It’s been over two years since we pondered how the life sciences industry would be transformed by embracing virtual events, and began to understand the opportunities created by an increased influx of customer engagement-related analytics generated through online engagement. This is how we saw the world back then as the COVID-19 pandemic was forcing rapid changes, with virtual engagements being the obvious solution. As the pandemic subsided, and physical events re-emerged, we quickly uncovered that customer audiences had changed their behavior and preferences.

IQVIA research demonstrated this. Fifty-five percent (55%) of HCPs stated that attending virtual events is as good for learning as attending in person, while 17% were unsure. Seventy-eight (78%) percent of those same HCPs stated that they consider in-person congresses and symposia to be critical or very important, while 70% expressed the same opinion for virtual congresses and symposia. This very small difference of only 8% clearly demonstrates how the HCPs’ mentality has shifted.

In-person events have been a staple of human interaction for centuries. They are an extremely important channel of communication that is well understood and embraced. However, the new way of interacting is through digital channels. This is where we still have a lot to learn, and this is where life sciences companies need to focus to create significant competitive advantages by combining their existing traditional in-person strategies with new and innovative digital approaches.

Key trends

Today, a combination of minor and major trends have created an ever-changing and dynamic environment. Arguably, the two most important ones right now are the evolution of technology and the evolution of the audience.

Rapidly evolving technology

The sudden global need for more solutions with enhanced innovative features triggered a race to develop new virtual engagement tools. This was demonstrated not only by the rapid enhancement of virtual solutions by major existing providers (e.g., Zoom, Webex, and MS Teams), but also sparked the creation or pushed to the limelight multiple new providers and some pre-existing, smaller start-ups.

The trend is expected to continue, with some research anticipating the growth of the virtual meeting software industry to exceed 25% CAGR, and drive what was an $11B industry in 2021 to a $78B one by 2030. Concurrent to this market growth, we continue to see rapid product development with enhancements that promote live and asynchronous engagement¹ with audiences. This is materializing with the entry of new and innovative solutions in the market (e.g., Scoot) or via M&A and integration of third-party solutions (e.g., the acquisition of Slido by Webex or the launch of Zoom apps by Zoom).

Audience evolution

The aforementioned focus on new solution development is largely reactionary and proportionate to the rapid change that the pandemic brought to the way audiences behave. Audiences that were previously resistant and reluctant to participate in virtual meetings became very comfortable with the format. HCPs are a prime example of this dynamic.

HCP expectations related to the availability and ease of access to scientific information changed. This change was accelerated by the improvement in KOLs’ lifestyle when they realized that they could achieve a much better work-life balance and similar results without the need to travel. Concise scientific information that was communicated via efficient and short online events was very much appreciated, while the need to attend a physical event was primarily dependent on the benefits of coming into closer contact with a community of peers to network, debate, and hold more productive discussions on new developments.

Younger generations of HCPs that are now graduating from medical schools are expected to accelerate this dynamic even more as they are more comfortable with asynchronous engagement.

The key challenge

This volatile and exciting environment presents a key challenge for the life sciences industry which has historically been slow in adopting new technologies. Many companies that were once adamantly opposed to virtual events have shifted their preference to digital-first communication strategies because of undeniable data indicating that they can reduce budgets while still reaching and growing audiences.

As always, overcorrecting during unprecedented situations is a common pitfall. The pandemic has subsided, and HCPs are demonstrating an increase of willingness to attend in-person events. Life sciences companies are following suit with increasing the spend on live meetings and events. Taking an extreme stance will not be productive. Pushing forward with digital only can be alienating, and regressing to pre-pandemic in-person only strategies will only be interpreted as a lack of acknowledgment that the world changed.

Life sciences companies need to remain vigilant and realize that it will take time to achieve a new balanced mix of digital and in-person engagements. This mix will not be a one-size-fits-all recipe. It will be very specific to the type of company, products, therapeutic area, and the demographic that each one of them is addressing.

The importance of data

The way data is collected during HCP engagements and then processed will help to increase the success of subsequent programs and engagements. In-depth analytics are an integral part of digital engagements, and the same can be applied to in-person engagements by using meeting applications to evaluate outcomes. The most important benefit of doing this is that it gives us the opportunity to reduce bias and observe the behavior of our audience in an environment devoid of peer pressure and social conventions. The audience is free to behave “like no one is observing,” and that gives us a new understanding of what is important to them.

This influx of data needs to be part of a consistent engagement analytics collection effort that constantly generates relevant and actionable insights through the use of AI and ML.

What the future holds

The stakeholders of the life sciences industry are aware that they need to consider these factors to various degrees over the next few years, and the way each one of them will decide to address this overall new dynamic will be a deciding factor of program success.

At IQVIA, we believe that the consistent collection and incorporation of event-generated analytics into a data-driven communications strategy is a necessary next step into a world of connected intelligence.

Building an ecosystem with a strong feedback loop will be critical in ensuring commercial success in the Speaker Bureau of the future. Tracking more facets of programs and building data-centric instrumentation to track them will enable constant and continued learning, both human and machine. Live meetings deliver strong networking and unique learning opportunities for HCPs. Virtual meetings lend themselves to digital observance. Enabling the measurement of program parameters empowers new capabilities, such as tuning content for proper audience resonance, the targeted placement of that content in front of observably interested parties across parameters like TA, product, regional strategies, and more raw demographics. The optimization of virtual meetings will leverage data and intelligence to break down legacy barriers, effectively accelerating the ability for a broader reach and more positive outcomes.

¹Asynchronous engagement does not require participants to be present for any live sessions. Participants receive access to content to consume and are assigned tasks to perform at their own pace over a longer period of time. A good example of asynchronous engagement is social media in general where people exchange opinions and interact asynchronously.