Is Anyone Listening? The New Paradigm in Reaching Physicians

By Alex de Aybar, President, Hardrada Medica Group LLC

As Sales & Marketing Executives striving to put together effective programs to reach physicians, we need to re-orient our thinking away from a static, unitary marketing approach to an Integrated eMarketing Platform. We need to realize that the former paradigms that we learned in business schools are no longer relevant in the “New Economy”. How have we been speaking to physicians? Typically, we have focused our efforts via Direct Mail, Journal Advertising and our Detail Sales Reps. Over the last 5 years we have all experienced the same results – declining Direct Mail Response Rates, negligible response off of our Journal Advertising and Physicians who increasingly refuse to speak to our Detail Sales Rep. Increasingly, our Detail Sales Rep are left to refill the Physicians “Sample Bins” but no longer are getting the opportunity to provide and deliver critical product information to the physician.

“The concept behind the Integrated eMarketing Platform is to build one's marketing plan around one Medium and augment and strengthen that medium with other approaches in a integrated and coordinated fashion”
-Alex de Aybar, President, Hardrada Medica Group LLC

The concept behind the Integrated eMarketing Platform is to build one's marketing plan around one Medium and augment and strengthen that medium with other approaches in a integrated and coordinated fashion. There is not one medium that speaks to every single market segment on a customer level. The strength of the Integrated eMarketing Platform approach is that it allows the Sales & marketing executive the ability to target, reach and speak to his/her prospect across a broad spectrum of marketing mediums. Thereby, allowing the Sales & Marketing executive to reach his prospect in a 360 degree arc by employing all of the different mediums. This allows a Pharmaceutical company the luxury of being able to establish as well as strengthen their dialogue/relationship with the physician by reinforcing their marketing message across multiple mediums.

Web 2.0
What do we mean by an Integrated eMarketing Platform? What we are talking about are the different Online Marketing Mediums that have grown out of the Internet Revolution. What is now commonly referred to as Web 2.0. This specifically refers to Video eMails, Webinars, Streaming Video, Blogs, Podcast, Viral Maketing and Websites. At the heart of the Integrated eMarketing Platform is the delivery vehicle that is going to drive the physician to the different components that make up the Integrated eMarketing Platform and that delivery vehicle are Business – Business Physician eMails. B2B Physician eMails are the most cost effective marketing mechanism that will drive Physician traffic to your Website or Landing Page in order to leverage your Web 2.0 Physician Interactive Tools. At the end of the day Web 2.0 Tools were not mean to supplant eMail marketing rather to enhance and leverage eMail Marketing. Not all Physicians will respond via the same Online Marketing Medium. Hence the Web 2.0 Tools serve as a mechanism by which the marketer will have a 360 degree Online "Touch Point Coverage" with his/her Physician audience. The   nexus of your Integrated eMail Marketing Campaign remains the B2B Physician eMails, they are the drivers that will channel traffic to your Website & Landing Pages to leverage your multiple Web 2.0 "Touch Points". The Integrated eMail Marketing Platform allows marketers the ability to engage in Multi-Channel Marketing at the Physician contact level. Finally we have an integrated solution by which we can link all of the various Online Marketing Mediums together in one cohesive Campaign. The ability to have multiple "Touch Points" vis-a-vis Physicians will you to maximize your Response Rates and drive ROI for your firm.

Sequence Marketing
One of the common mistakes that Marketers make in utilizing eMails and specifically Business – Business eMails is that they fall back to the old paradigms of Off-Line Marketing Programs, IE Direct Mail. B2B eMails respond very differently than traditional Direct Mail Programs. Consequently, the Marketing Campaign that we construct around B2B eMails should not emulate a traditional Direct Mail Campaign. In a traditional Direct Mail Campaign if a marketer is marketing to base Prospect File of 50,000 Physician Prospect we would drop the direct mail 1X and expect a total Response Rate of approximately 1% over a (90) day period and then close the campaign out.

The metrics that we have been able to develop over the 3 years that Hardrada Medica Group has been engaged in eMail Marketing in the Healthcare Industry suggests rather conclusively that marketers should adopt a Sequence Wave Campaign when marketing to Physicians via B2B eMails. Sequence Wave Marketing entails designing eMail Marketing Campaign with mutliple deployments per each individual campaign. The concept is to build a online relationship with the Physician(s) via the B2B eMails and to subsequently leverage the multiple deployments per each individual campaign. So, each individual deployment builds on the previous deployment in order to maximize Response Rates.

From a marketing perspective you are telling one cohesive integrate “story” per each individual campaign. Each deployment is but just (1) chapter in the overall s”story” that you are trying to communicate to the Physician(s). You are not trying to communicate your entire message with (1) individual HTML/deployment.

The Hardrada Medica Group's test model aims to find the best use of email to lower the overall cost per conversion and/or increase overall conversion

Hardrada Medica Group employs three different types of sequencing:
Straight Sequence
Interlaced Sequence
Targeting Sequence

Straight Sequence:
This sequence is intended to support a single marketing offer with three transmissions. Increase response by achieving a higher incremental unique open rate.

Interlaced Marketing:
This group will receive a series of three emails, both before and after the direct mail drop. The goal is to build awareness to and follow-up on a direct mail send. This can also be used to generate call center leads.

Targeting Sequence:
This group will receive a series of three emails that precede and help to target a direct mail drop. The goal is to use email response to target direct mail and telemarketing efforts.

