How to Reach HCPs Effectively in 2021 and Beyond

In 2020, we’ve seen a big change in the pharma and medical device marketing landscape. COVID-19 has disrupted traditional channels such as conferences and one-to-one meetings. Despite the challenges to relationship building, the need to communicate with healthcare professionals (HCPs) about new and existing products is more crucial than ever.

Digital channels are now front-and-center as HCP outreach has become socially distant. But success in reaching and engaging with physicians and staff doesn’t happen simply because of a renewed focus on email campaigns, social media, and search engine optimization (although that helps). Future success will demand more.

While we look forward to a post-COVID marketing environment, some communication “rules” that have taken hold in 2020 (increased digital communication, for one) will persist into 2021 and beyond. So how should brand managers adapt their marketing permanently to better connect with HCPs? Here are five caveats that marketers should build into their strategies for future success.

1. Content should be educational

As HCPs have become busier handling COVID cases, emergency interventions, and routine treatments, they have less time to decipher which products should be in their prescriptive portfolio. So communications need to be informative and, more importantly, educational. They need to clearly explain how your solutions help maximize positive outcomes and reduce the demands of patient care. 

According to the HealthLink Dimensions’ 2020 HCP Communications survey, “medical professionals prefer marketers to act as information partners.” They seek the following types of communications to help them build their practices and optimize treatment results:

• New products/treatments
• Conference and continuing education opportunities
• Alerts on drug interactions and potential medical errors
• Updates on new research, disease states, and guidelines

Pharma and device brands have a great opportunity to help HCPs thrive in a post-COVID environment. Physicians will look to industry brands to fill in missing knowledge with educational content that is easily digestible.

Download our infographic Closing Knowledge Gaps for HCPs

2. Content should be trustworthy

With the average panel size around 2,000 patients and growing, HCPs have less time to meet with reps. To connect effectively, brands should also ensure their content is trustworthy. You can suffer reputation damage if a provider’s time is wasted with unverifiable claims. Where your content is published is important, too. HCPs trust credible industry sources, such as journals published by Elsevier and the societies, so brands must find ways to align content with trusted, peer-accepted information sources.

Trustworthy, unbiased medical journals and publications have always been a staple when HCPs research industry information. But without the ability to forge in-person relationships with healthcare professionals in a hyper-busy world, trusted publications become a more important channel.

3. Content must be mobile-friendly

As HCPs move from patient to patient, they’re using mobile platforms more often. And they look to their mobile devices for the latest information – at work or at home. Physicians are constantly on their smartphones. In fact, more than 75% reporting the use of mobile health in their practices on a weekly basis. As this mobile adoption becomes even more widespread, outreach must be formatted and delivered on smaller screens.

4. Content must support patient education

Providers also need content that helps educate patients in order to free up time in their practices for other, clinically driven tasks. In the HealthLink study, almost 75% of respondents indicated that they use these materials when provided by healthcare companies and patient advocacy organizations. And 55% seek ways to provide patient education for insurance reimbursements and drug formulary coverage. Here is where pharma and medical device brands can help by creating and distributing that information.

5. Content must be available digitally

While print and offline content will still be effective going forward, digital content will continue to lead when it comes to connecting with HCPs. Brands should use budget on virtual conferences, digital publications, and streaming content. Podcasts, videos, and streamed content will each provide opportunities to deliver your brand’s thought leadership, brand positioning, and data to physicians where they can access information on their time, wherever they are.

So where can you check all these boxes as your marketing moves into 2021 and beyond? Elsevier’s portfolio of print and online journals, websites, reprints and multimedia advertising options is a good place to start. Explore what we have to offer here.

Article Written by: Alex Brown