To arrive at the perfect marketing communications strategy for engaging physicians, marketers must internalize their mindset and behavior to the deepest level. No matter what the end goal is – a big bang product launch, revival of legacy brands, or creating thought-leadership through KOLs, precisely mapping doctors’ awareness levels, their perceptions, and information gaps is the building block of a successful marketing strategy. But this is easier said than done, considering the fact that Pharma continues to rely on outdated ways to understand the market and doctors become less forgiving of the monotony that has set in pharma communications.
Why are Current Methods of Gauging HCP Mindsets Failing?
Pharma marketers usually rely on market research studies, self-conducted or outsourced, to understand their audience. But these studies fail to deliver desired outcomes as they are rarely exhaustive, lack credibility, and do not give conclusive idea about specific pain points of doctors.
Major Problems with Existing Survey Methods
Narrow sample size: Most market research studies are restricted to urban and semi-urban areas. When self-initiated, pharma marketers can only reach out to doctors in two to three cities. Moreover, they often find it difficult to get a cross-disciplinary perspective. This keeps them from getting a pulse of the overall physician population.
Outdated insights: Prevailing survey methods are usually a one-time effort. Given the huge scale of these studies when done via conventional channels, it is very difficult to repeat them at regular intervals to understand latest scenario. There is a huge downside to this as strategies based on a study done several months back cannot fulfill HCP needs today.
Lack of credibility: Getting busy doctors to fill surveys is a tough task for agencies. Most doctors do not complete the survey or even fill their own responses. In a bid to finish the study, agency representatives often compromise on the authenticity of responses. In an attempt to garner maximum responses marketers often incentivise doctors. This raises the possibility of results skewed in favour of sponsoring company’s offerings. Also, doctors usually perceive pharma-initiated studies biased, often lacking clarity into the objective behind them.
Over-reliance on one channel:In-person clinic visits are the most common way of collecting responses to surveys. But most doctors now spend less than 5 minutes with MRs, that too only once a month. Such interactions definitely cannot provide real insights into sentiments for planning a whole marketing strategy.
Getting HCP Mindset Analysis Right
Explore multiple touchpoints: Pharma must explore new-age channels of communication in addition to conventional routes. Today, doctors are fast migrating to online platforms. These virtual communities are an ocean of behavioral data and the key to gauge the underlying sentiments and attitudes of members.
Broaden your pool of relevant target audience: There are 10.5 lakh registered allopathic doctors practicing in India. Close to one third of these are a part of closed online professional networks. Docplexus alone has 3,80,000+ doctors from 99+ specialties and 1,600+ towns & cities across India. Therefore, results of online studies are a more accurate representation of the entire universe.
Make doctors want to participate: Surveys should be smartly designed, crisp to finish in few minutes but comprehensive to secure key insights. It is very important to convince doctors of the need to share their inputs on a particular topic. They should be convinced of the objective of the study and trust those conducting it. Pushy representatives are a sure shot way to discourage authentic responses.
Tap the latest insights: In the rapidly changing world of medical science, doctors loyal to a particular therapy today may choose a drastically different approach tomorrow. It’s necessary for marketers to gain the newest information about doctors’ sentiments for only this will help them design futuristic strategies for their brands. Online polls can provide real-time insights into how & what doctors think of a particular therapy.
Docplexus Mindset Analysis: Pharma’s Deep Dive Into Medical Minds
Docplexus Mindset Analysis Solution uses online polls to help pharma marketers precisely understand how & what 380,000+ doctors from 99+ specialty areas and 1,600+ towns think, and develop a solid communications strategy based on these insights.
