What kind of imagery best appeals to HCPs?

Visual storytelling is a powerful way to communicate critical information to busy healthcare professionals. However, marketers need to choose the photo or graphic in an ad strategically in order to appeal to their target audience.

Here are some things to consider when choosing imagery:

Photographs help readers empathize

It may be a cliché, but a picture can really be worth a thousand words. Photographs, even stock images, can help readers to visualize themselves, or their patients, in a specific scenario. Images of doctors treating patients for a unique condition may remind the reader of real patients they've worked with in the past. Likewise, images that show how conditions affect patients on an individual level can help readers empathize, and therefore pique their interest in learning more about new therapies.

Pharmaceutical marketers need to consider their use of stock photography carefully to ensure it matches the tone of their brand. In many cases, it may be advisable to use custom photography to get the tone and branding just right.

Graphics convey complex topics and emotions

Illustrations are highly versatile, but they are often dismissed by pharmaceutical marketers as not realistic enough to properly convey brand messaging. This manner of thinking can be reductive and creatively limiting, however. Dynamic illustrations can depict concepts that would be difficult or unreasonable to show with photography. Reproductive health campaigns often employ illustrated graphics to skirt around potentially sensitive topics, for example.

When choosing illustration styles that appeal to HCPs, marketers should consider how the drawings can embody the overall tone and mission of the campaign. An ad showing the effects of a damaging yet treatable disease can use color, texture and shape to convey emotion and elicit empathy, for example.

Photography can help readers resonate with brand messaging.

Infographics quickly engage busy readers

Infographics can support traditional display ads by presenting critical information and messaging in a manner that is easily understood. Because pharma companies often need to convey complex information in a small amount of space, the combination of graphic images and data points can optimize the amount of knowledge a single piece of collateral can convey.

For example, a company introducing a new drug therapy could use an infographic to quickly cover use cases, side effects and risks. Plus, infographics lend themselves to the scannable nature of print advertisements. Marketers only have a few seconds to capture readers' attention before they flip to the next page; an eye-catching headline and succinct list of bullet points can take full advantage of that short window of opportunity.

GIFs and videos support multichannel impressions

Multichannel campaigns that combine print and digital collateral can leverage videos and GIFs to capture reader attention and pack even more information into a brief interaction. In a marketplace where it can take dozens of impressions before making a sale, it's important to leverage multiple types of imagery in order to fully engage busy HCPs.

Imagery, combined with the right appeals, can raise awareness of your brand and its offerings. For more tips on how to engage HCP readers, check out Elsevier's resource center today.