In the ever-evolving landscape of life sciences marketing, engaging effectively with healthcare professionals (HCPs) is crucial. An end-to-end digital engagement journey requires a structured approach to drive interactions that productively influence HCP behaviour. This blog outlines four critical stages in this journey: Discover, Design, Deploy and Measure. By focusing on these steps, life sciences companies can optimize their marketing strategies, keeping customer-centricity at the forefront while navigating the complexities of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and other regional regulations.

End-to-End Digital Engagement Journey

DISCOVER: Gather HCP insights and market intelligence

The first step in engaging HCPs digitally is gaining a comprehensive understanding of them. Without a foundation of robust, accurate and structured data, identifying and segmenting HCPs is nearly impossible. Life sciences companies must invest in data that is not only current but also granular enough to enable effective segmentation.

In order to generate actionable HCP profiles, it is first necessary to augment the collected data with relevant insights. This involves establishing personas and archetypes based on behavioural and professional characteristics. Successful profiling strategies must strike the right balance between having too few personas, which can lead to a lack of personalization, and having too many, which can become unmanageable. The goal is to create personas that resonate with distinct groups of HCPs, facilitating targeted and effective engagement.

DESIGN: Craft an omnichannel mix and engagement strategies

After gaining a clear understanding of the target HCPs, the next step is designing an omnichannel engagement strategy. This involves formulating the right mix of channels and crafting compelling content that resonates with each HCP segment. The messages must be tailored to address the specific pain points, preferences and professional challenges of the HCPs.

Omnichannel engagement is about reaching HCPs through multiple touchpoints, including email, social media, webinars and more. The key is ensuring that these channels are not operating in silos, but rather are integrated to provide a cohesive and seamless experience. This requires a thoughtful approach to content creation and delivery, making each piece of content relevant, engaging and timely.

Moreover, the design phase involves leveraging tools and technologies to support agility in engagement. AI plays a significant role here, from automating content creation to optimizing the timing and delivery of communications. AI can also assist in personalizing content to meet the specific needs and preferences of each HCP.

DEPLOY: Implement omnichannel engagement and onboard HCPs

Once the engagement strategy is designed, it's time to deploy it. This involves executing the omnichannel plan, onboarding HCPs and seeding community behaviour. Effective deployment requires a coordinated effort across all channels, such that each touchpoint contributes to a unified engagement experience.

Authenticated HCP journeys can be tailored to seamlessly onboard HCPs and boost the performance of brand and event promotion. Onboarding can be enhanced by leveraging AI to personalize the experience, ensuring that each HCP receives the right information and support at the right time. You can facilitate pull-based engagement through interactive content, such as webinars and online forums, where HCPs can share insights and best practices. Building a community around your brand helps in sustaining engagement and encourages ongoing interaction with HCPs.

At this stage, the integration of touchpoints within your ecosystem is paramount. Strategies are developed to elevate product visibility within the healthcare sector, circulate key messages to physicians, and optimize the overall experience for HCPs. This integration is crucial for a cohesive and impactful engagement strategy.

MEASURE: Optimize Marketing Strategy and Engagement Tactics

The final step in the end-to-end digital HCP engagement journey is measuring results and optimizing the strategies based on insights gained. Although life sciences marketing often has access to a wealth of metrics, the challenge lies in using these metrics effectively.

Traditional KPIs like open rates and click-through rates are always important, but they provide only a partial view of engagement. To gain a holistic understanding, companies need to examine agnostic KPIs that reflect the overall impact of the omnichannel strategy. Metrics like pre- and post-campaign share of voice and brand sentiment can provide valuable insights into how the engagement strategy is influencing HCP perceptions and behaviours.

Integrating cross-channel analytics is critical for a comprehensive view of HCP interactions. This involves combining data from all channels to understand the collective impact on engagement. AI can play a pivotal role here, helping to unify data from different sources and providing deeper insights into HCP behaviour.

In the EU, where GDPR and other regulatory requirements add complexity to data management, it's essential to maintain compliance while optimizing engagement. This includes obtaining the necessary consents and properly managing data privacy. Life sciences companies must navigate these regulations carefully, leveraging their data assets to create compliant and effective engagement strategies.

Navigate these four key steps with IQVIA OneKey Global Marketing Services team

For guidance through the pathways to successful HCP engagement, you can turn to OneKey Global Marketing Services. Powered by OneKey, the world’s largest and most comprehensive network of real-time HCP data, our team provides a multidimensional view of prospective HCP customers to inform compelling, adaptive engagement strategies. By evaluating both macro-level and micro-level views of KPIs, we use OneKey to yield a holistic understanding of HCPs. This comprehensive approach allows companies to see the bigger picture, integrating insights from all channels to understand the collective impact on engagement, rather than focusing solely on individual channel metrics.

OneKey empowers companies to create an impactful engagement experience that is customer-centric and compliant with regional and country regulations. The OneKey Global Marketing Services Team can easily drive multicountry activations with a centralized single point of contact for you. The integration of AI and other advanced technologies further enhances this journey, enabling companies to stay agile and innovative in a competitive landscape.

Ultimately, the goal is to build meaningful and lasting relationships with HCPs, ensuring that life sciences companies can effectively support and engage their target audience.