Incorporating digital marketing strategies is indispensable to reach a global audience. It allows pharmaceutical companies to connect with diverse markets through various channels, including websites, social media, email marketing, and online advertising. 

In this article, we will give you a brief overview of digital marketing strategies for global pharma brands. 

So without further ado, let's dive in!

Creating a Digital Marketing Strategy for Pharma Brands

Creating a digital strategy for pharma brands starts with proper planning. The first step in establishing a digital marketing strategy is to define clear goals and objectives for the brand. These goals align with the SMART tool, meaning they should be:

● Specific

● Measurable

● Attainable

● Realistic

● Timebound

Once the goals are defined, the next step is to identify the target audience, which includes grouping people based on demographics, behaviors, and preferences. 

Leveraging Digital Channels

There are several digital channels pharmaceutical companies can use for building their online presence and marketing themselves.

Websites - Website Optimization

Website optimization is the cornerstone of any digital marketing strategy for organic and long-term growth. An elegantly designed, user-friendly, mobile-responsive website is essential for engaging visitors. 

Some key points to consider for website optimization include:

● Pharma websites must also follow best SEO practices to increase visibility on search engines. 

● Conducting keyword research to understand what terms or queries the audience is searching for. 

● A well-established technical SEO, optimum site speed, structured data, secure connections, and user-friendly designs decrease the bounce rate and enhance user experience.

Email Marketing

Email marketing campaigns help in grouping the audience based on their choices. 

● Tailoring the emails to address the preferences of each group makes the content relevant and engaging.

● Personalized email marketing increases client trust and improves email open and click-through rates. 

● Email marketing also helps bring in more leads. 

Email campaigns can be simplified by using automation tools, such as Mailchimp, HubSpot, ActiveCampaign, Constant Contact, and GetResponse.

Content Marketing 

Content marketing is used to create valuable content in the form of blogs, articles, informative posts, white papers, videos & reels, and case studies to help establish a pharma brand as a knowledgeable authority.

For example, a pharma brand specializing in vaccines can build authority by creating informative content on vaccines. 

Online Advertising

Online advertising is another way through which pharma companies can improve their digital presence. Running relevant and frequent ads, targeted for specific audiences can help generate high traffic and convert potential leads into clients. Unlike content marketing, online advertising brings immediate leads. 

Leveraging Social Media

Social media platforms are easily accessible to everyone. Any digital marketing strategy would be incomplete without including social media marketing strategy, which starts with choosing the right social media platform. For example,LinkedIn is perfect for:

● Connecting with Healthcare workers

● Staying up to date with new health trends

● Sharing and discussing new research findings

X, previously known as Twitter, is ideal for:

● Real-time update 

● Staying active in the industry

Facebook and Instagram offer wide coverage and can be used to reach both health professionals and consumers. They are best for:

● Sharing patient stories

● Raising awareness

● Contributing to global movements

● Creating a significant impact

● Setting new trends

Building Community and Engagement

Social media platforms gather like-minded people together, creating online communities and patient support groups. Global pharma brands can leverage these support groups and online communities to promote awareness. 

Furthermore, posting relevant videos, infographics, and patient stories increases brand visibility. Pharma brands can also collaborate with patient support groups to conduct webinars and seminars for patient education. This establishes the pharmaceutical brand as an authority.

Influencer Partnerships and Collaborations

In healthcare, influencers include health professionals, patient advocates, and health activists. Healthcare professionals are considered the most credible for collaboration, and patient advocates are second on the list. 

Patient advocates share their struggles, making them relatable to a certain group of patients. While health activists provide the general public with basic, easy-to-understand information about common health issues.

When choosing healthcare influencers for digital marketing campaigns, key points to look out for are their credibility, number of followers, engagement and reach, and accuracy of information shared in their content.

Building Authentic Partnerships

Establishing long-term collaborations with influencers is based on trust. For partnerships, it is best to choose influencers best known within the target audience. This gives direct access to the target audience, and ideas can be directly delivered. Ideally, influencers should have values similar to the brand's mission. For example, a pharma company specializing in corticosteroid-based treatments can collaborate with an influencer suffering from Multiple Sclerosis.

Measuring Impact

Measuring the effectiveness of influencer collaborations requires assessing various factors, including engagement, impressions, sales, and sentiment. Engagement metrics such as likes, comments, shares, and click-through rates measure the level of interaction. Tools like Google Analytics, Hootsuite, and specific influencer platforms help monitor performance and collect data.

