Defining the Challenges: Marketing to Doctors

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This is the second blog in a four-part series, “Marketing to HCPs: A Prescription for Successful Outreach.” In this post, we will define the challenges of marketing to doctors in today’s environment. Previously, we explored the trends and evolution of pharmaceutical marketing over recent decades. In our upcoming blogs, we will establish preferred communication methods and strategies for HCP engagement and doctors’ expectations of sales reps.

$2 million – that’s the amount in healthcare costs the average US doctor controls per year. With this in mind, it’s no wonder why everyone wants to market to them. But with their increasing stake in the medical industry, health care providers have become jaded from all of the marketing efforts being aimed at them. To break through to this important audience, marketers must first address some key industry challenges.

How to Market to Doctors?

Doctors are Busy & On-The-Go
With 80% of physicians reporting they are either at capacity or overextended, it is no wonder they don’t spend much time at their desk or a computer.

Marketing to Doctors is Expensive
Limited access to doctors and more regulations than ever before have led to more and more industry players turning to digital marketing methods. While innovations in digital marketing are on the rise, it is important to keep the costs of such initiatives in check.

Regulations are on the Rise
As the saying goes, “There’s no such thing as a free lunch.” But for doctors, physicians, and medical practices – free lunch comes with the job, for now at least… Effective August 1, 2013, The Open Payments Program of the Sunshine Act mandated the reporting of all payments to physicians exceeding $10, whether for consulting, research, speaking engagements, travel, and yes – even those signature meals. Well beyond the Sunshine Act, compliance laws and policies governing pharmaceutical representative access and interactions with healthcare professionals exist today at federal, state, and local levels.

With these challenges comes an opportunity – a chance for companies to rethink their business models and how they reach out to physicians and customers. And just like everything else in business, some companies are going to respond better than others.

In today’s regulated environment, it’s no longer viable for marketers to discuss their products with healthcare providers face-to-face. In today’s digital world, effective healthcare marketing starts with the right data. With Redi-Data’s proprietary healthcare databases, maximize eReach efforts and create complete pictures of your target audience using robust demographic, geographic and practice related information.

As doctors are busy and on-the-go, learn about how our digital identity solution’s custom segments can help you accurately target healthcare providers anywhere they are online. 

Redi-Data…Turning the Best Data into Better Business

 

For more on marketing to doctors, check out additional blogs in this series: