The PDQ Guide: How To Market To Doctors

At any given time of day in the United States, there’s a high likelihood that if you turned on the television you might catch a commercial advertising prescription medicine to consumers. “Ask your doctor today if [insert drug name here] is right for you,” they advise. While the B2C pharmaceutical marketing industry is thriving, the fact is that marketing directly to doctors is better, for the sector and consumers.

With increasingly busy physicians and ever-changing industry rules, this is easier said than done, however, so we’ve put together this brief guide to help.

Target your audience based on specialty and prescribing habits.

The focus for today’s pharma marketers is to reach the most impactful physicians through segmentation and targeting. It’s no longer about reaching the most physicians, it’s about reaching the right physicians.

If you partner with the right non-personal communication provider with access to industry-leading data, there are a number of selections you can make to ensure that you are targeting physicians who are providing the lion’s share of patient care and prescribing in your selected category. Those selections might include: physician specialty, prescribing volume, location, and more.

Know if they are receptive to communication.

Know before reaching out via email whether or not they’re open to communication.

If you’re purchasing contacts, sourcing email contact information from double opt-in lists will ensure that your messaging isn’t sent to the spam folder. For contacts from your Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software, make sure you take careful notes on previous interactions.

Be specific.

Your copy has to be precise, concise, and attention-grabbing. Doctors have limited time, so you need to tell them exactly what to expect from your product and why they should choose it.

Hook doctors with thought-provoking, research-supported copy, and immediately paint a picture of what your product does and how it will improve patient outcomes.

Use a multi-channel approach.

Diversity is the bread and butter of a robust, effective, lead generating marketing strategy. There is no single tactic—direct mail, email, online advertising, or sales rep activities—that will reach the majority of your key HCPs. You must meet each where they are and reach them with the right tactic, at the right time, with the right message.

Utilizing multiple channels such as email and direct mail allows you to quickly respond to change—important as the market evolves during the COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, several studies have shone that a multichannel plan tends to improve the awareness and effectiveness of each tactic.

Catch their eye in order to convert.

Direct mail, a tactic that once seemed to be falling out of favor as digital tactics took center stage, has gained renewed attention. It is here to stay, so it should be part of any pharmaceutical marketer’s arsenal. As is the case with many industries, direct mail has been able to stay relevant and essential through innovations such as eye-catching designs, interesting use of color, and even unexpected shapes and sizes, such as pop-ups or even 3D puzzles.

By making your message pop—sometimes literally—you’ll stand out in doctors’ minds, increasing the likelihood that they’ll remember your product and be more inclined to pursue more information about it.