Let's take a look at what new developments and trends in pharmaceutical marketing shape brand communication. Pharmaceutical marketing has been undergoing vigorous growth in recent years influenced by many overlapping factors, such as technological advancements, accelerated digitalization due to the pandemic, and changes in audience habits – both among patients and healthcare professionals like doctors and pharmacists. All of this leads the industry, which for years relied on tried-and-true forms of communication such as direct marketing or television advertising, to increasingly adopt comprehensive omnichannel strategies, new ways of reaching audiences, and innovative advertising formats.
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Pharma Marketing – what is it?
Pharma marketing includes legally permitted communication activities related to RX drugs (prescription), OTC drugs (over-the-counter), dietary supplements, medical devices, preventive programs, or medical services aimed at reaching brand content to specific target groups, such as:
healthcare professionals (doctors and nurses),
pharmacists,
patients.
The specificity of pharmaceutical marketing lies in dealing with sensitive topics and a range of legal restrictions regarding the promotion of pharmaceuticals. Despite the global reach of many pharmaceutical companies, local regulations regarding the advertising of drugs and medical devices and the local context of the healthcare system make pharmaceutical marketing require an individualized approach in each market where a brand operates.
Effective pharma marketing is one that keeps up with the times and creatively utilizes new communication channels while efficiently adapting the message to the requirements of the compliance department. In this industry, every word and image matters. On one hand, quick reach to the audience and effective memorability is essential. On the other hand, pharmaceutical advertisements require a considerable degree of caution – they cannot manipulate or mislead the audience or promise benefits without support from studies or the Summary of Product Characteristics. Such actions may lead to serious legal consequences, financial penalties, and loss of credibility for the pharmaceutical company.
New Trends in Pharma Marketing
So how to communicate in 2023 on health-related topics to effectively reach the audience? Let’s take a look at the leading trends in pharmaceutical and medical marketing that are currently shaping marketing communication of brands in this industry.
Omnichannel and Personalization – Pharmaceutical Marketing – Trends
With the development of other fields of technology and advertising, audience habits are changing – there is a growing demand for personalized, dynamic experiences and access to on-demand content. Today, doctors and pharmacists are proficient users of internet services who expect content tailored to their interests here and now – through the most convenient channels for them. Meanwhile, patients value smooth integration of teleconsultations with offline visits and the same level of medical service across all available channels. The COVID-19 pandemic and remote contact with medical facilities and pharmaceutical representatives have only accelerated the digitalization process of many relationships in this field.
Omnichannel pharma marketing also assumes a comprehensive brand strategy across multiple channels that complement each other, creating a cohesive whole. For example, a doctor receives materials that develop further arguments or topics, referring to specific stages of the representative's visits, and a patient after an educational campaign on the value of prevention receives a call to action to register for tests.
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In 2023, data will play an increasingly important role, based on which segmentation and building communication strategies tailored to the needs of precisely defined personas with different preferences, motivations, and ways of consuming content. In response to them, there will be more personalized email campaigns and targeted advertisements that take into account the level of the funnel at which the audience currently resides or the degree of past relationships with the brand or sales representative.
For the purposes of building customer journeys in digital, we will also be looking closely at customer journeys and points of contact between consumers and specialists with the brand, seeking new opportunities to build awareness and engagement of the audience.
Influencers and Online Opinion Leaders – Pharma Marketing – Trends
According to reports from Polish Internet Research, over 80% of Poles confirm that when seeking knowledge about health, diseases, and treatments, they use the internet. Only in second place are sources of information doctors and healthcare representatives. Moreover, interest in healthy lifestyle topics records increasingly higher figures year after year. Health-related sites are visited at least once a month by 12.7 million internet users, of whom 9 million use a computer, and 6.9 million via mobile devices.
While SEO strategies and content have long had their place in pharmaceutical marketing, a distinctly fresher trend is activity in social media and medical influencer marketing. Social media is now not just a space for entertainment – increasingly, it is becoming a source of knowledge and a space for engaging education in an interesting and accessible form. This is where new authorities are created, attracting large and loyal communities of followers. The Sotrender report "Medical Influencers" shows that the largest health macro-influencers in Poland have between 100,000 and one million followers!
In addition to consumer-oriented fan pages dedicated to a healthy lifestyle, accounts from specialists such as psychiatrists, surgeons, cardiologists, oncologists, or aesthetic medicine doctors are increasingly appearing. They often direct their content to students and younger doctors, sharing insights into their daily work and the secrets of their profession. Such potential for expanding communication with both patients and doctors makes medical and pharmaceutical brands increasingly interested in influencers' activities in the field of specialized promotion and education.
In 2023, we will witness further development of this trend in pharma marketing.
