Beyond Traditional: These Strategies Uplevel Pharma Marketers’ Campaign Performance

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By Andrea Bras, Vice President of Product Marketing, Viant

 

Digital advertising shows no signs it is slowing down. A recent eMarketer reports that digital ad spending will hit $333.25 billion in 2019. However, the pharmaceutical industry – traditionally a big ad spender – has been slower to adopt the evolving digital practice.

Andrea Bras

This makes sense, as there are a number of privacy assurances, regulations and industry protocols pharma marketers must keep in mind that other industries don’t need to. But as eyeballs shift from print to digital and from linear TV to connected TV, pharma marketers need to reach audiences on these new channels. It’s been a struggle for pharma marketers to make the jump and manage spend effectively.

Currently, however, we’re hitting a fresh stride. If pharma marketers are able to appropriately integrate new strategies, both their business and those who need their products will benefit. Below, a few things pharma marketers should consider as they incorporate digital advertising into their strategies.

 

Better Compliance = Fewer Wasted Impressions

In addition to the relatively recent and well-known data protection and privacy regulations established by GDPR, as well as the forthcoming CCPA, there’s another US legislation that directly impacts healthcare information: Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). From a marketing perspective, HIPAA compliance ensures pharmaceutical brands follow regulations to protect consumer privacy, all while protecting pharma brands from a lawsuit for unfairly targeting consumers based on a specific health condition they might have.

Regulations like these have conditioned healthcare marketers to play it safe and utilize generally broad awareness channels. But these general messages are not in line with consumers’ new expectations around personalization. The good news is that there are new tools and data partners that specialize in gathering and delivering regulation-compliant data. Companies like Crossix and MedData Group, an IQVIA business, are helping technology partners and pharma marketers leverage first party data in compliant ways. This surely leads to better targeting capabilities and a reduction of wasted ad spend.

In addition to regulation compliance, pharma marketers must work with a partner who can scale. That’s the key in helping them to reach consumers, instead of relying on third party cookies, which could introduce brand safety issues.

As more compliant data partners emerge, the next thing pharma marketers get to explore is where their ads resonate most.

 

Channels, Channels, Channels

As mentioned, pharma marketers traditionally relied on broad awareness channels like print, linear TV, radio and out-of-home (OOH). However, these legacy channels are no longer capturing the largest possible audience because of the emergence of new channels. A recent report from Statista found that by 2020, each person around the globe will have over six network-connected devices, translating into new opportunities for marketers.

Just like brand marketers from other industries, it’s critical pharma marketers incorporate new channels to reach niche audiences – but which ones have proven best for pharma marketers?

Our world’s digital transformation helped evolve the vertical’s tried-and-true avenues for engaging consumers. Millennials and Gen Z are moving the Smart/Connected TV industry forward; a whopping 198.3 million smart TVs were sold in 2018, and they’re expected to continue selling. This is a major opportunity for pharma marketers, particularly as smart TVs offer better ROI, real-time campaign optimization and enhanced measurability and targeting. Marketers can use retargeting off of a competitor’s TV spot, or re-messaging to those who have or haven’t seen their TV ad on companion digital devices that are connected to the household.

In terms of radio, the same audiences can be reached programmatically through audio via podcasts and streaming music platforms. Digital Audio provides incredible value, as it has a direct line to people’s ears and doesn’t require visual cues. When that’s combined with programmatic advertising’s targeting, it’s formula for success. Also, if the streaming device is a mobile phone, that stands as a great gateway to engage consumers. These similar but new channels deliver an audience that is engaged and actively listening, all while helping zero-in on a particular demographic or customer set.

The digital advertising industry encourages an ongoing evolution and shift as emerging technologies are created. For pharma marketers, it’s critical to be smart about who they’re working with from a partner perspective, and to begin developing their digital marketing road-map. This will ensure they are safeguarded and future-proofed. Pharma marketers who fail to move from traditional to digital channels now risk falling behind their competition.