• Home
  • /
  • Blog
  • /
  • Article
  • /
  • How to Use HCP Engagement Platforms with an Omnichannel Approach – The Old Ways of Engaging HCPs are gone

How to Use HCP Engagement Platforms with an Omnichannel Approach – The Old Ways of Engaging HCPs are gone

Reading time: minutes

Tweet 0
Share 0

Over the last few years, the pharma industry has seen a huge shift from traditional healthcare professionals (HCPs) engagement strategies to digital channels.

Not surprisingly, more HCPs prefer to keep pharma interactions online. This means that the HCP engagement strategies that companies used to do in the pre-COVID world don’t work anymore.

HCPs want pharma to take a technology-powered approach that focuses on their needs through on-demand content delivered in a personalized way.

In this article, we’ll explore the shifts pharma companies need to make to stay top of mind.

In addition, we’ll explore the must-have tech tools and software that should be part of every pharma’s arsenal — HCP engagement platforms and, later, the best HCP engagement tools.

3-STEP FREE GUIDE

How to Engage HCPs Using Neflix-Like Content Hubs

GET IT NOW

3-Step Guide to Engaging HCPs Using Netflix-Like Content Hubs

Why are the old ways of engaging HCPs gone?

There are two main reasons why there’s a sudden shift in digital content consumption for HCPs.

  • COVID-19

Pharma sales reps were accustomed to meeting HCPs in person before the pandemic. Healthcare companies would even leverage medical conferences to launch new products and gain the trust of Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs).

But when the pandemic hit, they had to reinvent new ways of engaging HCPs due to the new social distancing restrictions.

Pharma companies encountered one problem, though: HCPs were overworked and burned out due to the pandemic. HCPs didn’t have the time to listen to traditional sales pitches.

Instead, they wanted personalized and educational content first before being sold.

This brings us to the second reason…

COVID-19 made it harder to access HCPs.

They have started adopting new technologies and using new channels to consume content and communicate with peers.

HCPs started to engage on their own terms...

As a result, pharma is nowadays expected to create personalized, trustworthy content that resonates with HCPs in order to punch through the digital noise.

Additionally challenge is that healthcare professionals  feel like pharma companies are missing the mark when providing the educational content they need. For example, 85% of HCPs have stated that they need better access to non-accredited eLearning, but nearly half of all pharma companies consider it a low priority.

To solve these problems, pharma companies can’t just focus on creating the best product and expecting an epic launch.

They are expected to take the position of educators through relevant content. This allows them to derive HCP preferences data that they can optimize to accelerate product adoption.

The alternative solution — an omnichannel content marketing approach

Pharma companies have an opportunity to embrace omnichannel marketing, which gives HCPs the freedom to access the right information when they need it

However, this doesn't mean that they won’t need sales reps

Sales reps will still play a significant role in the conversion process. But for pharma companies to hit their targeted ROI, they need to supplement the relationship with new tools and resources across multiple channels

So what does an omnichannel HCP marketing approach look like?

In simple terms, omnichannel is when pharma companies integrate and coordinate multiple channels to engage and interact with consumer.

For example, if you’re a pharma company selling medicine for metastatic breast cancer products, you can build an educational video hub called “Breast Cancer Hub” and then invite HCPs through email and serve them educational video content regarding the latest guidelines on breast cancer.

You can also create a product-related video hub with short-form videos on your product's efficacy, safety, dosing and administration, and how the drug fits into the new guidelines.

The Call-to-Action (CTA) button can lead to a call with a sales rep, where doctors can learn more about using the drug. Later, you can invite the HCP to an online conference where KOLs talk about the latest scientific data on the topic.

This makes it easy for HCPs to try your product once it's launched. Why? Because they already gained trust in your brand thanks to the educational content in the omnichannel cycle. 

Research by Mckinsey shows that pharma companies that have adopted an omnichannel approach as part of their commercial model record a 5–10 percent higher HCP satisfaction, creating a 5–10 percent revenue uplift.

Here are some more benefits of omnichannel marketing.

Omnichannel model for pharma

Image source

Important to note: HCPs prefer bite-sized content in most omnichannel content marketing strategy stages.

Video content is the most popular, and HCPs prefer short videos of 3 to 5 minutes

They’re busy and don’t have time to watch a 60-minute video. Webinars, zoom meetings, and downloadables should be short, crisp, and actionable as well. 

What is an HCP engagement platform, and why must pharma companies have them in their marketing solutions?

