4 Reasons Mobile Marketing should be a Part of Your Next Campaign
As physicians use of mobile spikes, pharmaceutical marketers are calculating the implications for their brand and the industry. Today, reaching health care providers (HCPs) through their mobile devices is an essential tactic to communicate brand messages. Nothing is more telling about the need for mobile marketing than the rate at which HCPs are integrating the use of mobile into their clinical routines and the influence these devices have on their current prescribing.
According to recent market research data:
- Two-thirds of physicians are now using a mobile device/smart phone for professional purposes and 70% of these users indicate that their mobile device is essential to their practice¹
- Physicians are using mobile devices not just to access drug guides but increasingly to access clinical reference guides (i.e. medical textbooks), dosage calculators, treatment guidelines, product updates, formulary information and numerous other digital resources¹
- Physicians surveyed are now using the Internet (often via mobile devices) between patient consultations (71%) and during patient consultations (34%)¹
- During a patient encounter, 90% of physicians said the mobile device channel provides clinical information that is most influential on their prescribing and treatment decisions2
As physician use of mobile devices for professional purposes continues to expand, and given the influence these devices have on care decisions, pharmaceutical marketers must ensure that they have a comprehensive mobile strategy. Proper implementation of a mobile strategy can go a long way in helping pharmaceutical marketers to build and maintain successful relationships with physicians by providing them with the clinical tools, resources, and information for their mobile devices that they rely on to make care decisions on a daily basis.
In addition, it is important that a mobile strategy be integrated into an overall strategic marketing plan, not as a standalone strategy. In fact, research shows that the majority of physicians still prefer and respond to online marketing channels, including eDetailing¹, eSampling and email. Therefore, to expand reach and increase message relevance, it is important to message targeted physicians via the digital channels and tactics of their choice. Furthermore, integrated, multi-channel e-Marketing campaigns can increase efficiency, provide greater learning and can result in higher ROI.
Consider these four reasons that mobile marketing should be a part of your next campaign:
Reason #1—Increased Reach
- 400,000 physicians are now using mobile devices for professional purposes¹
- Your brand message goes wherever the physician goes, even internationally
Reason #2—Increased Relevance
- Physicians often use mobile devices to search for information on a specific brand or disease state. Messaging physicians during these times makes your message more relevant¹
Reason #3—Increased Speed of Information Delivery
- With a quick development time, your brand information can be sent to physicians at the point of care in 48 hours or less
Reason #4—Proven ROI
- Mobile marketing can be several times less expensive on a per message delivery basis than other digital marketing tactics
- Mobile marketing is proven to return a high ROI and has the ability to meet the brand’s lifecycle and budget needs
Skyscape, part of the Physicians Interactive family of companies since July 2009, delivers medical information via mobile devices using applications that engage the HCP, wherever they happen to be. For instance, Skyscape’s MedAlert™ serves the needs of physicians who want to stay on top of the latest medical news and treatment options, delivering brand messages directly to the point of care. MedAlerts™ arrive to the HCP in the form of medical abstracts, prescribing information, new indications, clinical reprints, study results, treatment guidelines and patient coupons.
¹Taking the Pulse, 2009, Manhattan Research
²Skyscape Physicians Survey, 2008
For more information or to learn about the online marketing solutions that Physicians Interactive provides, please contact us at 800-794-6757 or info@physiciansinteractive.com.
