Healthcare professionals (HCPs) want a more personal touch from pharma. According to Sermo’s HCP & Payer Sentiment Series, 34% of physicians feel pharma doesn’t understand what they need, but when they do, the engagements are much more effective. In fact, 73% of physicians are more likely to engage with communication when it’s personalized.
“As the demand for personalization increases, embrace the benefits of the digital space but humanize it with conversation and insight,” says Amy Giles, VP Strategy, Bionical Solutions Group. “As a pharma rep, use technology to record—and even predict—HCP meeting and information preferences, but remember that relationships are paramount. Don’t let the provider lose sight of how thoughtful you are, and how much you appreciate, and respect, their time.”
Not impeding on a physician’s time is especially important, because they don’t have a lot of it. As Lauren Lazar, MD, EVP, Medical Director, Vitamin MD, a division of Calcium + Company, explains, many patients who postponed primary care visits and chronic illness check-ins during the pandemic are now back in mass numbers, putting added stress on a primary care system that had seen significantly less volume for years.
“Increasingly demanding clinical schedules may require less face time with HCPs and more on-the-go messaging to meet physicians where they are in their daily appetites for information,” Dr. Lazar adds. “This makes non-personal promotion an important element of ongoing communications plans, as providers still want to stay up to date on changing standards of care. Often, the best way to decipher which physician targets prefer live or virtual interactions is quite simply by getting to know them.”
Though it seems physicians increasingly prefer a bit of both.
“More than half of accessible HCPs now prefer to meet through a mix of video and in-person meetings,” says Dan Rizzo, Vice President of Veeva Business Consulting. “Video and other digital channels such as email help reps maintain relationships extending the conversation beyond in-person interactions. In fact, the most successful field teams leveraging video are hosting up to 40% more meetings, using content nearly five times as much, and driving up to 80% new patient starts.”
Making Things More Personal
But getting to know HCPs goes beyond knowing their meeting preferences; every HCP is different with their own unique learning needs based on their specialty, experience, patient population, etc. That’s why Chase Feiger, MD, CEO, Ostro, believes personalizing the info you’re delivering is so crucial.
“For example, the way an oncologist learns about a new CAR-T therapy will be different from a primary care physician’s approach to learning about the same therapy, as their understanding of the research and patients they treat regularly will differ,” Dr. Feiger explains. “Therefore, the delivery of educational content must be tailored to meet the specific needs of each HCP to ensure effective learning and implementation of new therapies into their practice.”
The good news is that tailoring content and education into the most impactful format is becoming easier now that we are living in a world of diverse ways of learning, according to Karen L. Campbell, SVP, Senior Management Supervisor, Ogilvy Health.
“Some HCPs say there is nothing better than attending a congress live and being able to interact with your peers, ask a speaker a question after a symposium, or play with those cool interactive in-booth experiences,” Campbell says. “However, virtual education allows you to reach customers in remote or emerging markets or who prefer not to travel. Some forms of education are better suited for individual self-study—for example, reading clinical trial data—but not all virtual education needs to be static and boring. Immersive experiences and gamified learning outside of congresses and meetings is a great alternative to on-demand modules or Zoom meetings.”
Another way to learn more about your HCP targets is through artificial intelligence.
“AI-based algorithms can analyze vast amounts of behavioral engagement data from disparate sources of information, content feeds, social signals, and sales data,” says Sloan Sehr, Vice President, Sales – U.S., Cluep. “Neural networks can then build interpretive models that can identify HCP intent, needs, desires, interests, occupations, and events that align with client goals and strategies. The result enables pharma brands to deliver personalized and contextually relevant content to HCPs at the right time and through the right channels.”
Marketers can also use data to develop an insight-driven lexicon to determine the words or phrases that doctors and patients use that are most meaningful to them in a specific therapeutic area.
“What do the words mean? What emotions do they evoke? What beliefs and behaviors do they drive? Developing this lexicon can help create a unique narrative and message map that can be translated into omnichannel execution,” explains Fred Bennett, Chief Digital Officer, BGB Group. “This can also improve patient-physician dialogue and lead to better patient health outcomes.”
Knowing Where and When to Reach HCPs
Targeting physicians using their national provider identifier (NPI) is also “changing the game” for marketers, says Sam Cannizzaro, EVP, Executive Creative Director, Elevate Healthcare.
“For example, as more individual HCPs, practices, and even large health systems entirely opt out of inbox communications from pharma, this tried-and-true tactic of the past is no longer reliable on its own,” Cannizzaro explains. “In its stead, mobile advertising and cross-device targeting are the ‘must haves’ in the HCP marketing toolkit. Online human behavior tells us 80% of people today bounce between multiple connected devices throughout the day. Consumer conversion rates only begin rising as they see the same promotional message multiple times. The same is true of HCPs. Campaigns must be delivered across mobile, connected TV, desktop, and more, with messages moving in unison, communicating a cohesive narrative across screens—or risk being ignored.”
Text messages are another way to reach HCPs if you develop permission-based, compliant programs they can opt in to.
“The ability to text an HCP in the moment gives sales reps maximum flexibility to meet their customer’s needs and provide real value,” says Carlo Calcagni, RPh, Co-founder, ENTRADA. “Texting also yields higher levels of engagement than email (>74% click-through rate) and it can be measured for detailed insights into user behavior, and then used to create more tailored, and ultimately more effective, engagements.”
Marketers can also turn to social platforms to reach HCPs, since they are joining at the same rate as non-HCP users, with 46% checking social media three plus times per day, according to Kristin Ryan, EVP, Head of U.S. Digital and Innovation, GCI Health. HCPs tend to lean on social media for peer connections—following influencers, interacting/learning from peers, leveraging closed networks for ‘second opinions,’ and staying current on research and breakthroughs, she says.
“The best model for HCP engagement should reflect a multidimensional strategy that provides value and utility and meets HCPs where they are,” Ryan adds. “From a demographic and discipline standpoint, the HCP community is vast and diverse. To create compelling content, analyzing and understanding online behaviors, preferences, motivations, and needs is essential. This will ensure relevance and resonance and lead to engagement and action.”