An HCP engagement platform is a 1st party (owned by pharma) or 3rd party (owned by someone else) platform that allows pharma companies to interact and build relationships with HCPs. They also get to collect user-level data to power all their omnichannel activities.

The most common way healthcare companies use HCP engagement platforms is to create and distribute different types of content, such as bite-sized videos, online conferences, infographics, and downloadable content.

Unlike a traditional, more static website, which only helps businesses have an online presence, modern HCP engagement platforms are personalized, easy to use, contain rich-media content, and build trust with HCPs over time.

Pharma companies can benefit in multiple ways from using HCP engagement platforms:

  • They enable peer-to-peer collaboration with timely content
  • They help you build relationships with HCPs
  • They offer HCPs convenience, as HCPs can access content anywhere at any time
  • They allow you to track HCPs' online behavior to derive insights

What are the components of a user-centric HCP engagement platform?

The primary goal of HCP engagement platforms is to present HCPs with high-quality content before they engage with reps.

But HCPs want more than just the “right content.

Here are some vital components pharma should consider when creating an HCP engagement platform:

  • Personalization — Personalization of content in HCP platforms is the holy grail. HCPs want pharma companies to create content that meets their unique needs and preferences at the right time.

  • Trust — HCPs won’t engage with platforms that are biased and aren't credible. An HCP platform’s success depends on how much it can be trusted for high-quality content.

    For example, you’d only want to put educational videos from talented KOLs on your HCP video hub platform. Why? We’ve noted that doctors' trust in pharma is at 35% but 80% for peers.

  • Integrations — The right integrations save you time and create workflows between different marketing solutions.

    To better engage HCPs and streamline the process, your HCP platform should integrate multiple tools in tandem with your operations. 

    For instance, you might need CRM tools like Veeva and IQVIA to foster a two-way dialogue and capture valuable real-time insights with HCPs.

    You can also consider market-leading CDPs like Tealium, which gives you raw data to supercharge your next best action.

  • Ease of use — HCPs are busy but can still find time to consume educational content. They don’t have time to learn how to use sophisticated HCP platforms.

    The perfect HCP platform aims to fit into the busy lives of HCPs and goes straight into their pain points.

    HCP engagement platforms must also differentiate their user experience and allow HCPs to access the content anytime and anywhere.

Some pharma companies argue that they don’t need pharma-owned HCP platforms because they can still engage HCPs on websites like Medscape.

Sure, Medscape is an excellent platform to engage HCPs quickly, as HCPs are already there.

However, the medium to long-term downsides are that you will continue paying $100+ for every single click, and you will not be able to get your own data on HCP behavior that you can integrate into your omnichannel strategy.

In other words, you are not building your own content, your own audience, and your own data and insights.

Four top HCP engagement platforms every pharma company should consider

This next section will look at the four best HCP engagement platforms.

1. Best 1st party HCP engagement platform  — Evermed

HCP video platform

Yeah, that’s us. 

Evermed is an HCP engagement platform for pharma companies that want to engage with HCPs without dealing with IT headaches and huge marketing budgets.

Our focus is on helping pharma companies create bite-sized videos on a Netflix-like platform for HCP education.

This is popular with HCPs as they prefer consuming short, actionable, and personalized videos. We have all the systems, features, and digital capabilities to meet this goal.

3-STEP FREE GUIDE

How to Engage HCPs Using Neflix-Like Content Hubs

GET IT NOW

3-Step Guide to Engaging HCPs Using Netflix-Like Content Hubs

Why are Pharma companies shifting towards personalized HCP video hubs with Evermed?

pharma HCP video hub

Personalized medical education streaming is the future of HCP engagement.

There are three reasons for this uptrend:

  1. HCPs want to engage with content before receiving a visit from a sales rep.

  2. HCPs want to have control of what they want to watch and would appreciate personalized, on-demand, Netflix-like delivery of content.

  3. Reduced access to HCPs — access dropped 57% year over year, to be precise.

With all these developments, it makes sense for pharma to rethink their HCP engagement and develop new, more innovative strategies that fit better into what HCPs want.

Amazon did a case study that revealed a dire need for pharma to shift their HCP education to video streaming services.

The reasons are the same for why traditional media and entertainment moved to the cloud. They wanted to deliver innovative personalized experiences to consumers.

As a digital video hub, Evermed solves this problem by helping you create your own Netflix for HCPs.

