As Consultants it is important to be up to date with not just the latest movements but also market changes that could be predicted to happen. The month of May saw us attend two interesting events in the digital space.
TikTok …. A word (a word?) that puts fear into the heart of compliance teams! An expert panel, assembled by the team at Life Science Access Academy, provided an interesting discussion on using this fast-rising social media platform.
Common sense was the order of the day with a clear take-home message. TikTok (and most social media) is a public platform so clearly not the place for specific medicines given it is illegal to advertise to the general public.
The panel rightly concluded that disease awareness campaigns can live on TikTok compliantly – the parallel is general disease awareness on a website.
What is for sure is that TikTok is fast growing and the most popular channel, especially for younger generations and as such something we need to embrace it … compliantly.
Hawk Pharma Consulting is an EMIG (Ethical Medicines Industry Group) member and we regularly attend EMIG events. The Digital Group, hosted by Darren Spevick, is an excellent source of information for pharma marketers and business information folk alike.
This event, focused around data for commercialisation, was held in May but we attended the February event too. As well as great networking opportunities there were some powerful points made:
- Not everyone loves data but we all need the insight it can provide. Present it visually, simply, without jargon and align what you show to objectives and KPIs that will drive your business.
- External parties may well have data that can be anonymised – offer fair market value to share it and support your stakeholder rather than reinvent the wheel.
- Post Covid, there is huge variation within Europe with regard to a return to face-to-face vs a continuation of video or telephone. We have to maintain these skills in customer facing teams.
- Digital marketing continues to rise but there is disconnect between what customers want and what industry provides content-wise – we need to engage our customers.
Digital marketing, omnichannel – buzz words but is beauty more than skin deep?
At Hawk Pharma Consulting we believe in a cohesive strategy and efficient, effective tactical execution – that must include digital.
Digital is not a strategy but a number of channels to implement your strategy. It’s all about targeting the right customer, through the right channels with the right information at the right time.
Omnichannel thoughts
- It used to be multi- now it’s omni-channel. A change in terminology, yes but also a change in mindset and execution. In omnichannel, ALL of the channels align in look, feel, messaging and so on. This is important to keep consistency.
- Why digital? As consumers we don’t only glean information by one route, we use many. If buying a car we don’t just visit the salesman at the dealership – we watch YouTube reviews in our evening, read on-line articles from experts, call a knowledgeable friend and visit the salesman in working hours! HCPs are the same with medicines.
- This reduces the need for sales teams doesn’t it? Quite the opposite! It makes the sales team more effective. Published medical reviews, expert speakers, banner adverts – there are many ways to increase Awareness and Interest. Key Account Managers’ strength is addressing questions to turn that interest into Conviction and then following up to create Action. As our most expensive commercial tool we want to make our salespeople as effective as they can be!
We love to chat about all things digital and marketing and may be able to help…
Get in touch, book a Zoom call, grab a coffee and let’s chat!