It is not news that the world is becoming a digital powerhouse, and the pharmaceutical sector is a key beneficiary. Depending solely on physical meetings to increase brand awareness is no longer effective, and digital marketing techniques, such as E-detailing, overcome this shortcoming.
E-detailing campaigns use IT tools to provide interactive content to engage healthcare professionals (HCPs) actively. This marketing strategy uses visual representations to explain the characteristics of a product better. In addition to increased healthcare engagement, e-detailing saves costs, improves customer experience, and improves patient outcomes.
Having a deep understanding of e-detailing is crucial before implementing it. This post will explain what e-detailing is, how it increases healthcare engagement, show you a step-by-step guide to integrate it, and the future of e-detailing. Read on to learn more!
Table of Contents
- What is E-detailing?
- How does E-detailing increase healthcare engagement?
- Enhanced customer experience
- A step-by-step guide to implementing a successful E-detailing campaign
- Navigating the challenges of electronic detailing in pharmaceutical companies
- An E-detailing success story
- What’s the future of E-detailing in pharma marketing?
- Conclusion
What is E-detailing?
Electronic detailing, also known as electronic visits and pharmaceutical detailing, is a blend of electronic and pharmaceutical marketing that uses pre-recorded videos or interactive sessions through a mobile app to engage and serve healthcare professionals better. Platforce offers such an E-detailing service.
E-detailing has replaced traditional communication channels, including papers, large laptops, and desktop computers in pharmacies. With conventional approaches, it is not feasible for physicians to obtain information at their convenience, and laptop computers slack in portability and ease of use.
With e-detailing, mobile devices are what pharmaceutical companies need for interactive presentations. Using this smart device, companies update data in real time to ensure that professionals have current information regarding their products.
However, most pharmaceutical industries do not use electronic detailing alone. Pharmaceutical sales representatives and medical science liaisons combine this digital technology with:
- face-to-face sales efforts,
- webinars,
- remote detailing, and
- e-mail communications.
A pharma company can increase customer understanding and build meaningful relationships using this omnichannel approach.
How does E-detailing Increase Healthcare Engagement?
Pharmaceutical detailing delivers product information to health professionals in the most interactive form to help increase reach and boost sales. The following are some ways the e-detailing approach enhances healthcare engagement.
Enhanced Customer Experience
Pharmaceutical detailing incorporates different learning styles, such as:
- images,
- eye-catching animations,
- interactive charts, and
- videos.
Integrating relevant images and videos helps avoid walls of text and makes the information one is passing across easily digestible.
Additionally, charts and tables help to explain complex information and to deepen customer understanding. Combining these multimedia contents provides a more engaging and immersive customer experience.
Easy and Consistent Access to Information
E-detailers contain digital documents that HCPs can access anytime using a mobile device. Because of this constant access, it is possible to disseminate relevant information about pharmaceutical products to engage them properly. They can also leave feedback and ask questions when they need clarification on facts.
Furthermore, pharmaceutical detailing breaks the distance barrier in pharma marketing. HCPs in remote areas receive the same information as those in the cities without physical interaction with pharmaceutical marketers.
Convenience
HCPs have busy schedules, and booking an appointment with them may be abortive. E-detailing platforms like Platforce allow them to access information at their convenience. They read educational modules at their own pace, focus on new information, and skip what they already know. As a result, they understand the pharma industry’s content better and may leave feedback or follow-up questions.
Accurate and Consistent Information Delivery
Some pharmaceutical sales representatives fail to research before a visit and sometimes exaggerate details to make them more appealing. They may gain the trust of HCPs in that instance, but it won’t lead to a long-term relationship. E-detailing overcomes these shortcomings through powerful data collection and analytical tools. Credible and timely information will deepen HCPs’ engagement.
Tailored Marketing
E-detailing engages physicians using customized content according to their behavior and needs. By paying close attention to how HCPs interact with content, one would know what interests them.
Using this information, medical science liaisons group them based on past interactions, professional roles, and behavioral patterns. Creating ‘just for you’ content found on these factors rather than vague messages will increase engagement as physicians feel more valued and relevant.
A Step-by-step Guide to Implementing a Successful E-detailing Campaign
It is essential to integrate this new pharma marketing approach to avoid losses carefully. Follow the seven steps below for a mistake-free implementation.
Step 1 – Set Clear Objectives
Pharmaceutical companies should assess their marketing needs before setting specific and relevant goals. Ensure these goals align with what you envision for your business. Your short and long-term goals should include acquiring more prospects, increasing engagement, and boosting sales.
Step 2 – Selective The Right Technology Platform
Choosing the right pharmaceutical detailing technology will determine your marketing success. You can go with a structured platform or a more robust CRM. Pharma companies should ensure they can meet the requirements of this new technology and that it is compatible with the physicians’ devices.
