STRATEGIES TO HARNESS. YOUR PHYSICIAN LIST and Turn it Into a Workhorse!

Transcription

1 STRATEGIES TO HARNESS YOUR PHYSICIAN LIST and Turn it Into a Workhorse!

2 Introduction The Physician landscape is shifting rapidly, with many Physicians either leaving private practice for staff positions or affiliating with hospitals and health systems, or retiring altogether. In this ever-changing landscape, healthcare stakeholders in general and medical device and pharmaceutical manufacturers in particular can no longer rely on tried-and-true marketing approaches of the past. Successfully marketing to Physicians today requires new ways of thinking and new ways of doing. One word describes this transformation in a nutshell: customization. While customization is crucial in all marketing channels, it is especially important in digital marketing where a one-size-fits-all approach is far too common. As many med device and pharma companies are realizing, cutting through the clutter of digital marketing messages requires more than purchasing an list and sending a catchall offer to that list. What med device and pharmaceutical marketers need today is deep data that includes accurate and up-to-date contact information as well as insights into Physician behavior, preferences and needs. This is how customization is born where broad audiences can be identified and segmented into subsets and strategies can be customized for different groupings. Many med device and pharmaceutical companies already have the insights needed for customized targeting, but lack the capabilities to manage continual changes to Physician contact information and the resources to deploy campaigns systematically. This dilemma has motivated many companies to enter into one-off agreements with service providers (ESPs). It has become clear, however, that this one-off paradigm cannot produce lasting results. Redundancy issues, opt-in constraints and multiple licensing agreements are time-consuming, inefficient and limiting. In today s dynamic healthcare environment, the time is ripe for enterprise-wide strategies and solutions that maximize utilization and efficiencies and create long-lasting relationships with Physicians. STRATEGIES TO HARNESS YOUR PHYSICIAN LIST AND TURN IT INTO A WORKHORSE 2

3 Understanding Physician Challenges Physicians are facing a multitude of challenges that are forcing them to refocus their priorities. The Affordable Care Act s goals of expanding access to healthcare, protecting patients against arbitrary actions by insurance companies and reducing costs have caused Physicians to focus on areas such as increasing practice efficiency, exploring different business models and adopting new technologies to improve clinical decisions and support evidence-based decisions. 1 This shift in priorities is dramatically altering the Physician landscape. Rather than pursue private practice, it is estimated that 60 percent of family doctors and pediatricians, 50 percent of surgeons and 25 percent of surgical subspecialists are today employed by hospitals and health systems. 2 For those still in private practice, 34 percent said in a Wolters Kluwer Health Physician Outlook Survey that they are very likely or somewhat likely to leave because of the inability to make the practice profitable. Use a reliable, up-to-date source of Physician data. Healthcare Data Solutions Physician database of over 1 million U.S. Physicians showed nearly 80,000 location changes and nearly 75,000 changes in specialty designations over a nine-month period. Demonstrate value that speaks to Physician needs, such as research. 1 Wolters Kluwer. Survey: Physicians Reveal Top Challenges, Financial Management Concerns and Focus Areas for Next 3-5 Years. July 16, Retrieved at 2 New York Times. Apprehensive, Many Doctors Shift to Jobs With Salaries. February 13, Retrieved at STRATEGIES TO HARNESS YOUR PHYSICIAN LIST AND TURN IT INTO A WORKHORSE 3

4 Connecting with Physicians in a Digital World Physicians have long been early adopters of new technologies. Recent studies by Boston Consulting Group and Wolters Kluwer, respectively, showed that 75 percent of Physicians own a smartphone and 55 percent of Physicians use both a tablet and smartphone in their daily work. Physicians are also no strangers to accessing the Internet for information. After professional medical journals, popular browsers such as Google and Yahoo are the second top source of information for Physicians. Yet, despite their digital savvy and user habits, there is one major area of struggle for Physicians that presents a very real opportunity for med device and pharmaceutical marketers: research. In the Wolters Kluwer Health 2013 Physician Outlook Survey of over 300 Primary Care Physicians, 83 percent said they find it challenging to keep up with the latest research. Create mobile websites for Physicians. Physicians use their smartphones to access drug information, clinical reference tools and perform medical research. A growing number of Physicians are also using mobile apps to access social media channels. Focus your search strategy on Physicians. The Pew Research Center found that 71 percent of Physicians use Google to look for health information. Identify targeted keywords that Physicians would search for, such as drug and device names, and integrate those keywords into both ads and web content to improve ad performance and boost organic search rankings. Be sure to keep research content fresh. Consider turning static product information into interactive or self-guided presentations, videos and webcasts, as recommended by the business intelligence service L2. STRATEGIES TO HARNESS YOUR PHYSICIAN LIST AND TURN IT INTO A WORKHORSE 4

5 Developing Segmentation Savvy Marketing analysts have been touting the importance of segmentation for improving open rates, boosting click-through rates and increasing relevant engagement with targeted audiences. Yet, a Smart Insights 2014 survey of over 600 marketers revealed that 44 percent of respondents had not created segmented lists. Despite the slow adoption of segmentation, it still makes the top priority list of marketing professionals across all industries. For med device and pharma marketers, segmentation provides the ability to differentiate the diverse needs of Physicians, respond with targeted and relevant opportunities, and make future predictions based on past behaviors. While there are myriad ways to segment your Physician database, a solid approach is to analyze them based on their attributes and behavior. For med device and pharma marketers, Physician attributes such as location, area of specialty, hospital affiliation and demographics should be considered. Behavioral patterns, such as long-time customers and one-time purchasers, or big purchasers and small purchasers, or trial-only prospects are additional ways to segment lists. Start with robust data. Behavioral data can be gleaned from your own customer files, but you ll also need a rich database with deep doctor- and practice-level information. Aim for richer relationships. Physicians receive so many s per day that a highly targeted and relevant opportunity will stand out and strengthen your connection with them. Focus on quality, not quantity. It s tempting to reach out often, but don t make this mistake: The Boston Consulting Group found a direct relationship between the number of communications a Physician receives and a decline in engagement. STRATEGIES TO HARNESS YOUR PHYSICIAN LIST AND TURN IT INTO A WORKHORSE 5

6 Putting Multichannel Marketing to Work Multichannel marketing (MCM) is more than just the latest industry buzzword. Boston Consulting Group asserts that it s a complete transformation of how to approach marketing and sales that can boost revenue by more than 10 percent or reduce costs by 25 percent or both. As traditional forms of access to Physicians have declined, the MCM approach has gained traction among med device and pharma companies. But while enthusiasm for MCM is reflected in marketing budgets, few companies have implemented MCM effectively with highly orchestrated coordination across an entire organization. Despite slow MCM adoption, the healthcare landscape shows tremendous opportunities for med device and pharma to connect with more Physicians more deeply. A Brown Consulting Group (BCG) benchmarking study revealed that successful MCM efforts can result in significant sales increases and better use of staff and resources. Develop a single view of Physicians. Use accurate attribute data and informed behavioral data to create a single view that continuously reflects changes among Physicians, to your products and in the healthcare environment. Put MCM processes into place. You ll need efficient and effective capabilities for data segmentation, analytics, deployment and response. Be consistent across all channels. Whether you re connecting with a Physician via , phone or an interactive video, their experience should include the same excellence and service reflective of your brand. Like segmentation, MCM allows for more focused and more meaningful relationships to be developed between your brand, your sales reps and Physicians. The keys to successful MCM are: identifying the right model for deepening relationships with Physicians being targeted and the product being promoted; determining the right mix of faceto-face meetings, phone calls, s, direct mail and other channels to achieve goals for a particular product; and harnessing data to customize those channels for individual Physicians or segments of Physicians with shared habits and preferences. STRATEGIES TO HARNESS YOUR PHYSICIAN LIST AND TURN IT INTO A WORKHORSE 6

7 Maximizing Physican Data Use & Efficiency Traditional tactics of building relationships with Physicians are quickly becoming obsolete in today s dynamic environment. To connect with Physicians and produce long-lasting results that move the needle, marketers must be innovative, versatile and personal. On a theoretical level, this means applying strategies that can be deployed enterprise-wide and developing highly coordinated campaigns involving multiple teams across various sales and marketing channels. On a tactical level, this means having efficient processes, deployment capabilities and centralized solutions to be effective. This is where moving beyond purchasing an list is critical. While lists provide an instant resource for connecting with Physicians, serious issues arise when redundancies occur in the client master, when ESPs only allow opt-in files, and when multiple vendor licensing agreements are needed just to manage a list. Without a solution to solve these issues efficiently, med device and pharma companies strategies like segmentation and multichannel marketing will remain in the pilot phase with limited results. The answer to this next level in marketing starts with more and better Physician data, but doesn t end there. Med device and pharma companies can benefit tremendously from a solution that manages optouts, appends Physician contact data and deploys campaigns for them. When the dirty work is tackled, the possibilities are endless. To learn more about Healthcare Data Solutions Physician data and services, call or visit today. STRATEGIES TO HARNESS YOUR PHYSICIAN LIST AND TURN IT INTO A WORKHORSE 7