5 Tips for Better-Engaging Your HCP Audience

5 Tips for Better-Engaging Your HCP Audience

Hey everyone! I'm Julie Granberry, and today I want to share some exciting insights from a recent webinar I co-hosted with my dear friend & industry colleague, the amazing omnichannel guru - Brooke Fleming, Head or Orchestrated Customer Engagement at Sage and recent winner of an IQVIA Digital Visionary Award. In our webinar, we discussed the top five trends for engaging healthcare providers (HCPs) and how these trends are shaping the future of our industry. Let's dive in!

1. AI-Driven Personalization

First up, let's talk about AI-driven personalization. AI is truly transforming how we can engage with HCPs. Imagine being able to send targeted messages, create custom content, and predict the next best actions based on HCP preferences. AI makes all of this possible by analyzing vast amounts of data and providing insights at the HCP level. This means we can engage with HCPs in real-time or near-time along their customer journey. And, back to this digital twin topic - we can make it even more personalized, faster, and at scale.

Did you know that 73% of HCPs are more likely to engage with communications when they’re more personalized? And it's not just about personalization at the individual level. Even targeting at the specialty or geographic level can make a big difference.

2. Enhanced User Experience

Next, let's talk about enhancing the user experience. Applied intelligence is driving deeper omnichannel engagement in the pharmaceutical industry, and it's all about making interactions more seamless and efficient. HCPs are overwhelmed by the sheer volume of promotional content they receive. In fact, 62% of HCPs feel this way. By leveraging applied intelligence, we can tailor content and communication channels to individual preferences, making the experience more personalized and engaging.

For example, 50% of HCPs prefer to receive promotional content on their mobile or tablet, while 57% prefer clinical and medical content on their computers or laptops. And here's a fun fact: HCPs are 2X more likely to engage further with a pharma company that provides an excellent customer experience.

So a little up front effort will go a long way for deeper, more meaningful experience.

3. Connecting Nonpersonal to Personal Promotion

Now, let's discuss the importance of connecting nonpersonal promotion (NPP) to personal promotion. NPP is more than just surround sound; it can actually fuel smarter personal promotion.In fact, I’ve started to wonder if we’re doing it backwards - allow field personnel the opportunity for a more qualified, meaningful lead by starting with the insight gleaned from NPP efforts first. By integrating NPP efforts with personal promotion, we can optimize resource allocation and create marketing-qualified leads. This approach allows for more purposeful placement of sales reps and enhances the overall engagement strategy. Consider this: the average access for pharma sales reps for in-person and video meetings is around 60%, while for in-person only meetings, it's about 30%. By connecting these efforts, we can make the most of our resources and improve engagement.

4. Social Media for HCPs is Now Table Stakes

Social media is no longer optional; it's essential for engaging HCPs. HCPs follow other HCPs on social media for treatment information, personal connections, and practice management advice. It's crucial to meet HCPs where they are, not where they aren't. Social media should be viewed as one channel in an omnichannel experience. It’s no longer just from-the-podium speakers, but more so the digital opinion leaders (DOLs) who we need to lean into more. There reach can be far greater & their relevancy more current vs conference to conference cadence.

For instance, 72% of HCPs follow other HCPs on social media, and 46% of physicians check social media for personal reasons more than three times a day. Additionally, 1 out of 5 HCPs follow a pharma company or branded treatment social media account to stay up-to-date on treatment and clinical data, product launches, and clinical trial news. So if you haven’t already, dip your toe in the DOL waters and start slow….but start!

5. Don’t Wait for the ROI

Finally, let's talk about the importance of measuring every action. Every action in your engagement strategy is measurable, so make it count. Leverage engagement data to gain meaningful insights, trigger other actions, provide meaningful content for follow-ups, and optimize in-market campaign performance. It's important to set up KPIs and leading and lagging indicators to measure the success of your campaigns. Don’t wait until the end - optimization and as close to real-time reporting as possible (okay…we can settle on weekly for now, but the pace is picking up here, too!).

By embracing these trends, we can create more meaningful and personalized interactions with HCPs, ultimately driving better engagement and outcomes.

Thanks for reading! I hope you learned a thing or two, and if you have any questions or want to dive deeper into any of these trends, feel free to reach out. Let's continue to innovate and make a positive impact in the healthcare industry with more relevancy, precision, and meaningful outcomes together.