Look before you leap

It’s a myth that the life sciences don’t get multichannel. The industry clearly does understand the benefits – and also appreciates the challenge of implementing it. Multichannel requires new ways of working and many more tactics. The websites, apps, social media platforms, and video channels all need developing, approving, implementing, measuring and constant updating to remain relevant. And that requires investment – not just in the technology and content but also in people to ensure that there are the skills to make it happen. [Anthill Agency]

In preparing for the implementation of multichannel marketing and adding new digital channels to your mix, it is a good idea to pause and do a back-end assessment.

Can the business cope with what you are wanting to do?
Have you considered the needs of all stakeholders?
What are the interrelated systems and processes that you need to understand?
What obstacles and barriers do you foresee?
What are the business gains? Are they well understood throughout the organization?
What analytics are needed to understand what is working and what is not?

As our subject expert partner Anthill advises – it does not have to be “all or nothing”:

Multichannel eDetailing

This less than full approach to multichannel might be a new but welcome concept for busy Customer Excellence leaders who need to drive new digital marketing capabilities without breaking the back end or frustrating the reps. We know that the customer does not want to interact with disparate channels with the same content and messages. While consistency in the experience is vital, each channel should offer something different, yet still created as an integrated story. An example is a customer interacting with the rep and the eDetailer, then moving to the suggested website the rep emailed the customer following the visit. Here we have three the initiating channel and 2 subsequent channel interactions based on that first rep visit. Thus - Multichannel eDetailing!

Integrated channels

If your channels are connected as an integrated story, the customer moves seamlessly between them. The journey gets deeper, the engagement richer, and the relationship develops.

If you are struggling with the journey to digital transformation, start with the eDetailer for those customers who you can already identify as open to this approach. Build your Multi-channel plan by value-adding deeper content on a website, a related webinar by a KOL, a rep-triggered email notification of the event, and so on. Make sure the rep is involved. Before you know it, you will have a multichannel marketing campaign and deeper engagements by customers, based on a solid plan of content relevant to the target personas in the channels they naturally go to.

Content is king. But customers need to know where to find it. How are you inviting your target audience to your multi-channel interactions?

“Your customer-facing staff are already in contact with healthcare professionals and can use a smart e-detailing system to connect them to new channels. And by enabling further exploration of topics, considerable extra value is added to your detailing work.” [Anthill]