Relationship marketing within the healthcare arena is one of the most dynamic ways to communicate with your current and potential customers. Done well with targeted, personal messages, one-on-one interactive communications help people change their behaviors, build favorable impressions about a company's brands and services, and finally improve their health outcomes.
For the pharmaceutical marketer, it also increases return-on-investment by cost effectively retaining patients long term through increased compliance and brand loyalty. And, as everyone knows, it costs less to retain a customer than to acquire a new one.
Now, there are new tools in the industry that help savvy marketers "get more personal" with target consumers and develop more effective campaigns.
New consumer health research techniques provide detailed analyses of consumer attitudes and behaviors across disease states, conducted over long periods of time, and which include a holistic perceptions of healthcare.
With improved insights into consumer behavior, marketers can take their communications to a new level of interest to the consumer resulting in greater effectiveness.
It's worth doing your homework on the new breed of healthcare research companies that provide this level of insight. Look for this criteria:
- Does the company look at consumers before they become patients, uncovering attitudes about their own health and healthcare in general?
- Does it analyze what drives a consumer to the point of care versus what happens at the point of care?
- Does the company capture information about "satisfaction" and attitudes in general about healthcare and drug usage behavior.
- Finally, the best of these companies should report data on OTC (over the counter) drugs, prescription drugs, herbal product use and nontraditional/alternative resource consumer interest.
Multidimensional Research
Now that this type of multi-faceted, holistic data is available, what is the best way for marketers to utilize it? By applying the research at each step of the product's marketing continuum - from clinical trial design and patient recruitment, to development of brand image and direct-to-patient compliance programs. It should also be applied to interactive initiatives and DTC (direct-to-consumer) advertising and PR initiatives.
To provide meaningful value at each interaction with consumers, they need to receive timely information that relates just to them. That means tailored or personalized communications through a system that "learns" about the participants over time.
Moreover, some marketers and their agencies are using behavioral psychologists throughout the entire process to make the best use of these data. This combined with clinical performance data results in flexible, engaging brand messages that speak directly to the consumer.
Taking the Next Step
Other than direct mail and other traditional tools, what are some of the newer ways in which marketers can apply this data to their relationship marketing programs, and move it to the next level of cost effectiveness and reach? By maximizing the Web's resources for reaching the captive audience of online health information -seekers.
Now more than ever, marketers have an unprecedented opportunity to initiate ongoing relationships with consumers, and engage in two-way, interactive dialogues to learn more about each individual and how to serve them better.
Each time a person interacts with a Web site, one can ask additional questions that refine the information and personalize the "conversation".
Using this technology in conjunction with in-depth consumer healthcare insights enables marketers to combine efficient communications with nuanced, validated information from which everyone benefits.
For additional online research, refer to recent Cyber Dialoge findings on p.2.
As the healthcare industry continues to learn more about its customers and their healthcare beliefs and actions, the better marketers and PR professionals will be able to market products and benefit our clients.
Today, "more personal' means more brand loyalty, more educated and engaged consumers, more long term benefits and compliance, and more satisfying relationships between pharmaceutical companies and the people they wish to reach.
Ilyssa Levins is president and chief creative officerchairman of GCI Healthcare, a global full-service healthcare agency in New York. She is responsible for global new business development, new ventures and acquisitions and worldwide marketing.
She can be reached at 212/886-3500.