A pharmaceutical company can have an effective product, top-tier marketing, and ample resources… but without a positive reputation among healthcare professionals (HCPs), their product may not reach the patients who need it most.
Why? Because just as we’d all expect, patients trust healthcare professionals more than they trust healthcare systems in general and more than they trust pharma. Here’s the link that proves it.
Increasing HCP engagement, then, is a crucial part of your marketing. But how?
Quick Tips to Foster Connections with HCPs
Here are a few suggestions to inform your HCP engagement strategy:
- Be concise. HCPs don’t have time to decode hidden meanings. Provide them with clear, relevant content that immediately imparts value (such as clinical evidence of product efficacy)
- Elevate delivery. Make your message stand out by harnessing a unique communication style or innovative delivery systems. For example, interactive solutions can yield a significant return on investment
- Simplify. Use digital and online communication tools to ensure that HCPs can quickly and easily engage with you or your content
Once your HCP engagement strategy is in order, it’s time to implement and execute.
For Further Success, Get Creative
Creative approaches always stand out. There are countless creative ways to build connections with HCPs that are useful — but memorable and rewarding, too.
Just some of the approaches we’ve used:
- Virtual reality to showcase a patient’s experience and make it palpable for HCPs
- A disease-state awareness booth and reception at a congress to raise HCP awareness for our client’s commitment to a specific rare disease
- Developing a scavenger hunt to drive attendance to a client’s congress booth
Some other examples of ways to engage HCPs:
Enhance in-person HCP experiences with local attractions when possible.
(For example, at a recent investigators’ meeting, we opted for a tour of a local art gallery and dinner on the rooftop rather than staying at the hotel.)
Create interactive small group sessions during advisory board meetings. Give each small group a specific challenge to solve, then have them present their solutions to the larger group.
Use videoconferencing technology and online communities to engage HCPs across the world — without the need to gather in person.
- We’ve had great success with online asynchronous engagement of investigators, advisors, authors, and nurse practitioners.
- Maximize budgets by using Zoom or other technology to record testimonials, interviews, and conversations. Videoconferencing tools provide transcripts that can be used in a variety of ways, saving both time and money.
- These recordings can be used, edited, re-edited, and repurposed in multiple ways: on social platforms, in online communities, and even played at your live events. — expanding your reach to HCPs while saving precious resources.
Incorporate brand design elements in unexpected places. Recently, we held two promotional events for HCPs and wanted to ensure that all attendees had an “experience” with the brand. Even with a small budget, you can incorporate brand elements in various ways, from digital invitations and onsite materials to special lighting and customized beverage names.
Successful HCP engagement creates a circle of trust that encompasses pharmaceutical companies, dedicated HCPs, and discerning patients all striving toward one common goal: better outcomes in healthcare. After all, that’s what it’s all about, right?
How are you getting HCPs more involved? We’d love to hear from you! Contact us.