Step 3 – Develop Content
The next step is to develop informative and engaging content to give your clients exactly what they want. The digital documents must be accurate and medically proven. Some pharmaceutical companies engage in storytelling to make the messages more understandable.
Step 4 – Train Pharmaceutical Sales Representatives
One can decide to employ new staff or train old ones to fill gaps. Pharmaceutical sales reps should use role plays and real-life scenarios to understand better how E detailing works and how to respond to complaints.
Step 5 – Conduct a Pilot Test
After proper training, conduct a pilot test using a targeted audience to assess the E-detailing strategy. This step will help life science companies access what they’ve built and check for potential loopholes. After, get necessary feedback and make adjustments as needed.
Step 6 – Schedule Sessions with Health Professionals
Once everything is in order, schedule electronic visits with HCPs. Ensure the time is convenient for the physicians to avoid interrupting their daily agenda. Send a personalized message to remind them of their sessions.
Step 7 – Review and Optimize
Use data from the engagement rate, how long HCPs spend during each session, and reviews to assess how well the new pharma marketing technique performs. Based on this, pharma companies can continually improve the structure and quality of their content.
Navigating the Challenges of Electronic Detailing in Pharmaceutical Companies
There are no pharma marketing strategies without shortcomings. In addition to identification, it is crucial to know how to avoid and tackle them. The following are some challenges one may encounter when using electronic detailing and how to prevent them.
Saturation and Digital Fatigue
The fact that an HCP has access to a lot of information at once may be a limitation. Too much information may lead to mental exhaustion and a lack of interest in digital sales content. Using multiple channels to communicate will ease the pressure and engage HCPs better.
Technical Hurdles
One may experience technical issues, including
- buffering,
- downtimes and
- loss of connection.
These glitches may disrupt the information pharma companies are passing across. It is essential to conduct routine checks and maintenance of all software and hardware components.
Digital Literacy
The level of digital literacy is different for every health professional. Some may need help understanding software solutions and may be reluctant to change. This is common in cases where the physician and sales rep are used to face-to-face communication. When faced with this problem, have an honest conversation and tell hesitant users why the new technology exists.
Regulatory Compliance
Digital laws like HIPAA and GIPA regulate how pharmaceutical companies collect, analyze, and use personal information. One must follow guidelines and ensure the content complies with rigorous demands. Furthermore, data security and privacy is a concern in healthcare. It is essential to use strong security measures against hackers and thieves to prevent legal issues and fines.
An E-detailing Success Story
Let’s take a hypothetical company – ABC Pharma – for an example. ABC Pharma is a large pharmaceutical company specializing in rare diseases and has been in business for over 30 years. Being the best in this niche, they make massive sales yearly by having one-on-one meetings with HCPs.
However, the incidence of COVID-19 brought tremendous negative changes as sales representatives needed help to connect with old and new specialists. They could also not travel to remote places to sell their company’s products and services. All these made them lose profits they’ve incurred for years. As a result, they had to use virtual interactions to overcome this hurdle.
ABC Pharma used e-detailing to
- collect and analyze HCPs’ data to know their needs and preferences,
- create personalized content for each physician, and
- make the content available using mobile applications.
Pharma representatives asked for feedback and reviews to discover and make strategic adjustments.
Implementing e-detailing was the beginning of a new wave for ABC Pharma. The following year,
- They reached more health professionals and interacted at each person’s level.
- They cut down travel and accommodation expenses.
- Through pharmaceutical detailing, their new product gained recognition in the market quickly.
- Finally, they made a 200% profit on their investment.
Truly, e-detailing revolutionized ABC, and they used this pharma marketing approach to promote products even after the COVID-19 pandemic.
What’s the Future of E-detailing in Pharma Marketing?
Digital technologies like Platforce will continue where e-detailing is, as researchers still have much to do. Below are some future trends of e-detailing in healthcare engagement.
Virtual and Augmented Reality
Virtual reality (VR) and Augmented reality (AR) are essential digital content creation tools. VR and AR will help explain complex drug mechanisms to physicians for better understanding and increased engagement. 3D visualizations and simulating real-life scenarios leave a personal touch to enhance user experience.
Customer-centric Experiences
In recent times, there’s been a shift in how pharmaceutical detailing works. A Pharma company prioritizes the needs and preferences of HCPs when making decisions. You do this by focusing on marketing trends, feedback, and reviews. As a result, HCPs get more personalized information through preferred communication channels.
Conclusion
E-detailing provides flexibility for both pharmaceutical companies and healthcare professionals. Though the benefits of e-detailing are endless, one must keep in mind the challenges of using it to increase healthcare engagement and how to overcome them.
Using a Pharma CRM is essential to increase the efficiency of any pharmaceutical marketing strategies. As your go-to software for all CRM, CLM, and Pharma digital marketing needs, we help pharma, medical, and life science companies drive sales while complying with industry regulations.
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