ePromotion

ePromotion: Multilingual Opportunities

Traditionally, pharmaceutical companies aim their marketing bullets at physicians since they are a source point for drug prescriptions. Sales tactics place representatives armed to the teeth with samples and product information on the forefront with pharmaceutical company sponsored Continuing Medical Education (CME) covering the flanks. eMarketing demands pharmaceutical companies rethink these tactics.

Physicians are no longer limited to in-person visits by human sales reps. Like many of their patients, doctors are now increasingly utilizing online and mobile resources to access the latest in medical news and information.

According to SDI’s ePromotion Annual Study for 2008, 67% of physicians had a positive attitude toward electronic promotions, up from 62% in the 2007 SDI study and expected to increase further in the upcoming 2009 study.

One thousand physicians across a variety of specialties were surveyed and asked to rate ePromotion activities in three categories: virtual details (promotions without live communication); video details (live online promotion or telephone-assisted internet browsing); and virtual events (seminars, CME and KOL events, web conferences and group discussions).

Seventy-three percent of these physicians claimed “pharma’s electronic promotional activities were equal or superior to traditional face-to-face encounters.”

More and more pharmaceutical companies are responding in kind. In fact, Pfizer increased its spending for online professional promotion by 90% in 2009. According to SDI, 2009 marked the ninth straight year in which spending on ePromotion has increased as well as the number of companies utilizing it as an alternative to live sales people.

While this is not good news for the job security of sales reps, ePromotion has many good points. Since improper sample distribution, mishandling doctor’s questions or appearing to promote a product for off-label usage can land a company in court, controlling the message a company conveys can be vital to its bottom line. Lawsuits are expensive.

Another helpful aspect of ePromotion is accessibility. As they should be, physicians are busy seeing patients. Allowing them to peruse your message at their convenience, whether between patients or in the evening can make them more likely to actually get the message.

Often overlooked but probably the most important piece that makes ePromotion viable and useful is the ability to take accessibility a step further. Sales reps tend to be monolingual and their audience is limited. Electronic promotions tend to be less expensive than costly printed materials allowing for an investment in translating messages able to cross cultures and languages. It becomes possible to market to Hispanic or Asian doctors directly and in their native tongue, in turn making them more likely to pay attention to your product.

Granted, traditional sales tactics have their place and it is unlikely that human sales representatives will become obsolete. Some people appreciate an in person visit and like the human touch. However, the uptake of ePromotions opens avenues to control a company’s output and reach physician populations who may not have been getting the message.

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