Part one
A short introduction to multichannel marketing in pharma
Understanding the role of multichannel in the life sciences
Why multichannel in pharma and medtech
There are multiple benefits of multichannel engagement for healthcare professionals (HCPs) – increased relevance, more flexible content delivery, better customer experiences etc. (read more about that here). These clearly benefit the industry as well, but there are also unique multichannel advantages for pharma and medtech companies.
Summary:
- There’s a difference between multiple channels and true multichannel
- Multichannel implies that channels are connected
- Great multichannel begins with the right strategy
Ready to start a multichannel project?
Check out Agnitio’s ‘multichannel kickstarter’ which gets you up and running in a simple, structured, and cost-effective way.
What multichannel marketing means in pharma
Multichannel offers numerous advantages: increased reach, improved content delivery, relevant communications, empowered reps, higher marketing ROI. But before we get to all the benefits, we first need to define what we actually mean by multichannel marketing.
This isn’t as easy as it sounds. Multichannel marketing in pharma is a huge topic and consequently there are different ways of looking at it. At its most basic, though, it’s simple enough: any company currently having more than one channel – i.e. sales reps and advertising – is technically doing multichannel. Yet, this isn’t actually what most people mean by ‘multichannel marketing’.
Usually, the term in pharma is used to describe the practice of combining digital channels – e-detailing, personalized websites, mobile applications, approved emails, webinars – into a holistic system. Multichannel means multiple digital channels that are driven by a strategy.
Elsewhere, you might hear that this understanding of multichannel is actually called ‘omnichannel’. In practice though, what you’ll hear in daily life is that people working in pharma just say multichannel. When life science companies come to Agnitio looking for a multichannel solution, this connected understanding is usually the system that they want.
Connected channels bring the benefits
While all this might sound obvious, it’s important to get it straight. To achieve all the benefits of multichannel that we’ll detail in the next two articles, it’s vital to understand the difference between ‘multiple channels’ and true ‘multichannel’.
Simply adding channels without connecting and orchestrating them doesn’t bring significant additional benefits. It just provides more of the same. Your goal isn’t a series of isolated silos of information.
What you want is a connected network, both in terms of the technology and also the content. With a true multichannel approach, the channels work together and reinforce each other. Multichannel software enables this to happen and the content encourages the customer to explore. And all this is orchestrated by your multichannel strategy.
The importance of strategy
What this shows is that behind every successful multichannel project there is a strategy. You need to be clear about what you want to achieve, which channels you want to deploy, how they will interact, and what kind of content they should contain.
Adding, for example, approved email and a website to your existing e-detailing will give you multiple channels but considering how they play together will give you a multichannel experience that is so much more.
Multichannel enables pharma to create experiences. By combining channels, you can deliver highly targeted and personalized communication – and each HCP receives information that is more relevant and effective.
What’s next?
Ultimately, it’s this customer experience that matters most. So, in the next article, we’ll look at multichannel from the HCP’s perspective – laying out the benefits from their point of view.
Ready to start a multichannel project?
Check out Agnitio’s ‘multichannel kickstarter’ which gets you up and running in a simple, structured, and cost-effective way.