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How to connect customers to new digital channels

Nearly finished!

Welcome to the the final part of this short course on digital marketing. We'll close up by thinking about ROI on your digital marketing – and explain how to avoid what's unfortunately a very common problem.

A big problem with new channels

Solution and technology partners

 

Since the early days of the internet, we’ve been busy creating websites and other digital channels. There are thousands of pharma websites and still more are coming. And now everybody is building apps.

There’s a lot of activity and that is a good thing because these digital channels have the potential to reach a lot of people and do a lot of good.

Yet there is a problem: how to get medical professionals to connect to them?

Build it and they will come?

Sadly, many initiatives don’t attract the numbers of people that were hoped for. There are roughly 185,000 health-related apps, yet just 36 of these account for more than 80% that are regularly in use. That’s a lot of investment without much return.

This is often nothing to do with the content. There are a great many excellent apps, websites and portals that are terrific sources of information. So why the poor return on investment?

"Channels are not being connected to healthcare professionals. Either they can’t find it, are unaware of it, or it’s not considered to be worth the effort."

The answer is that these channels are not being connected to healthcare professionals. Either they can’t find it, are unaware of it, or it’s not considered to be worth the effort.

Simply putting information “out there” is unlikely to get much traction – particularly as healthcare professionals have constant demands on their time and multiple sources of information to choose from.

It might seem efficient but, from a doctor’s point of view, it’s less personal and consequently less relevant.

So what to do?

Think in systems not silos

Your digital channels should really be a connected network, not a series of isolated silos of information. One channel should lead to the next.

By thinking holistically, you can create pathways through your content that continually build knowledge. You can also track how people interact and make suggestions for materials based on their previous choices to further improve relevance. And, by having channels connected, you empower people to explore at will so they make the experience relevant for themselves.

"By having channels connected, you empower people to explore at will so they make the experience relevant for themselves."

This is much easier with a digital platform that has channel connectivity built in. Flexibility is essential. You can read more on this, and how it works in Agnitio’s solutions, in the related article: Which channels do you need?

The important thing to remember is that information should be ‘on demand’ but this isn’t the same as just putting it out there. It has to be connected to your audiences.

Connect from what you have already

A proven strategy is to engage your customer-facing staff. They can connect HCPs with digital content in any channel – and personalize the experience too.

For example, it’s possible for customer-facing staff to provide personalized ‘microsites’ that precisely reflect a doctor’s interests – in fact exactly those just uncovered in the detailing discussions. Data from the interactions with the detailing presentation inform the microsite content for each doctor. In effect, each customer can now have his or her own tailor-made channel – and get immediately connected to it.

Designing experiences

Channel connectivity is at the end of this short course but it should be at the beginning of your digital planning.

Thinking about communication as a system not only ensures materials get accessed, giving a return on investment, but also enables you to provide a better experience for HCPs.

They want easily accessible, relevant information on demand. As we’ve seen again and again in this short course: the right strategy, combined with the right technology, can deliver it.

You just graduated!

We hope that you found this course useful. Before you go, can you give us 30 seconds of your time? We’d like to know which topics are of most interest so we can improve these services. It’s just a few clicks.

 

Nearly finished!

Welcome to the the final part of this short course on digital marketing. We'll close up by thinking about ROI on your digital marketing – and explain how to avoid what's unfortunately a very common problem.

 

A big problem with new channels

Solution and technology partners
Since the early days of the internet, we’ve been busy creating websites and other digital channels. There are thousands of pharma websites and still more are coming. And now everybody is building apps.

There’s a lot of activity and that is a good thing because these digital channels have the potential to reach a lot of people and do a lot of good.

Yet there is a problem: how to get medical professionals to connect to them?

 

Build it and they will come?

Sadly, many initiatives don’t attract the numbers of people that were hoped for. There are roughly 185,000 health-related apps, yet just 36 of these account for more than 80% that are regularly in use. That’s a lot of investment without much return.

This is often nothing to do with the content. There are a great many excellent apps, websites and portals that are terrific sources of information. So why the poor return on investment?

"Channels are not being connected to healthcare professionals. Either they can’t find it, are unaware of it, or it’s not considered to be worth the effort."

The answer is that these channels are not being connected to healthcare professionals. Either they can’t find it, are unaware of it, or it’s not considered to be worth the effort.

Simply putting information “out there” is unlikely to get much traction – particularly as healthcare professionals have constant demands on their time and multiple sources of information to choose from.

It might seem efficient but, from a doctor’s point of view, it’s less personal and consequently less relevant.

So what to do?

 

Think in systems not silos

Your digital channels should really be a connected network, not a series of isolated silos of information. One channel should lead to the next.

By thinking holistically, you can create pathways through your content that continually build knowledge. You can also track how people interact and make suggestions for materials based on their previous choices to further improve relevance. And, by having channels connected, you empower people to explore at will so they make the experience relevant for themselves.

"By having channels connected, you empower people to explore at will so they make the experience relevant for themselves."

This is much easier with a digital platform that has channel connectivity built in. Flexibility is essential. You can read more on this, and how it works in Agnitio’s solutions, in the related article: Which channels do you need?

The important thing to remember is that information should be ‘on demand’ but this isn’t the same as just putting it out there. It has to be connected to your audiences.

 

Connect from what you have already

A proven strategy is to engage your customer-facing staff. They can connect HCPs with digital content in any channel – and personalize the experience too.

For example, it’s possible for customer-facing staff to provide personalized ‘microsites’ that precisely reflect a doctor’s interests – in fact exactly those just uncovered in the detailing discussions. Data from the interactions with the detailing presentation inform the microsite content for each doctor. In effect, each customer can now have his or her own tailor-made channel – and get immediately connected to it.

 

Designing experiences


Channel connectivity is at the end of this short course but it should be at the beginning of your digital planning.

Thinking about communication as a system not only ensures materials get accessed, giving a return on investment, but also enables you to provide a better experience for HCPs.

They want easily accessible, relevant information on demand. As we’ve seen again and again in this short course: the right strategy, combined with the right technology, can deliver it.

 

You just graduated!

We hope that you found this course useful. Before you go, can you give us 30 seconds of your time? We’d like to know which topics are of most interest so we can improve these services. It’s just a few clicks.

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