5 Digital Transformations in Pharma

Posted in Digital Healthcare Insights

1. Content will continue to be at its most compelling when value-driven

The largest of pharma firms must now acknowledge that they’re no longer the sole providers of information about their products.

The online world, pharma users and peer communities are now rich sources of information and guidance – something that pharma must understand and compliment.

Content that is value-driven in the form of blog content, emotive messaging, social media posts, and eye-grabbing visuals should combine to the most impressive of effects. A shining example of which is the “Take This, MS!” campaign. This social campaign truly understood its audience. It was colourful, cheeky and didn’t talk down to MS sufferers, who are usually highly educated and research-wise. 

2. Patients are more engaged in their care

85% of patients feel confident in their ability to take personal responsibility for their health and understand how they can access digital and online resources to assist them.

Healthcare professionals are the link between the patient and the pharma industry, and they will remain so. Yet the vast amount of information now at hand to them means that they’re more informed and research-savvy than ever before. This means that pharma will no longer overlook the end user. Instead their patients should become a viable target market who increasingly has a say in what brand they may be prescribed.

3. AI chatbots should play a key role in big pharma customer service

37% of us would use a chatbot in an emergency, while one in four people are more willing to trust customer service chatbots with their sensitive information than a human

Pharma brands Johnson & Johnson and MedxNote already use chatbots, while a growing number of advanced healthcare apps use chatbots as their base (like Babylon Health, Woebot and OneRemission). 

While chatbots are far from prevalent among the biggest names in pharma, they do hold promise for everything from boosting efficiency to dealing with client, patient or customer queries.

4. Digital means that pharma must make their data vivid, visual and beautiful

Patients who seek scientific information should be treated with insightful data that is mapped out visually – rather than cumbersome datasets that are of use only to pharma professionals. This accessibility will improve transparency and further patient engagement.

5. Phrama brands will increasingly work with Influencers

70% of Millennials prefer product endorsements by non-celebrity bloggers

Influencers are a persuasive marketing tool in almost every industry, but they remain most linked to diet products, makeup and clothes. 

In the coming years, we’ll see pharma brands working with social stars, as they attempt to break the barriers between official marketing messages and hitting a genuine message home.

^^^ Amcal Pharmacy teamed up with diabetic supercar driver, Jack Perkins.