4 takeaways from Deloitte's healthcare marketing trends report

Connecting with healthcare practitioners is a lot more complicated today than in recent years. Multichannel strategies span not only digital and traditional media, but also various touchpoints of modern technology. From social media to VR, marketers have more options than ever. So it's little surprise that Deloitte's recent Healthcare Marketers Trend Report showed budgets were up 26 percent over the previous year.

There may be more ways to split the budget than ever before, but does that mean emerging channels are as effective as tried-and-true media? Is the recent budget bump a sign of trends to come, or a spike to be corrected as experience determines some channels to be better than others?

Here is what we learned from the report:

1. Pharma marketing budgets are up

In 2019, the average pharma marketing budget rose to $10.5 million, up from $8.5 million in fiscal year 2018, according to Deloitte's report, which was sponsored by Medical, Marketing & Media. This 26 percent increase across the industry is a substantial jump over the previous year's figures, which saw a modest 7 percent increase over 2017 budgets.

Industry insiders suspect this dramatic increase in budgets is due, at least in part, to the government's lenient handling of the pharma industry last year. Additionally, the Food and Drug Administration approved a record number of drugs last year, which likely sparked increasing optimism among manufacturers.

2. Marketing leaders are pragmatic about the future

This year, the government may not take the low-touch approach with the pharma industry as it had in 2018. Not only has President Trump talked publicly - and frequently - about his plans to lower drug prices, but Democrats in Congress have also signaled their willingness to work with him on this issue. In fact, the New York Times reported last year that legislators are considering the implementation of a potentially burdensome new regulation: forcing drug companies to disclose list prices in televised commercials.

This uncertainty about government regulation could lead to more conservative budgets in 2020. Election years have often caused pharma leaders to take a more cautious approach to budgeting, and the pattern is likely to continue.

3. Multichannel is still a winning strategy

When marketing leaders determine how to dole out their budgets this year, they'll have a lot to consider. Should they invest more heavily in virtual reality? What about machine learning? These and other new technologies have great potential to bring new value to pharma organizations, but companies are still learning how best to implement them.

According to the report, 47.9 percent of pharma organizations plan to use digital ads to connect with HCPs this year. Meanwhile, 34.7 percent are investing in journal print ads. Other channels such as mobile apps, content marketing and patient education materials also represent frequently deployed channels. In short, multichannel isn't going anywhere.

4. Big data is exciting, but difficult to leverage

Big data - the process of analyzing massive amounts of information to glean new insights about audiences - was named a top challenge by 76 percent of pharma marketing leaders. In its analysis of the findings, MM&M suggested two reasons for this difficulty: low levels of experience drawing with insights from machine learning algorithms and changing perspectives on data privacy. Regulations in the E.U. could make it more difficult to obtain and process personal information. Likewise, HCPs and patients may be more hesitant to share data due to the recent surge in privacy breaches.

Time will tell if these trends will continue unabated or if budgets will correct themselves as stakeholders develop a better understanding of which channels bring the most value to their organizations. In the meantime, stay up-to-date with the latest HCP marketing news by checking out our resource center.