In today’s digital age, healthcare practitioners (HCPs) expect personalized and engaging experiences. However, the proliferation of channels and touchpoints has made traditional engagement methods challenging. To address this, pharmaceutical companies are turning to analytics and digital solutions to transform their HCP interaction models. In this article, we present a four-step methodology for leveraging analytics to enhance HCP engagement and share insights on the importance, potential benefits, data requirements, and use cases of an analytics-enabled omnichannel commercial model.
Why does it matter?
The growing digital sophistication and evolving expectations of HCPs necessitate a shift towards tailored and impactful engagement. Conventional face-to-face visits have limitations, both in terms of effectiveness and cost. Investing in more in-person visits may not contribute significantly to disease awareness or optimized product use. Therefore, pharma companies worldwide are embracing digital and advanced analytics to transform their commercial models and meet HCPs’ evolving needs.
Overcoming Misconceptions
Despite the potential of digital, analytics, and omnichannel approaches, some industry players remain skeptical. Common questions revolve around the necessity of change, the required data and approach, potential insights and use cases, talent requirements, and ensuring organizational adoption. In this article, we aim to demystify these concepts and provide clarity on the steps pharmaceutical companies in Asia can take to implement an analytics-enabled omnichannel commercial model.
Creating Value with Analytics
Transforming engagement experiences through analytics and omnichannel approaches is crucial. While sectors like media, retail, and banking have already harnessed the power of advanced analytics to enhance customer engagement, pharma has been slower to adopt these strategies. However, with an increasing number of digital channels and the blurring line between online and offline engagement, it is imperative for pharma companies to deliver relevant and personalized content to HCPs. By doing so, companies can improve sales effectiveness, marketing efficiencies, prescriber rates, and overall HCP satisfaction.
The role of Data, Your Data!
Many industry players have already accumulated a wealth of data, including product data, HCP characteristics, interaction details, sales data, and market-context data. These datasets can be leveraged to develop a comprehensive 360-degree view of HCPs, enabling personalized engagement strategies. While data quality is crucial, organizations need not wait for perfect data to get started. By meeting minimal data criteria and continuously optimizing data quality over time, companies can derive valuable insights to enhance HCP prioritization, channel mix, product positioning, and messaging.
Unlocking Insights and Use Cases
Advanced analytics empowers pharma companies to gain four levels of insights that deepen their understanding of HCPs and drive impactful engagements:
- Descriptive/Explanatory Analyses: Mining historical data enables micro-segmentation of HCPs across channels, guiding personalized content and messages to better serve HCPs and their patients.
- Predictions: Machine learning-powered predictive analytics provides insights into future scenarios, such as the likelihood of initiation, prescription growth, or positive response to specific interactions. These predictions optimize sales-force deployment and HCP prioritization.
- Agile Content and Delivery Optimization: Real-time content personalization, A/B testing, and rapid deployment across channels ensure impactful engagement. This iterative approach enables continuous refinement and optimization.
- Optimization: Advanced analytics simulates the impact of different interactions and develops optimized engagement sequences for each HCP to maximize sales return within real-world constraints. Continuous feedback and updates from sales reps refine the analytics system’s recommendations.
The Power of Analytics-Enabled Omnichannel Model in Practice
Leading pharma companies across Europe, the United States, and Asia have already embraced analytics-enabled omnichannel commercial models, yielding significant benefits.
Some of the benefits include:
- Increased Sales Force Efficiency: Optimized HCP targeting, message personalization, and channel selection ensure sales reps focus on high-potential interactions, leading to higher conversion rates and improved sales force efficiency.
- Enhanced Customer Experience: By delivering personalized and relevant content through preferred channels, pharma companies provide HCPs with a seamless and satisfying experience, fostering long-term relationships.
- Improved Marketing ROI: Analytics enables pharma companies to allocate marketing resources more efficiently, ensuring that investments generate higher returns by targeting the right HCPs with the right messages through the right channels.
- Real-Time Adaptability: An analytics-enabled approach allows companies to respond quickly to market changes, regulatory updates, and competitive dynamics. This agility ensures that engagement strategies remain effective and aligned with evolving needs.
Conclusion
The time has come for pharmaceutical companies to embrace analytics-enabled omnichannel engagement to meet the evolving expectations of HCPs in a digital age. By leveraging advanced analytics, companies can optimize engagement strategies, enhance customer experiences, and achieve sustainable business growth. Cognipharma is committed to supporting pharma companies in this transformation journey, leveraging data, analytics, and digital technologies to create personalized and impactful HCP interactions.
Contact us today to explore how our analytics-enabled omnichannel solution can drive your company’s success in a rapidly changing healthcare landscape.