingly, live sciences companies will not squander their marketing budgets in 2020. Pharma will invest its resources, including financial, into easily deployable and cost-effective digital solutions. Digital agencies need to provide the initiatives to cut the marketing resource consumption. In an increasingly competitive environment, the victory will get those who can deliver advanced and high-quality solutions to the market.
Content that matters now. Top digital channels in 2020
In light of the shift to remote means of communication, Pharma’s requests will center on digital content to reach out to HCPs remotely. That will be websites, emails, and banners that can be easily launched and deployed. In 2020, omnichannel customer-centricity is front and center of any marketing campaign. Accordingly, pharmaceutical companies will try to coordinate across their cross-functional teams and apply all their digital talents to make the patient-centric approach work.
· Remote eDetailer presentations
Presentations for remote communication will become a top priority. In the situations when in-person meetings are forbidden or HCPs are in a hard to reach territory, or simply can’t be approached during their working hours – remote eDetailer is your option. It will help the brand manager to represent a pharma company like that one that HCPs can trust. This is also an option to build a trusted brand name, organize successful HCP digital engagement regardless of the situation now.
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Localization
Pharma is looking for a cost-effective solution for content localization (eDetailers, approved and broadcast emails, landing pages, etc.). It’s important for Life Science companies to speak to their target audience across all channels of communication in a consistent language. It displays the pharma company’s respect and care of any country where the brand is promoted. Above all, Pharma managers need special content authoring solutions to create and publish digital assets. That’s the reason why a powerful integration with Veeva Vault can help you with content localization, updating, publishing, storage and approval.
· Online ads
Pharma companies are also increasing digital advertising spend since print materials will not be so effective when people are stay at home. It’s also a way out to compensate for leads they would pick up at events and conferences. In this context, digital banner ads can provide as significant return on your marketing investment. A recent report found that 74% of marketers believe their banner ads are relevant to their target audience.
· Landing pages
We observe a demand for landing pages creation that is a powerful instrument for the much-talked-of patient-centricity trend. To create to provide a more customer-friendly web experience, an individual page is created for each product. Pharma’s organic search is directed not to complex corporate sites, but to simple and clear webpages, where which medication has its own place. This is a powerful pharma marketing tool with clickable CTA buttons which help to achieve a positive, long-lasting impression.
· Emails
The switch to remote communication automatically crates enormous demand for emails. It was and remains an important part of remote communication with HCPs. Email is a good channel to announce products updates, reach HCPs which can’t be covered by F2F visits, and drive website traffic. This is a type of interaction providing targeted communication and delivering key messages easily and quickly.
Email as a channel empowers marketing communication. Combined with other channels – remote visits, webinars, messengers, web-sites – it ensures consistent brand performance and seamless customer experience. Pharma’s priority is to find a solution that will help to avoid manual work and publish ready-made emails automatically to the selected target system. That’s why we found it necessary to provide eWizard with an opportunity of one-click publishing to Veeva Vault, review, approval, then export and distribute to Salesforce Marketing Cloud.
What’s Your Reaction? Develop Clear Strategy to Help Your Business Grow
Thinking through digital content strategy, creative agencies should consider that the content production process should be suitable for the COVID situation and also speaking long-term. In other words, create content that will be easily adapted to any communication channels and face-to-face visits further on.
eWizard: Your Solution to Make it Through the Storm and Beyond
To thrive even in difficult market conditions creative agencies are turning to partnership with other digital providers. The right partnership opens up the possibilities and fuels greater achievement to augment your own capabilities. Besides, focusing on new processes that help generate creative strategies and messaging, agencies need to promote innovative, effective solutions for content management. This will favor the agencies that can act quickly to provide qualified people and efficient services to fill in the gaps, in addition to creative leadership.
Viseven Group’s flexible approach to partnership empowers creative agencies to develop any type of content for any communication channel. In-built platform integration to the leading systems like Veeva Multichannel Suite, IQVIA OCE, Adobe Experience Manager, Salesforce Marketing Cloud put our content partners in a strong competitive position on all fronts. They can create omnichannel content in entirely new ways and automate common tasks across the content supply chain.
We cater to healthcare communication agencies majorly through our platform, also with our expertise in building end-to-end content delivery models embodying the true essence of cross-channel marketing. eWizard is our number one digital omnichannel content authoring solution for pharmaceutical companies. Using eWizard you can easily create, update, and deliver omnichannel content: eDetailing, emails, microsites, remote calls.
Our core mission is to pioneer an innovative approach to content production, where flexible modules can be created once and then published into multiple channels. It’s not a digital fairy tale, this is the ultimate modular approach that will make your content creation practice more comprehensive, traceable and reusable. This content, existing beyond devices, channels, and campaigns, enables marketers to create content once and publish to many systems.
How we empower our agencies with the help of eWizard platform:
– Correspond to the latest market trends and meet your customer needs
– Scale your agencies facilities and expand portfolio effortlessly
– Make production less expensive, resource-heavy and time-consuming
– Win new pharma clients and grow your business
– Streamline creation, management, and delivery of content
– Optimized collaboration within the digital agency team and with a client
– Become a customer environment connector. Integration with other systems including Veeva, Adobe, – IQVIA, Salesforce, and many more.
Quicker than a storm, coronavirus has left our lives and pharma industry in a black hole of uncertainty. No one knows when the pandemic will stop and what an effect it eventually will have on the industry. The way out is to adjust your agency so you won’t be afraid of any storm. With a proper content authoring solution providing for flexible, reusable content, that fits any channel, system or device – you’ll always feel confident about your agency regardless of any marine forecast. Contact and explore the universal approach to creating content.
