How to Digitally Market Your Product without Overwhelming Physicians

The past handful of years has seen a massive shift in pharma marketing. As doctors turned to telehealth and avoided in-person sales calls, marketers had to migrate to digital communication. They exploited online channels like never before, leveraging new ways of meeting healthcare provider (HCP) needs without relying on face-to-face contact.

This disruption has brought about positive changes, but it has also bombarded physicians with significant amounts of content to consider. The overwhelming volume of digital outreach makes exploration less desirable for healthcare professionals to go through it all.

So, how can you establish a foothold with your healthcare audience? Here is what you need to know about content saturation, how to avoid causing product information fatigue and how to create a customer-centric experience.

Overwhelming Amounts of Good Content

Most pharma marketers now rely on digital content to reach healthcare professionals. The good news is that this content is better than ever. In one study of 720 doctors, including general practitioners, cardiologists, immunologists and oncologists, 83% said the content they receive is more relevant than before the pandemic.

However, recent research shows marketers’ attempts to create digital content may have gone too far. That same study found that 64% felt  they were getting too much digital content from pharma companies. Another survey of nearly 1,000 healthcare providers found that 62% felt overwhelmed by promotional content from pharma companies.

To ensure healthcare providers received enough information, pharma brands wandered into the realm of spam.

As nearly every pharma marketer is inundating doctors with information about their products, it is easy for content to get lost in the shuffle. Consequently, the return on investment for these digital artifacts decreases as HCPs become more reluctant to explore them.

3 Tips for a Digital Marketing Campaign to Stand Out

To minimize the risk of information fatigue, reconsider your omnichannel strategy. Some tips for successful digital campaigns:

Look beyond your own channels. Create more engagement by providing content on platforms beyond your website and advertising channels. Go where HCPs are accessing information. Publishing helpful information on forums, for example, enables you to build trust and transition to more commercial engagements elsewhere.

Choose preferred delivery channels. Concentrate on offering educational content that aligns with the communication preferences of your audience. Many HCPs prefer webinars, online and offline journals, webcasts and now the reintroduction of in-person meetings to learn more about potential treatments.

Leverage social media. Social media isn’t right for every audience, but more doctors have started to adopt this communication tool as a research source. This trend may likely continue to rise in the next few years, so consider starting or enhancing your social media strategy.

Find a Digital Marketing Strategy that Works

As pharma marketers rely on content as a significant part of their digital strategy, physicians become overwhelmed. Data show that they are growing increasingly weary  with the amount of content they receive. So put a focus on creating, or leveraging, the most valuable, credible content, delivered through the most popular channels. In some cases, you will find that “less is more” when it comes to providing content to physicians.

If you’re planning your next digital marketing strategy, bookmark our blog to get the latest research, tips and tricks to help reach and engage physicians.

Article Written by Alex Brown