Integrating with Detail Sales Rep
One of the challenges that Pharmaceutical Marketers have is in how to integrate their Online Marketing initiatives with their Detail Sales Representatives. Marketers should not view their eMail Marketing Campaigns as being completely separate and unrelated to their Detail Sales Rep initiatives. Rather, Marketers should view their eMail Campaigns as being an extension to their Detail Sales Teams. Integrated correctly, B2B eMails can enhance the efforts of your firms Detail Teams.

We are familiar with segmenting a Physician Prospect Database by either Title, Specialty, Prescribing Patterns/Volume but how many of us segment a Physicians Prospect Database by the individual Detail Sales Rep? The idea is to segment the Physician Prospect Database by the Zip Code's of each individual Detail Sales Rep. This will allow you to be able to personalize the HTML not only with the name of the targeted Physician but also, more importantly with the name of the specific Detail Sales Rep that is assigned to that individual Physician. In this paradigm the first introduction/contact that is made by the individual Detail Sales Rep is made via the HTML that is deployed by your firm. This allows  each Pharmaceutical firm to begin an intricate dialog and relationship that is customized by each individual Detail Sales Rep. The Reply Button is also, customized and segmented by each individual Detail Sales Rep's Postal Code/Territory. So, when the Physician hits the Reply Button the response will be sorted by Postal Code/Territory to the individual Detail Sales Rep that is assigned to that Physician.
The concept behind integrating the eMail Campaign with the Detail Sales Rep is the same as in the above cited Sequence Wave examples. You use the B2B Physician eMails to "Pre-Announce" the up-coming visit that the Detail Sales Rep will make to the individual physician. You are using the individual eMail deployments as the personal calling card of each individual Detail Sales Rep. You are trying to avoid the scenario of a straight "Cold Call" engagement on the part of the Detail Sales Rep. Instead you are leveraging the dialog/relationship that has been established between the Detail Sales Rep and the Physician by utilizing the B2B Physician eMails.

How Do I Craft a Message/Campaign?
The most oft repeated mistake that marketers make when putting together an eMail Marketing Campaign is to try to turn their HTML Campaign into a "Sales Closer" Your eMail Campaign is not a "Sales Closer". Let me repeat this – Your eMail Campaign is not a "Sales Closer". We need to be clear as to what should be your objective for your eMail Campaign. It is to drive Physician traffic to either your Website or Landing Page. It is not the function of your eMail Campaign to replace your Detail Sales Rep and become a "Closing Agent". Too may marketers fall into the trap of thinking that they can simply substitute a Detail Sales Rep with an eMail Marketing Campaign. While, in many ways an eMail Marketing Campaign can be far more effective than a Detail Sale Team they operate and function differently. The most effective campaign are ones in which a marketer will employ multiple Sequence Waves per Campaign with each individual HTML telling one part of a cohesive integrated message with the objective to simply drive traffic to the Website or Landing Page. The following are some simple steps to take to implement a successful HTML.

Be True to the Brand. Rules No.1,2 and 3. E-mail copy should be consistent with the company's brand. Consider it part of an ongoing conversation. The precise tone may vary depending on audience, but the message needs to come from the same person. A clear connection to a respected brand tells the individual that this e-mail is legitimate.

Subject Lines Make or Break You. Subject lines can be tricky. You want to grab the individuals attention,so avoid anything that might cause your e-mail to be relegated to the trash or bulk folder.

Here's What You Should Do:
- Keep the subject line short and direct
- Try to get the message across in the first 35 characters. Some e-mail providers truncate subject lines
- Use benefit-promotional language without being overly promotional

Here's What You Shouldn't Do:
- Write in ALL CAPITALS
- Use exclamation Points
- Use more than (2) Point sizes
- Use more than (2) different types of Font
- Use the color Red
- Use Microsoft Word and/or JavaScript Codes

Body Copy That Works. The edit size of the copy should be kept to around 200-205 words. Outline the incentives clearly and ensure the messaging is as relevant to your particular audience as possible. Otherwise, it may get deleted. Also, remember that users scan, rather than read content online. Keep the copy brief and to the point. Use short blocks of text and bullets to make it easy to scan. Individuals receive lots of e-mail everyday and may simply delete communications that are too wordy and difficult to scan.

How to Get Action. The Call to action is key. Make it clear, both visibly and verbally. If possible, include the call to action at both the top and bottom of an e-mail. This ensures that users who look only at the beginning of an e-mail or skip to the end get the message. Steer clear of click here copy. Instead use a specific call to action,like enroll now. Many uses of click here can cause an e-mail to be filtered out.

Bringing the Challenge Home
The challenge for us marketers is the realization that Direct Mail & Detail Sales Reps are no longer the paradigm by which to reach an engage physicians. The primary way in which we will be engaging physicians for the foreseeable futures is via B2B Physician eMails. B2B Physician eMails will serve as the engine that will drive and power the new breed of Integrated eMarketing Platforms. B2B Physican eMails allow us to have a 360 degree Online "Touch Point" because the B2B Physician eMails integrate the various Web 2.0 Tools in a cohesive "Real Time" fashion. Consequently, we are able to engage in true Multi-Channel Marketing at the Physician contact level. The Integrated eMarketing Platforms will drive higher Response Rates and drive ROI for the Pharmaceutical Industry.