Webinars are rated as one of the top three most effective marketing tactics in today’s times. Pharma marketers too have begun to recognize them as important digital tools for building a strong relationship with physicians. However, the effectiveness of a webinar depends on the finesse with which it is planned and executed. Targeting the right audience in large numbers, great pre and post-marketing of the event, and hassle-free execution using the best technology and media support are the chief factors that distinguish a successful webinar from an unsuccessful one.
Based on its vast experience in end-to-end webinar solutions, Docplexus explains why webinars are so attractive and also offers guidelines for their success:
Why Are Pharma Webinars So Cool?
- Apt for the Digital Age – Our survey on online behavior on Indian doctors revealed that 72% of all the physicians sourced drug-related information online. 78% of them favored learning through videos as they are immersive and easy to grasp. Webinars are the perfect tools that cater to these changing needs. The internet revolution is penetrating deep into the Indian subcontinent. By 2020, 75% of new internet users will be from the hinterlands. The share of 3G and 4G data services is also set to increase, allowing for faster speeds. These factors create an ideal environment in which technology can be leveraged to effectively fulfill the learning needs of the medical community.
- Convenience for Attendees – Increasingly-busy doctors finds webinars highly convenient to attend. This is especially true for those based in smaller towns and rural areas, who would otherwise be required to take a break from treating patients and travel to another location. Webinars save costs, time and efforts for doctors.
- The Comfort Factor – It may be daunting for doctors, especially juniors, to seek clarifications on the topic being discussed from amongst a large audience in an in-person seminar. On the other hand, webinars, owing to their indirect nature, offer a more comfortable environment in which doctors can pose all sorts of queries and doubts.
- Time-Saving – For pharma marketers, planning and organizing a webinar consumes significantly less time than a seminar. This allows them to conduct more such events in the same amount of time and also focus their attention on other marketing initiatives.
- Large Audience – Since webinars eliminate geographical barriers, pharma marketers can easily obtain a large audience for their communication initiative. Moreover, there is no cap on the number of attendees for a single webinar as opposed to an in-person seminar.
- Real-Time Discussions and Queries – Webinars help pharma companies get instant insights into the kind of clinical dilemmas and doubts that commonly arise in doctors’ minds while being introduced to a new drug. This can help them create the right kind of marketing messages in future. Since the audience present in a webinar is generally in high numbers, often hailing from diverse geographical locations, its opinions may be considered as an accurate representation of the whole. This improves the probability of success of pharma’s marketing efforts.
- Higher Engagement – In order to stay relevant to doctors, pharma companies are moving beyond the traditional marketing ways of ‘banner and flyer’ advertisements. They are now shifting their focus from sales to connecting to physicians and building a relationship with them. Webinars establish pharma companies as thought leaders and educators in the minds of doctors which helps secure a long-term connect. Studies have proven that the visual medium increases consumers’ understanding of a product/service by 74% as compared to traditional seminars that adopt a narrative style with limited use of product videos.
- On-Demand Viewing – A big advantage of webinars is that they can be accessed at a later date. This improves the reach of the marketing message. Doctors who have attended the live streaming can also go back to the recorded version as and when required.
- Push v/s Pull Marketing – Being a pull effort, webinars attract only those doctors who are genuinely interested in the topic being discussed. This ensures their active participation, improving the overall quality and results of the event. Webinars play an important role in pharma’s attempts to transform itself from being a seller to an enabler of the prescription decision.
Tips For A Successful Marketing Webinar
- Establish Clear Webinar Goals – Pharma marketers should know what they want to achieve through their webinars. While some may want to be perceived as drug innovators, others may want to project themselves as knowledge partners. Clear objectives will steer the planning and creation process of the webinar in the right direction.
- Identify the Market’s Information Needs – Pharma marketers need to spot the therapeutic areas in which doctors have unfulfilled information needs. This may be done through online polls and discussions as well as feedback from sales representatives. A webinar topic that revolves around a recent medical advancement or a controversial clinical finding usually draws the largest audience.
- Bring On Board A Renowned KOL – Doctors look forward to learning from leading medical experts of their field. Only an eminent KOL is capable of answering all queries and guide on best treatment practices. Therefore, bringing a respected KOL to deliver the webinar is of utmost importance.
- Attend to Details – It is crucial to plan the entire event to the minutest detail. Special attention should be paid to the day and time of the webinar. Depending upon the topic of discussion, a suitable type of webinar may be selected. Some KOLs incorporate presentations into their webinars for a better learning experience.
- Promote the Event Effectively – For a webinar to draw a huge viewership, it has to be backed by sound marketing. Marketers can create a separate page for the webinar featuring the topic, the speakers, the molecules to be discussed and the registration formalities. They should leverage their social media presence and the official blog to spread the word around. An email campaign may be created to inform the target segment about the registration details. Regular reminders may be sent to the registrants before the event.
A very important but oft-neglected promotional aspect is that of the webinar’s marketing post the live-streaming. This could increase views of the recorded version and ensure that the engagement continues long after the event. It can also set the stage for more targeted content marketing efforts based on parameters like number of repeat views, registrants versus attendees, number of recorded-only views, etc.
- Collate A Multi-functional Team Comprising Experts – Planning and executing a webinar requires the combined synergies of various functional experts. Medical content strategists, media executives, technology leaders and digital marketers need to form a cohesive team and execute the entire webinar process smoothly.
- Provide the Best Viewing Experience – A webinar’s success rests majorly on its seamless real-time execution. Use of the latest technology backed by sound technical support will ensure uninterrupted quality.
- Analyze Results and Revise Strategy – Qualitative and quantitative insights should be analyzed to understand the impact made by the webinar. Some of the main metrics to measure webinar success are:
- Click-through rate
- Attendee ratio
- Audience retention
- On-demand viewership
- Audience interaction and engagement
Questions posed and discussions initiated by individual attendees following the webinar must be carefully studied and used wisely to reach out to them in the following period.
It is obvious that if a webinar has to achieve the desired outcomes, it has to be planned with precision and executed with perfection. The above approach will help pharma marketers derive maximum value from webinars as a digital marketing tool.
How Can Docplexus Help?
Having successfully executed several marketing webinars for pharma, Docplexus possesses the experience and expertise to flawlessly execute an end-to-end webinar event. A membership of over 1,75,000 gives our clients a wide organic audience. We offer complete webinar assistance that includes identifying the content gap, planning and executing the event, lending marketing support before and after the live webinar session, and post-event data analysis and feedback.
View some of our webinars here: https://goo.gl/aiGH0s
View the complete webinar insights infographic here: Docplexus’ Insights On Webinars
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