Integrating Digital Marketing Efforts 

Cross-Channel Marketing 

The use of digital marketing across different social media platforms needs to be well coordinated. The values must be consistent in all messages and images to ensure unity and consistency in brand voice and image.

Integrated communication is most effective because each channel is aligned to complement the others. For example, social media is used for interaction, email is used for direct outreach, and SEO is used for traffic.

Data Analytics and Insights 

Data Analytics tools are used to gather information on user behavior in the form of engagement and conversion rates. These insights help in designing future campaigns.

Furthermore, continuous monitoring of data analytics allows for real-time adjustments to ensure that the campaigns remain effective and relevant for an extended period.

Marketing Automation 

Marketing automation tools help automate repetitive tasks like email marketing and social media posting, allowing clear communication with the audience and thus improving conversion rates. For example, automation tools can help schedule social media posts across multiple platforms and send personalized emails. 

Success Stories 

Astellas Pharma's TikTok Campaign on Menopause

In August 2022, Astellas Pharma launched an innovative campaign about menopause on TikTok. This was one of the first campaigns in the life sciences industry to utilize TikTok's advertising features. The ads were placed among the top 4% of videos to educate women over 30.

The campaign featured two influencers: an OBGYN with 1.1 million followers and a women’s aging motivator with 3,000 followers. They posted videos discussing common menopause symptoms and included links to Astellas' website for more information and newsletter sign-ups.

The campaign ran for 10 days, garnered 40 million views, and gathered valuable data through surveys and polls for new product development.

CVS Health's Flu Shot Campaign

CVS Health utilized social media campaigns to raise awareness about flu shots. They collaborated with influencers like Dr. Sally Choi, a renowned physician. She posted content that emphasized the importance of flu shots. She also encouraged people to get flu shots regularly, as most flu vaccinations are free with health insurance. 

Dr. Choi also dispelled myths about flu shots, such as the misconception that they can cause the flu. CVS Health's efforts, along with Dr. Choi's influence, were successful in raising awareness. The campaign led to a significant increase in the number of people who received their first flu shots.

Challenges and Considerations

Regulatory and Compliance Issues

The global regulatory environment is one of the biggest concerns in the marketing of pharmaceutical products. Every region has its laws on the advertising of medical products. Connecting with legal consultants to stay compliant and current on regulation changes is a safe solution. 

Ethical Considerations

Ethical marketing in pharma and healthcare involves promoting products and services honestly, and providing accurate information about products, including their benefits and side effects, without exaggeration or omission.

Patient data is also sensitive and should be processed securely and with appropriate consent from the patients. Common measures that ensure ethical marketing practices include:

● Not providing misleading information.

● Ensuring that the patient’s welfare comes first before the sales 

● Ensuring that the marketing practices are transparent.

HIPAA Compliance for Pharma Brands

HIPAA, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, establishes national standards for protecting sensitive patient health information. It includes rules for privacy, security, and breach notification, ensuring that personal health data is handled securely and confidentially.

In digital marketing for pharma brands, HIPAA helps in maintaining compliance and protecting patient privacy. When devising marketing strategies, pharma companies must ensure that any health information collected is securely stored and transmitted, obtain explicit consent from individuals, and implement strong cybersecurity measures to prevent data breaches. HIPAA compliance is integral to building trust with consumers by demonstrating that their health information is safeguarded using ethical marketing practices. 

Non-compliance can lead to severe legal and financial consequences, including hefty fines and damage to the brand's reputation. Therefore, adhering to HIPAA standards is essential for ethical, legal, and effective digital marketing in the pharmaceutical industry.

Conclusion

Digital marketing strategies for global pharma brands require building strong digital presence using websites and across social media platforms. With consumers being well aware of the digital media, it’s vital to connect with them and build relationships. Finally, pharma brands should follow ethical and regulatory guidelines to stay relevant and reliable in the market. 

About the Author

Saher Haider

Saher Binte Haider is a pharmacy graduate from Dow University of Health Sciences. She started her career as a Quality Management professional in the pharmaceutical industry where she developed a keen interest in good documentation practices, SOP creation, and content writing. She has 7+ years of experience in healthcare & life sciences content writing. Her key areas of expertise are healthcare, pharmaceuticals, health tech, and AI in healthcare.