Pharmaceutical products - or drugs and other medicinal items - have been a vital addition to human civilization, as well as modern and traditional medicine. With that in mind, each product has to be distributed as a safe and effective, and prescribed in a rational manner. In order to have success in selling pharma products, keeping up with pharma marketing efforts is essential.
Pharma marketing is either a digital or offline strategy served for the purpose of attracting new patients and increase awareness of a specific drug or treatment plan. The target audience can be either physicians or the consumers themselves, while usually being both.
An average American spends around $1,000 per year; therefore, marketing for pharma products is an important part of the industry. Moreover, the global market for pharmaceuticals is expected to reach $1.1 trillion in the next few years, and the pharma marketing strategy is a key contributor to that rise.
Within the pharma marketing sphere, there are different strategies that come to the same solution - to successfully advertise the products.
Here are 4 tips to market pharma products:
1. Give Out Free Samples
Especially for a little-known or very new medicine, distributing free samples can be a great strategy for marketing the product and the company as a whole.
Physicians that are given free samples of the drug are more likely to prescribe that drug because they are able to directly hand it to their patients without any risk. Both parties of the pharma marketing audience are reached with this strategy.
Not only does this marketing strategy promote the effectiveness of the drug, but it also elevates the loyalty and overall reputation of the company.
While free samples are one of the simplest and oldest methods of marketing, the strategy can walk the fine line of ethics. Certain healthcare networks ban physicians from taking samples and giving them to their patients.
If taking this route of marketing, then take the necessary precautions, and the end result will be quite positive.
2. Use Technology
With this day and age, pharma marketing should take advantage of the technological innovations to connect with their consumers, such as doctors and patients in general.
Multiple technological mediums can reach a large number of physicians, and pharma marketers should utilize all of these options.
General advertisements and published medical journals accomplish the goal of selling a new drug through the Internet. In fact, journal ads deliver the best ROI for pharma marketing.
Overall, the global healthcare sphere has invested in $8.2 billion in handheld devices in 2019, primarily due to the success of incorporating technology in marketing pharma products.
Physicians Interactive, or PI, claims to have the largest network of online and mobile healthcare professional relationships in the United States with over 875,000 physicians, nurses, and other medical professionals in major specialties reached.
Some have observed that traditional methods of marketing are fading in the face of the technological age. Physicians and other targeted audiences can have the opportunity and access to learning a lot about a newly introduced drug with the utilization of marketing content.
Analytics and targeted marketing can spread the word to all relevant groups. The awareness can reach on a much larger scale, which is an absolute must for the pharmaceutical industry.
3. Humanize The Brand
Marketing the product means not only advertising the company’s reputation but also illustrating the best qualities of the business as a whole. Perhaps, the best standards of a pharmaceutical drug to a consumer are competence and innovativeness.
Creating emotional relationships, trust, and human quality between the pharmaceutical company and the consumer can be an effective marketing strategy.
From a consumer standpoint, a pharmaceutical company should try to make the brand less intimidating and more approachable (as some people are afraid of health-related issues). Furthermore, making consumers more aware of the product elevates familiarity and establishes a positive influence.
Humanizing the product essentially provides a straight connection between the company and the consumer, not to mention that it alleviates the reputation of the business. Marketing directly to your consumer is extremely important.
4. Go To Medical Conferences And Events
Have all of the doctors and other interested consumers eager to hear about new drugs or medicines in one convenient place - a conference.
Conferences and other medical events can be a great setting to spread awareness on a new pharma product and its company.
Striking face-to-face conversations with physicians in all kinds of specialties is a great a step towards the marketing initiative of the pharmaceutical industry, and an organized event is the best setting possible.
Doctors attend these medical conferences for a major reason - to discover newly introduced an innovative prescribed medicine, which is a great advantage for the pharma marketers.
Attending the conferences deepen the personal connection between the marketer representatives and the consumer, not to mention spread the information to more people through word of mouth.
Interacting with company personnel and distributing promotional material can be some of the few things to do at a conference and their effectiveness can be major for the business.
Just set up your space, organize the information, go to a conference, and get some doctors on board.
Marketing is an essential part of not only profiting the pharmaceutical companies but also aiding the doctors’ needs. The average doctors in the United States have control of $2 million of healthcare costs every year, which accounts for nearly 80% of the total spending in the country.
Pharmaceutical companies are betting over $27 billion combined on marketing, which provides marketers with plenty of work and vote of confidence in their results.
By utilizing both - traditional as well as the new technological methods, pharma marketing can become a strong force to be reckoned with, not to mention help productively and safely doctors and other consumers in medical issues.
Connection with people, either doctors or regular customers, can go a long way in promoting a new drug and the overall company. Conferences and elevating the human quality of the company are the best ways to deepen the relationship between the pharma industry and the consumer.
New medication and drugs are always being created to help people with any health-related issue, and pharmaceutical companies are becoming more in the front and center of the conversation due to the immense marketing strategies.
This article was contributed by Julian Gnatenco @ JGBilling, a medical coding company
