Pharmaceutical companies have traditionally poured tons of money into ads geared towards the general public. However, many pharma companies are realizing that their marketing capital can be used more effectively by instead influencing the people consumers trust with their medical decisions: healthcare professionals (HCPs).
This guide will break down the best marketing strategies pharma companies can use to target HCPs– let’s begin!
Healthcare Professional Targets
Doctors
Doctors are the first segment of healthcare providers that pharma companies tend to target since patients place the most trust in them when making medical decisions. Physicians have a massive influence over what medications their patients take.
Nurses
While nurses may not have the same qualifications that doctors do, consumers still view them as a trusted authority on over-the-counter drugs and vaccines. An added bonus of targeting nurses is that they spend the most time with patients, which means they have the most opportunities to influence a patient’s medical decisions.
Pharmacists
Pharmacists are the last point of contact before getting a vaccine or receiving an over-the-counter drug. As such, pharmacists can serve as point-of-sale advertisers that provide recommendations to their clientele.
6 Proven Strategies for Marketing to Healthcare Professionals
Here are 6 ways to market to healthcare professionals:
- Advertise in Professional Journals and Publications
- Pharmacy & Retail Advertising
- Sponsoring Conferences and Events
- Content Marketing
- Email Marketing
- SEO & SEM
Advertise in Professional Journals and Publications
HCPs have extremely busy schedules. If they are not seeing patients, they review the latest medical literature and learn about the best healthcare practices.
So, one of the best ways to reach HCPs is by advertising in professional journals and publications. In addition to effectively reaching HCPs, these advertisements will provide your brand with credibility as readers will subconsciously associate your pharma company with the medical journal.
Pharmacy & Retail Advertising
Out-of-home advertising in pharmacy wait areas and retail stores is often meant to target consumers, but it can also work for HCPs. Nurses and pharmacists will see these advertisements at a high frequency and are thus more likely to recommend the featured brand to their patients. Plus, using a variety of advertising mediums can provide a substantial script lift since HCPs can engage with your brand across multiple touch points.
When it comes to physical advertising mediums for healthcare and pharmaceutical companies, nothing can quite compare to wellness billboards located in pharmacy wait areas. These wellness boards dispense sanitizing wipes below a prominently featured advertisement and are great for appealing to health-conscious individuals (which HCPs inherently are).
Terraboost is a leader in wellness board advertising and independent studies have shown that 66% of shoppers engage with their sanitizing kiosks and 50% would take a coupon or brochure to learn more about the sponsored company.
Sponsoring Conferences And Events
Conferences and events are fantastic settings to disseminate information on your latest drugs and describe your unique selling points (USPs) to healthcare organizations and professionals. These USPs can include things like superior efficacy, ease of administration, or extended drug duration of action.
At these conferences, it is important to divulge any clinical data you have on your medications and allow HCPs to openly ask questions. In doing so, you can boost the credibility of your company and receive valuable feedback from medical experts.
Another benefit to conferences and events is that they can be conducted virtually. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many healthcare providers now prefer virtual meetings as they are easier to fit into their demanding schedules. So, meet HCPs where they are and use their preferred method of communication.
Content Marketing
Content marketing is a viable way to drive organic traffic to your pharma brand. There is a ton of digital marketing content that pharma companies can produce, such as blog posts, informative articles, case studies, white papers, and webinars.
For your blog posts and articles, consider writing on topics such as “Best Administration Practices for X Drug” or “The Unique Benefits of Drug Y”. One of the primary benefits of content marketing is that search engines favor companies that they consider to have expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness (E-A-T). By producing a series of articles, blogs, and white pages, search engines like Google will rank your company higher in related search listings.
Newsletters
Pharma marketers should utilize monthly or bi-weekly newsletters to create another point of communication with HCPs. By continually touching base with HCPs, you can forge a lasting connection with them and keep them up to date on your latest product developments and clinical findings.
The most effective newsletters segment their email lists by types of HCPs and their specialties. In doing so, you can send out personalized messages that will be appreciated and legitimately useful to the recipient.
SEO & SEM
When HCPs are researching new medications online and typing in prompts like “most effective Alzheimer’s medication”, you want your brand to appear first among the search listings. To do this, you’ll need to conduct both Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Search Engine Marketing (SEM).
To optimize your online content, you’ll need to perform keyword research and analytics on what HCPs are most likely to type in when researching medical conditions that your treatments apply to. Once you have your list of keywords, tactically place them throughout your company’s landing page and associated blogs and articles.
SEM includes optimizing your online content, but it also refers to utilizing paid search ads to boost your healthcare marketing and online presence. You can use Google pay-per-click ads (PPC) to bypass your competitors and appear in the top three listings for key terms and phrases you select. With PPC ads, you only have to pay when a user clicks through your sponsored link. However, some key terms are in high demand and can cost up to $80 per click.
Deploying a successful pharmaceutical marketing campaign can be difficult, but it doesn’t have to be.
We at Terraboost have an extensive history of working with pharmaceutical companies and can provide you with key industry insights and a free personalized quote.
Terraboost has over 120,000 wellness billboards located at the storefronts of big-name supermarkets, retail stores, and the pharmacy wait areas of CVS, Walgreens, and Rite Aid. Your pharma brand could soon be featured on our network of wellness boards that deliver up to 8.8B monthly engagements.
