What is Online Pharmaceutical Marketing? Specifics, trends, and channels

The pharmaceutical sector, according to the professional Enrique Dans, undoubtedly moves in a complex environment.

Firstly, there is the product cycle, which begins with a large investment in research by the pharmaceutical company, going through multiple clinical trials and regulatory approvals, which makes the process last for years, to end with the arrival of generic drugs when the patent ends.

Secondly, there are the regulated channels that depend on factors that are difficult to control.

And finally, we have the point that concerns and interests us, that of online pharmaceutical marketing, which is already extremely complex. According to current regulations, marketing actions can only be directed to the end consumer in those medicines that are sold over-the-counter (OTC), i.e. over-the-counter or over-the-counter (over-the-counter) medicines, while medicines that need a prescription are relegated to restricted channels aimed at the doctor.

What is online pharmaceutical marketing?

I have already let go of some brushstrokes in the previous paragraph.

What is it? This is the scope of the online marketing oriented to the pharmaceutical industry. Where the restrictions and limitations are very marked, as they are products related to health and the medical field.

You can only carry out campaigns on medicines that are freely available and that do not have to be prescribed by a medical professional. This happens both in the offline and digital environments. Non-OTC products cannot be advertised on social networks, on portals, on display networks, or in word ads, and even content marketing or digital advertising could conflict with this regulation. Every day, thousands of patients indeed comment on their cases in forums in a more or less open way. Encouraging questionable marketing techniques to be developed, to bypass the imposed prohibition and promote prescription drugs. And even less can you control what is spread on closed social networks. All this is susceptible to being penalized, and pharmaceutical companies are well aware of this.

Nor can the patient be deprived of the right to investigate their ailment in a responsible and mature way, and to want to gather as much information as possible. Information that can be given by health centers, doctors, or the pharmaceutical industry itself.

There are countless factors and more in the online environment. Where everything appears and disappears at a dizzying speed, making what is already difficult even more difficult to control. But this does not mean that it should not be ignored and stop regulating. For this reason, we are always committed to a very strong ethic in our online pharmaceutical marketing strategies, with legal advice behind it.

Digital trends in the pharmaceutical sector

After the explanation and partly previous reflection on what pharmaceutical marketing is. I want to expose here the trends that are to come, since the pharmaceutical industry can be very powerful, but at the same time, it is conservative and averse to technological changes.

Mobile communication, the cloud, big data, metrics and analytics, and the Internet of Things (IoT) are innovations that will be a vital turning point in the transformation of the healthcare sector, just as the retail, media, and banking industries have already been reconverted.

• 1# Personalized attention: Digital service for personalized treatment 24/7. Within 5 or 7 years, a significant proportion of the pharmaceutical industry will create value through factors other than just medicines. Many drugs will be part of a digital ecosystem that will constantly monitor the patient’s condition and provide information to the affected person and other interested parties, such as doctors or other doctors who treat them. Wireless sensors are already on the market to measure patients’ biophysical signs. For example, if this information is collected by the smart objects we use in our daily lives, such as the food we take from the refrigerator or the exercise we do in the gym, they can reach our doctor, and he will act if there is any abnormality.
• 2# More complete engagement: Multichannel conversations for doctors and patients. Digital interaction technologies open up a new world for OTC pharmaceutical marketing. Patients are starting to use portals aimed at them for their medical records or to be able to communicate with their doctor, and also mobile apps for patients to talk to other patients about their diseases.
• 3# Advanced data analysis to increase business value. The pharmaceutical industry has a large amount of health-related information in its possession, although it is usually inaccessible, since it is in the hands of technical or organizational groups. Some have already linked their data to improve their strategies and products. But, there is still a great opportunity to create value, join forces, and achieve through data and analysis, using external and internal sources, highly superior results. For example, physiological simulation will speed up product development, and three-dimensional tissue modeling will help assess potential toxicity using computer simulation.
• 4# Real-time responses: Automated processes to improve costs, feedback, and agility. Next-generation cloud, mobile, sensors, and business intelligence will create a wave of automation in business processes. They will be automated and simplified workflows, and will be committed to real-time transparency, to help reduce costs and increase commercial value. In pharmaceuticals, shipping personnel planning, operations, sales planning, and marketing content approval will all benefit from these streamlined and automated workflows. In addition, clinical trials or the processes of attracting new talent.

Actions for the online channel in pharmaceutical marketing

Now all that remains is to comment on the best ways to promote a pharma product with online marketing.

There are several channels, but the essential ones, in our experience, are 4.

• Pharmaceutical Content Marketing: A good blog attracts our potential audience. Pharmaceutical marketing cannot miss this opportunity. Attract potential consumers of health-related topics with valuable content. Don’t forget to design a responsive website and have a good e-commerce platform. With all this and with the blog, you will be able to positively impact the visibility of your brand.
• Social Networks: patient care and market analysis. Create a community around your brand on social media. Where consumers can get informed and ask about different ailments and get healthy solutions, in addition to introducing your OTC products. If you are focused on B2B, do not deny social platforms, as LinkedIn can be very useful for you as a professional network. Carry out a deep analysis of the needs of your followers, in order to find out the real problems of users and thus properly focus your online digital marketing strategy.
• Paid advertising: a must-have in pharmaceutical marketing. You can’t leave all the weight on SEO and content marketing, as results don’t come overnight. Give your marketing strategy a boost with paid advertising on Google Adwords or the display network and Social Ads. To improve the performance of your campaigns, always carry out an A/B test, changing different factors of the ads to optimize the results obtained.
• Email marketing: think very carefully about your strategy before everything. Email marketing and newsletters are valuable tools to be in permanent contact with your health consumers, whether they are B2B or B2C. But, before launching any email, analyze the profiles of your potential consumers very well: demographic factors, by age, gender, needs, habits, and tastes. Then create a workflow that manages the sending of informal, ion, and where everything from the most generic with respect to the pharmaceutical industry is discussed, to the mention of your products or services at the right time.

I hope this article has been useful to you and helps many of you understand what online pharmaceutical marketing is, the trends of the moment, and what the most recommended actions are to design a strategy.