Pharma Marketing Trends for 2022

The pharmaceutical industry, like many others, has been forced to pivot some practices because of the recent pandemic. Nowhere has this been more apparent than in pharma marketing, with diminished physical access to healthcare professionals (HCPs) driving many changes.

What does the new year hold for today’s pharma marketers? It signals a need for marketers to pour more resources into innovative strategies to reach and engage with HCPs. Some brands have done this, and we’ve found several pharma marketing trends for 2022 that appear to be permanent new approaches to HCP marketing.

 

Top 2022 Pharma Marketing Trends

Leading With Digital Strategies

The biggest change for pharma brands has been the rise in digital communication strategies. Website experiences, augmented reality, telehealth platforms, and other digital formats are becoming primary venues for many drug marketers.

In addition, data being captured during these virtual engagements is fueling more refined digital campaigns and deeper personalization efforts. Both social distancing and a growing shortage of physicians and nurses have driven incredible demand for digital marketing strategies that are likely to remain in place.

 

Leveraging Connected TV and Digital Publications

Traditional TV marketing is shrinking. Connected TV devices like Roku and streaming services such as Netflix and Amazon have become favored viewing options, so pharma brands are shifting placements to those more targeted, highly measurable, and less expensive TV ad venues.

Journal website advertising has become an increasingly effective channel as well. Time constraints during shifts are leaving HCPs with fragmented opportunities to conduct research. The digital format enables busy HCPs to easily bookmark and return to clinical research during work hours.

 

Rethinking Value Propositions

As competition has heated up, brands have been forced to rethink and update their value propositions (VP). For example, manufacturing contracts, pricing, and supply chain advantages (suggesting product availability) are being leveraged as value drivers alongside product efficacy and treatment options.

Pharma marketers are paying more attention to refining their VPs for each audience: patient, physician, payer. In doing so, more brands are designing campaigns to feature as many relevant VPs as possible to each segment.

 

Considering New Partnerships

Pharma companies are extending themselves with new partnerships to support product value. For example, some are making a more aggressive move to digital medicine – the use of technology for measurement and intervention in human health – by partnering with wearable tech makers during clinical trials.

One marketing expert has remarked, “While wearable technologies are not new, we’re seeing and expecting increased pharma partnership with them. It’s being demonstrated more and more that we can improve patient health through ongoing monitoring. Pharma alliances with wearable providers offer a new service and a health benefit. There’s also the potential for associated increased brand equity in these partnerships.”

 

Using Machine Learning to Define & Refine Audiences

The use of machine learning (ML) has risen across many industries, for many different purposes. For healthcare marketing, machine learning holds the promise of better insights, sharper campaign targeting, and extended brand loyalty.  

By collecting and aggregating data through ML, brands understand their audiences better and become incrementally smarter at campaign creation, timing, and execution.

 

Industry analysts expect this year to be pivotal in the evolution of new marketing practices. Although traditional detailing practices may make a bit of a comeback as this pandemic is in the rearview mirror, adopting new pharma marketing strategies will benefit your brand well into the future.  

 

Adapt to the changing market trends by investing in ad placements that align your brand with credible content sources such as Elsevier’s collection of industry-leading medical publications.

 

Article Written by: Alex Brown