Pharma marketers - The grass may be greener in a peer-reviewed medium

The internet has made it easy to reach physicians, but that doesn't mean it's any simpler to make pharmaceutical sales. Traditional methods such as in-person visits to doctors' offices have fallen by the wayside. Online, there's so much content floating around that it's hard to get noticed.

This leaves pharma marketers in a quandary. Without a trusted media buying partner, placing ads online is a guessing game - and an expensive one. In such a confusing media landscape, it might seem safest to retreat to a proprietary website and host all relevant information in one place. However, the grass might be greener elsewhere online. Keep reading to find out how to navigate this tricky new media environment.

In-person marketing visits are on the way out

According to the spring 2016 AccessMonitor and AffinityMonitor report from marketing firm ZS, it's harder than ever for pharmaceutical representatives to meet with doctors in-person. What was once a standard practice is swiftly becoming an uncommon marketing tactic.

In 2008, 80 percent of physicians were available to speak with pharmaceutical reps. By 2016, only 40 percent of physicians would agree to face-to-face meeting with sales people. If this trend continues, it won't be long before office visits become a relic of the past.

Nevertheless, pharmaceutical advertisers spend nearly $1 billion a year industry-wide attempting to meet with this growing population of inaccessible physicians. This spend leads to minimal (or un-attributed) sales and very few productive meetings. It could be better used for producing informative online content.

But even that isn't a simple solution. While it might seem feasible to put money into developing content for a pharmaceutical-specific website, doctors may not perceive that type of content as trustworthy.

Pharmaceutical marketers need to take a multi-channel advertising approach, incorporating print and digital content.

HCP facing sites have higher perceived credibility

Physicians are busy and have limited time to consume written content. When they do so for professional purposes, they turn to peer-reviewed journals and expert-curated websites. In these regulated arenas, they are more likely to tolerate advertisements.

According to Kantar Media, the majority of surveyed physicians agree that advertising is a necessary compromise for access to high-quality, peer-reviewed content.

MM&M reported on a Decision Resources Group (DRG) study that found physicians are likely to view third-party healthcare provider (HCP) facing sites as more credible than drug maker websites. DRG also reported that physicians want more from drug manufacturers than purely promotional content.

Providing in-depth drug information may be a more effective tactic. Similarly, encouraging doctors to learn more may help ease the way through the sales funnel.

For example, if a physician reads content on an expert-curated website, and sees an ad for a new drug that is relevant to her practice, she may be more inclined to find out more. The perceived trustworthiness of the website reflects well on the ads hosted there.

Physician engagement requires substantial content

As mentioned above, physicians want more from pharma advertisements. When doctors read ads their primary concern is whether or not the product will help their patients. Providing scientifically backed information about the product will help doctors make their purchasing decision more quickly.

Physician readers may lack the time necessary to research every new pharmaceutical product they come across while reading. If pharma marketers can meet doctors half way, they might have better luck closing the sale.

This strategy requires a multichannel approach. Pharma marketers must make attempts to reach physicians via print and digital editions of peer-reviewed journals as well as on expert-curated sites, in custom emails and more.

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