This isn’t just a term we use “because it’s cool.” We carry the idea of the Netflix-like user experience — intuitive, easy, personalized, and on-demand.

This is possible thanks to our AI-powered algorithm that learns HCPs’ viewing behavior and delivers the right content at the right time.

Pharma companies are using Evermed for the same reason that Novartis launched an on-demand video hub using Evermed. They are confident the video streaming hub will help them stand out and commercialize more products.

Advantages of Evermed

  • Minimal effort required — Evermed is much simpler to get started with. You don’t need fully-fledged IT infrastructure or a team of developers.

    You just need to rent a space from our platform, which is ten times faster than creating your HCP engagement platform from scratch. Plus, our plug-and-play and zero-coding solution helps you avoid the frustrations of building a custom platform.
  • Fast launch of the video hub — Our clients often go live within 30-90 days. The best part? You can configure the platform to your personal needs and go live in no time. 
  • Intuitive user experience — When we talk about a Netflix-like user experience, we mean that HCPs enjoy premium features you only get on Netflix, like advanced search filters and easy navigation. Therefore, HCPs can quickly find a video without hindrances.
  • Significant cost savings — Evermed helps you avoid the high CapEx costs of building and maintaining a custom platform. In addition, the licensing model allows you to opt-in and out anytime.

  • Seamless data integration — We integrate HCP behavioral data with your existing data lakes and CRM systems to help you make the next-best action.

  • Locally tailored delivery — You have the ability to comprehensively tailor content access for each region or country while using local languages and subtitles. Plus, Evermed is available globally, including in China, without the need for a VPN. 

Disadvantages of Evermed

Is Evermed the right solution for you?

Evermed is undoubtedly the right tool if you want to engage HCPs in the way they want to be engaged — short-form, personalized, expert-led, on-demand video..and you want to be able to generate 1st party data that powers your omnichannel efforts and next-best-actions.

You’ll be able to serve your content to HCPs in a modern, personalized, Netflix-like way. Plus, the platform is easy to manage and has all the analytics to track your engagement across countries, regions, and globally.

Feel like Evermed checks all the boxes for your next product launch?  Learn how to have your own Netflix-like content hub for HCPs by clicking here.

3-STEP FREE GUIDE

How to Engage HCPs Using Neflix-Like Content Hubs

GET IT NOW

3-Step Guide to Engaging HCPs Using Netflix-Like Content Hubs

2. Best HCP Engagement platform for newsletters — Adobe Campaign

email platform for newsletters

Adobe Campaign is part of Adobe Experience Cloud and is designed as an omnichannel marketing tool cutting across email and mobile marketing.

While it’s industry agnostic, pharma companies can still use it to send personalized messaging through multiple channels like email, SMS, direct message, support, and mobile notifications.

The most significant upside of Adobe for HCP engagement is personalization.
HCP email personalization

You can send customized email blasts that resonate with every recipient through segmentation and targeting. 

In addition, Adobe Campaign offers campaign reporting and analytics that can help you decide on the next best action. 

Advantages of Adobe Campaign

  • Personalized messaging — Adobe Campaign gives you a 360-degree holistic view of each customer, which helps you determine the most suitable marketing channel for everyone based on the actions they take in real-time.

    For example, not all HCPs respond to emails. Some prefer mobile push notifications. You can design all of that from Adobe Campaign’s dashboard. 
  • Flexible custom integration — You can integrate Adobe Campaign with multiple tools to streamline your operations. These include Salesforce, Microsoft Dynamics, and Oracle CRM on-demand.

Disadvantages of Adobe Campaign

  • Not industry-specific — Adobe campaign works in multiple industries. As a result, it may lack the features you need for effective HCP engagement.

    For example, it’s not optimized for delivering content formats like bite-sized videos, which HCPs prefer. You should only use it if you’re okay with emails and downloadable content.
  • Steep learning curve — There are many things to learn when onboarding to Adobe Campaign.

    For example, you must figure out how to launch an email marketing campaign and translate the reports and metrics before making decisions. Therefore, it will take beginners a lot of training to master the system.

3. Best HCP engagement platform for Webinars — ON24

HCP webinar platform

ON24 is an HCP engagement channel specializing in webinars to engage HCPs.

But it still offers multiple HCP engagement solutions like virtual conferences and live streaming services.

The webinar platform has multiple engagement tools to turn attendees into participants and drive high engagement while HCPs view the content.