Campaigns involving influencers will help pharmaceutical companies build trust by leveraging the influence and credibility of online authorities to reach a wider audience and engage them.
This is particularly important in marketing activities from the upper part of the sales funnel aimed at raising awareness of a problem or brand.
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When planning activities with influencers, it is essential to remember the sensitivity of the subject we are dealing with and focus on proven and well-thought-out collaborations. Recent controversies involving top health influencer Mama Ginekolog show that today’s social media audiences have a high level of awareness, which translates into high demands regarding transparency and social responsibility for influencers as well as the brands behind their advertisements.
Artificial Intelligence – New Trends in Pharma Marketing
In 2023, artificial intelligence has taken the internet by storm, evidenced by hundreds of millions of new users of the ChatGPT tool, gained in just two months, making it the fastest-growing consumer application in history. The tool provides answers to given queries or commands in seconds, and even performs tasks of creatively generating content. All of this in a dialogue format reminiscent of human conversations. Today, ChatGPT and its extraordinary capabilities are being discussed everywhere, not just in industry circles.
AI in the Medical and Pharmaceutical Industry – Trends in Pharmaceutical Marketing
Regarding the medical field, there has been a lot of talk about an AI model passing a medical exam or a study from the University of California which found that medical advice from artificial intelligence is perceived as more qualitative and empathetic than that from real doctors. AI enthusiasts predict it will lead to faster diagnoses, relieving the overloaded healthcare system. Pessimists point out errors in language models and the generation of false information. One thing is certain – the rapid development of artificial intelligence is inevitable. According to the GlobalData report "State of the Biopharmaceutical Industry", nearly two-fifths (39%) of surveyed healthcare workers stated that artificial intelligence will be the most revolutionary emerging technology this year. Although the pharmaceutical industry requires exceptional caution and additional verification from content creators compared to other sectors, it is worth looking at new applications of AI tools, especially in combination with the previously mentioned content personalization and omnichannel pharma marketing. In the world of advertising, AI-backed tools have already firmly established themselves in marketers' daily toolkits worldwide. In Poland, the first campaign where graphics were generated by artificial intelligence recently made headlines.
Digital Renaissance of Prevention – New Trends in Pharmaceutical Advertising
Medical experts have long advocated the need to move away from "repair" medicine to prevention, broadly understood as prophylaxis. Communication in digital and the latest technologies create entirely new possibilities for pharmaceutical brands to directly contact patients and support them in their daily health care. One of the emerging trends in the pharmaceutical market is thus a patient-centered approach and providing remote support options for therapy and healthy habits. Therefore, a wide-reaching communication is needed, easily accessible to patients, using channels that they have at hand and are convenient for them, such as social media or mobile applications.
We see space for greater brand engagement in digital education about prevention, screening, healthy habits, and actions in rare or chronic diseases.
Examples include mobile applications or wearable devices that help monitor a patient's condition and their independent recovery after a hospital visit. Applications can also provide reminders for prescribed medication doses, procedures, and visits. In the future, more and more devices analyzing data about our health will be able to correct our bad health habits and suggest how to better take care of our fitness, diet, or daily physical activity.
The market for prevention technology is currently experiencing a kind of boom. New startups are emerging, creating solutions at the intersection of the medical and technology worlds (Medtech). The popularity of this direction can be evidenced by the fact that the creator of the Spotify application, which revolutionized the music market, has recently shifted his interests to healthcare, founding the medical startup Neko Health. At the end of last year, he opened a clinic in Stockholm focused on comprehensive prevention based on the latest diagnostic technologies. The facility aims to combine the potential of online services, wearable devices, and offline visits, where a full "body scan" can be performed using innovative devices.
Summary – Pharmaceutical Marketing
Considering the mentioned trends in pharmaceutical marketing when planning strategies in 2023:
get to know your audience better, their behaviors and what contact and content they prefer, to create a personalized conversion path for them;
to optimize a limited budget, focus on audience groups and channels with the greatest potential;
when creating personas and dedicated creations – rely on data and test;
practice omnichannel pharma marketing, i.e., develop a coherent communication strategy for new reach channels that complement each other;
include trusted and verified health opinion leaders and influencers in your brand awareness building strategy – collaborate with well-planned and transparent actions that resonate with today’s consumers;
to build long-term trust among your audience in your brand, create engaging educational formats that not only advertise a given product but accompany consumers in their daily health care;
keep an eye on the development of technology and new AI tools, which are already revolutionizing marketing communication – with its development, we will observe increasingly effective mechanisms for verifying content, allowing for more efficient building of personalized content targeted at diverse audience groups;
monitor the actions of other brands and the development of digital marketing in the pharmaceutical market – competition does not sleep. 😎
