BASTION BRANDS
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Top 5 Ways to Better Engage HCPs

Pulse Issue 3 2022

"Top 5 Ways to Better Engage HCPs"

No-one knows how to get your message through to HCPs better than HCPs, so we asked them. Results from a recent survey reveal the top five ways HCPs say pharma companies can cut-through and communicate more effectively with them.

1. Provide content-on-demand.

Integral to effective Pharma marketing is the nexus between content and the medium through which the target audience consumes that content.

HCPs are consumers, just like we are. They want to consume media at times that work best for them.

With face-to-face communication more challenging than it has traditionally been, HCPs are leaning to on-demand content for information.

They want the ability to access content when they have the time and head space to do so. It’s about making your content available in the channels they use, and want to engage in.

Questions: Do you know which channels your target HCPs want to receive information from you? Are you delivering your content in the right way for those channels?

2. Make your messaging personalised

Delivering content through the channels your HCP wants to receive it is a good first step. But it is not enough.

Ensuring content is framed in the right way, with the right messaging for your audience’s position on the customer journey is absolutely critical to cut-through and impact.

Understanding your ‘target audience’ is essential to the most relevant personalisation of content. In healthcare marketing, this strategy involves a complete awareness of the HCPs role, the treatments they prescribe, who they prescribe to and what drives them in their field of expertise.

Questions: Do you know your target audience well enough? Do you have the right messaging shaped for the different stages of the customer journey?

3. Put their needs first (omni-channel marketing)

While most HCPs won’t be aware of the terminology, a good omni-channel strategy will place them at the forefront of the communication.

This is why omni-channel communication strategy is quickly proving critical in the healthcare marketing space. Unlike regular multi-channel marketing that focuses specifically on where customers will see content, omni-channel marketing further conceptualises how customers engage with content.

It also allows for the high-level personalisation of content and the production of qualitative data.

It means developing tailored messages, mediums of communication and frequency of information to specific, categorised target audiences. HCP’s benefit from this omni-channel experience as they are provided with engaging and effective content at an individual level, with content filtered to provide personalised, customer focused information.

Questions: Is your omni-channel marketing strategy genuinely omni-channel, or a multi-channel plan in disguise?

4. Be compelling with your storytelling

The most powerful way to connect emotionally is through a well told story. The art of storytelling has never been more important than it is today in connecting audiences and having a genuine impact.

Stories and anecdotes about those affected positively by your treatment will be more powerful than mere statistics.

Use stories to engage your audiences with authentic narratives around how the treatment was developed, how it works, how HCP’s support it, and ultimately the transformative effect it has on the patients and people in their lives.

Question: Are you leveraging the power of storytelling in your marketing?

5. Leave them wanting more

Elevate your content to leave your audience wanting more. A simple and effective strategy is to brand your content like a ‘mini-series’. This may also involve ‘teasers’ or ‘previews’ to link through to more in-depth content.

The enticement of learning and the interest in wanting further information collides in content that is produced in a series format, and consequently leads to returning consumers.

For example, early in the COVID-19 crisis, Bastion Brands interviewed doctors who were on the frontline of the virus. The series incorporated KOLs in different countries and how their patients were affected by the pandemic. Each interview was released in episodes This form of information proved successful in attracting and maintaining an intrigued audience.

Question: Are you intriguing your audiences enough to keep returning for more of your content?
Would you like to better engage with your HCPs? Get in touch with Bastion Brands today

Simon Davies
simon.davies@bastionbrands.com.au
M: 0402 425 545

Bruce Williams
bruce.williams@bastionbrands.com.au
M: 0407 359 582

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We are always interested in hearing from great people dedicated to making a career in pharmaceutical communications. If you’re ready to make a positive impact with Bastion Brands, get in touch today.