This is possible because of the numerous engagement and conversion tools such as live chats, a resource library, and an intuitive dashboard for easy navigation.

HCP webinar dashboard

Advantages of ON24

  • Insightful analytics — As HCPs engage with your content, ON24 gives you in-depth data on each HCP's interest in their engagement profile.
  • Numerous integrations — ON24 allows you to integrate with your favorite systems like Hubspot, Marketo, and Salesforce to make more informed marketing decisions and a greater impact.

Disadvantages of ON24

  • Room to improve customer service — While ON24 claims to offer live support during webinars, reviewers on G2 say that it’s only through email communication and you won’t necessarily speak to the same person if you engage multiple times.
  • Limited editing functionality — You can’t edit live webinars. If the live version isn’t perfect, you must export, edit, and re-upload it, which is tiresome. 

4. Building on your own — Custom HCP engagement platform solution

This isn’t an HCP engagement platform, but it’s the first thing pharma companies think about.

Typically, it involves creating an HCP platform from scratch.

You’ll have to pull in all the resources and build your hub using components from CMS platforms like Drupal or Magnolia.

Advantages of custom HCP engagement platform solutions

  • Complete control of your platform from A to Z — Creating a customized HCP platform allows you to take everything in the direction you want. You can add personalized features that give HCPs what they want.
  • Great customization options — You’ve got a better understanding of what your target HCPs want. You can structure your HCP platform with the right developers to meet those needs by adding unique features, integrations, and supporting applications.

Disadvantages of custom HCP engagement platform solutions

  • Building takes time — Creating/coding your customized HCP platform takes 18-24 months.

    In addition, the process is technical and will require a dedicated team to complete. Unfortunately, development isn’t the core capability of pharma companies, so in-house development may add additional challenges.
  • Often suboptimal, non-personalized user experience — When not done well, a customized HCP platform often has issues with clunky interfaces creating friction in the user experience.
  • Expensive to build — Coding a whole CMS platform with all risk factors is quite costly. You need a lot of resources and the right workforce (which is often not cheap) to make everything from the ground up. It usually starts with $2 million.
  • Fails long-term — Typically, the costs start to get out of control, new features are not built fast, maintenance and security become challenging, and most of your time and money is spent solving problems rather than driving the business forward.

Final thoughts

HCP engagement has already taken the expected turn to digital channels.

To keep up with the demand, pharma companies must follow suit. You can do this in many ways, but none is better than leveraging HCP engagement platforms. They have the features, capabilities, and integrations to make it easy for you and HCPs. 

If you want the tool best suited for the task, consider Evermed. 

Click here and start engaging HCPs with actionable, bite-sized videos.

3-STEP FREE GUIDE

How to Engage HCPs Using Neflix-Like Content Hubs

GET IT NOW

3-Step Guide to Engaging HCPs Using Netflix-Like Content Hubs

FAQ on HCP engagement platforms

What is an HCP engagement platform?

An HCP engagement platform is a 1st or 3rd party platform that allows pharma companies to interact and build relationships with HCPs. They also get to collect user-level data to power all their omnichannel activities.

The most common way healthcare companies use HCP engagement platforms is to create and distribute different types of content, such as bite-sized videos, online conferences, infographics, and downloadable content.

What does an omnichannel HCP marketing approach look like?

Omnichannel approach is when pharma companies integrate and coordinate multiple marketing channels to engage and interact with healthcare professionals.

For example, if you’re a pharma company selling medicine for metastatic breast cancer products, you can:

  1. build an educational video hub called “Breast Cancer Hub”
  2. send HCPs an email with educational information regarding the latest guidelines on breast cancer.
  3. on the video hub you can invite the HCPs to a webinar where KOLs talk about the latest scientific data on the topic.  

What are the benefits of using HCP engagement platforms?

Some of the benefits of using HCP engagement platforms are:

  • They enable peer-to-peer collaboration with timely content
  • They help you build relationships with HCPs
  • They offer HCPs convenience, as HCPs can access content anywhere at any time
  • They allow you to track HCPs’ online behavior to derive insights

What are the best HCP engagement platforms for pharma companies?

The best HCP engagement platforms every pharma company should consider are:

  • Best HCP engagement platform for videos — Evermed
  • Best HCP Engagement platform for newsletters — Adobe Campaign
  • Best HCP engagement platform for webinars — ON24

If you found this article helpful, do others a favor and share it on your social media. It only takes a click of a button!

Tweet 0
Share 0

More Articles from Evermed