A new report from Indegene looks at the channels pharma uses to communicate with HCPs.  

The COVID bounce wreaked havoc on in-person contacts, but they are now largely back (2) and conferences have squeaked by face-to-face Rep visits (1). The virtual meeting has remained sticky (3) post-COVID (it's not over yet -Ed.):

In the report it shows a calculation that purports to calculate the best channel mix for a brand. While laudable, it seems to rely on a factor not easily measured "β is the relative impact of each channel toward new sales." Regardless, when they compared different omnichannel mixes to simple face-to-face with a rep only one digital-only mix made it above the line:

It's hard to read, but "Remote Detailing + Phone Detailing + Rep-Triggered Emails + Newsletter" made the cut. Notice that F2F always benefited from other channels for that omnichannel "surround sound." 

There is also some data from the Digitally-Savvy HCP from 2021 reprised in the report. Definitely worth a look for HCP marketers. 

Richard Meyer over at the World of DTC Marketing blog says the group finished talking with 200 HCPs (we wonder if there will be a report on that activity). Two of the insights they bring back highlight doctors' thirst for data.

Meyer makes the point that doctors don't want your fancy charts, they want to see the data for themselves and have the time to study it. 

While reps might have a hard time getting access, doctors do want access to brand MSLs.

We hope there will be a more formal report, but even these insights are valuable for pharma marketers looking to improve their digital contact points with their HCP audiences.

The survey doesn't just focus on pay, however. It also asks about other elements of the job. When asked about the most rewarding aspects of being a doctor, respondents started out with patient relationships:

No job is perfect, however. Even if the average salary in 2022 is $368K for specialists there are still dissatisfiers:

The first dissatisfier, rules and regulations, often means one thing: paperwork. When asked how many hours per week they spent on paperwork, infectious disease specialists were almost at 20 hours:

So physicians love having relationships with patients, but spend a lot of time with paperwork and other tasks. Pharma doesn't have direct control over this but showing some empathy with their situation will go a long way to building a connection.

If you want to see the actual salary breakdowns and other data head on over to the Medscape slideshow.

Cheetah Digital worked with Econsultancy and created a massive study of global consumers. This data is valuable just on its own but the authors also broke out everything by region, and included raw results in the appendix. Kudos to the folks at Cheetah for this.

Both email and social were popular with US consumers for online purchases. When asked if they had purchased from these sources the younger crowd said social and the older said email:

In the report the authors try to paint social in a bad light and claim that US consumers are moving away from the platforms. While there is public discussion about social, usage has only increased and the net results still seem positive. Also, when you ask consumers if they trust most digital sources they say no, but if you ask if they use them they say yes.

When asked if they had conducted these mobile activities, US respondents said yes. Mobile in-app purchases were strong as was in-store research when looking at products. 

In a separate webinar based on the data, the company discussed US-based data on loyalty programs. Some of the satisfiers for these programs were:

Balancing out the drivers were the dissatisfiers in loyalty programs. Misaligned content was number one highlighting that if you collect preferences you should really act on them:

This report and webinar have good general consumer data for the US market. While we don't really put a lot of faith in consumers when they talk about trust, because convenience almost always wins, we do like the full data release that Cheetah includes.

The pandemic has driven more digital engagement on both desktop and mobile platforms. This data from data.ai (was App Annie) shows the growth of in-app time on mobile devices by country (Android only).

Between Q1 2020 and Q1 2022 the US has seen 25% growth on an already near-saturated number.

We're just saying it, the metaverse isn't here yet. A report from Accenture, reported in eMarketer, shows many C-suite executives think the metaverse will have a positive impact on their companies, ranging from minimal to transformational:

Can 41% of executives be wrong? You bet they can. First, we think these numbers are for execs who say the Metaverse will have a positive impact on their company. Second, we remember the hype around Second Life in the early 2000's with articles like this one: "No, Second Life is not overhyped." Spoiler: yes it was.

That all said, the most accurate answer is "it depends." We don't have to jump from keyboard and mouse directly to an OASIS bodysuit to use the metaverse (though you can run a demo game from Steam). AR and VR can be incorporated slowly into our online experiences while adoption of both the hardware and methods of interactive change with Americans' comfort levels. Just don't expect it by 2025.

Slack had a webinar about it's product and how marketers can use it to improve communication in the work-from-home world in which we still find ourselves. 

That was reasonably interesting but not what really sparked this story. This week we also saw a brand reach out for access to something it calls the "Coffee Shop." This is a Slack channel it runs for potential clients. 

This could have value for marketers wanting to have a communication vehicle for engaged audiences such as:

Start thinking of Slack more as a social platform than an internal tool and see where it takes you.

IAS released their global ad quality benchmarks report that features 20 countries and six verticals. The US saw a mixed bag, here are a few of the numbers:

If media quality is your thing pick up a copy of this report and available data from IAS.

I admit it, I had to look up what a "Satellite Media Tour (SMT)" is (don't use personal pronouns -Ed.). In the modern world it's essentially a series of interviews conducted over Zoom, think of the hilariously infamous BBC example from 2017:

A new report from D S Simon Media shows some fun differences between what producers and agencies want.

SMTs might be a better option from features on talk shows as they have a habit of generating FDA NOV letters. An expert will ensure they stay on the right side of the regulations.

This article talks about Power Pages that are long scrolling pages that contain the same amount of content as a full website. These are thought to increase placement in Google ... but like all SEO tactics beware because Google always updates its algorithms to benefit users, not brands.

The tactics discussed are:

You do want good design... but it's the last bullet that really gets the traction.

This story from Sprout is all about benchmarks, but don't get excited it doesn't have CPM, CTR, or HVA numbers for different industries. Sorry.

It does have data on what users do who follow your property, however. This is a bit of a tautology in that yes, people who follow your property are more engaged, so they take more actions. Don't think that a Page Like campaign would produce similar results.

A new report from TalkDesk looks at what patients want. To summarize they want attention. Patient support programs need to actually listen to their audience and reply.

When looking at these support programs don't forget the patients themselves. Don't dump them into an impersonal form, make sure your telephone and digital contact points meet their expectations and only ask for the information you plan on acting on.