Building a successful pharmaceutical company is not possible overnight and requires an innate understanding of the target audience and the demographics you want to reach. With massive competition, breaking into the pharma industry is now tougher than ever. Knowing how to properly and effectively promote and market your pharmaceutical company is essential to maximize both your local and online reach while sharing the benefits of the medications, treatments, or services you provide.
Understand the Audience You Want to Reach
Not all pharmaceutical companies target the same audience. While some pharmaceutical brands focus on reaching parents, others provide medications and products for the elderly. Having a complete understanding of the audience you want to reach is one of the most important elements to keep in mind when building a pharmaceutical company and brand.
Ask yourself what your target audience and demographic is searching for that relates to the medications or services you provide. How will your audience receive your medications? Are your medications and services affordable to those in need? The more aware you become of your audience, the easier it is to develop effective marketing campaigns that highlight your products and services in a positive manner.
Design a Simple, Yet Professional Logo for Your Company
Providing medications and treatments to individuals is not always an easy process. Not only is it imperative to deliver high-quality and effective results, but it is necessary to appear professional and attractive when marketing the products or services you provide. Implement a simple, yet professional logo for your company that is represented not only within your logo, but also on your official website and product packaging. Research and compare top competitors to review logos and color schemes used to attract prospective patients, clients, and medical professionals.
The Importance of Humanizing Your Company
Breaking into the pharma industry is never easy and often comes with plenty of controversies not often found in alternative markets. Bringing humanization into your marketing efforts is imperative, especially when you have plans to release medications or other forms of treatments for patients of any age. If your brand does not feel human or connected to patients, it becomes increasingly difficult to gain the support of investors, consumers, and patients who are in need of your medications and treatments themselves.
Share real stories and testimonials from patients who have utilized the medications you provide using social media and a page on your official website dedicated to testimonials and reviews. Implement video media to captivate a patient's authentic response when discussing your medications and treatments. Build a sense of community by requesting more video media and real testimonials from your online followers and past patients. The more authentic and legitimate your marketing campaigns feel and appear, the easier it is to maintain the trust and loyalty of those who have a genuine interest in the products, medications, and treatments you provide.
Use Social Media to Strengthen the Relationship You Have With Prospective Patients
Building a strong community among your online followers, current patients, and prospective patients is not always possible immediately after launching a new pharmaceutical company. With increased speculation surrounding the pharma industry, it is now more important than ever to strive for a strong and trustworthy bond with patients and followers who support your business and its ideology.
Use social media to build trust and loyalty with current followers and prospective patients who have a genuine interest in learning more about the services and medications you offer. Share updates that encourage engagement and commenting, allowing followers to share their opinions and thoughts on your blogs, newly-released products, and even the services you provide. Allow followers to comment with their opinions while asking questions or submitting inquiries.
Use Professional Marketing Materials
Updating your website's blog and social media with high-quality professional marketing materials can make all of the difference in how your business and brand is perceived (both locally and online). Invest in professional photography, animations, graphics, and video media whenever you share information regarding the medications or services you provide. Streamline the imagery you use with your brand's colors to create a cohesive appeal to those who are unfamiliar with your business and have yet to feel as if they are able to trust you. You only have one opportunity to make a first impression when promoting and marketing your pharmaceutical company online, which is why it is so important to ensure you are presenting your products and services in the proper light.
The Benefits of Using Promotional Products
Creating promotional products such as mouse pads, pens, and notepads are extremely beneficial when connecting with physicians and other professionals working in the medical industry. When doctors and medical professionals use your promotional products, they help gain the trust of patients who are interested in learning more or receive a product themselves. Giving away promotional products to doctors and medical professionals is an effective marketing strategy once your products and services are available to the public and you want to expand your reach while building your brand's recognition.
Create a Sense of Transparency
Creating a level of trust as a pharmaceutical company is often one of the biggest challenges you may face, especially with the amount of skepticism there is for the industry as a whole. Showcase your company's transparency by allowing users to ask questions and comment on your official website's blog and even your social media pages. Answer questions and respond to even the most disgruntled patients or users directly and in the public eye. Allowing free speech and avoiding the censorship of unwanted comments is a great way to improve how others see your company. Showcasing transparency as a pharmaceutical company is essential when you want to have a massive impact in the world around you without prospective consumers, patients, or investors feeling distrust in your business and brand.
One of the biggest mistakes a pharmaceutical company can make is deleting comments or disabling users and followers from sharing their own opinions and input. Eliminating the conversation between your company and those who want to learn more (or have used your products and services in the past), is one of the quickest ways to lose the interest of prospective investors and patients who are in need of your medications, products, or services.
A/B Testing
A/B testing is a technique used by both small and large businesses that want to expand their reach online. Create multiple ad campaigns that are similar in their message but utilize different imagery and CTAs (calls-to-action). Use platforms such as Google AdWords and Facebook Ads to track collected data and metrics to learn more about which type of copy and imagery work best to engage your intended audience. A/B testing is crucial for pharmaceutical companies as it provides necessary insight into the wants and needs of prospective patients and consumers without requiring you to overspend with your current marketing budget.
Launch a Professional Website
Building a professional website is a necessity when you manage a pharmaceutical company. Without a professional online presence, it becomes increasingly difficult to gain the trust of prospective patients and clients. Use a robust, responsive, and mobile-friendly website layout to avoid alienating an entire audience of users who browse the internet with their mobile smartphones or tablet devices.
Consider utilizing a CMS (content management system) such as WordPress to easily access and maintain the content on your website. A CMS such as WordPress provides access to thousands of themes and plugins for complete customization of your presence and website's layout. Implement social media sharing plugins, commenting sections, and even galleries for testimonials and reviews.
Hire a Professional Agency
Working together with a creative agency is one way to ensure you are on the right track when developing and launching new marketing campaigns for your pharmaceutical company. Creative agencies have an array of skills when it comes to design, development, SEO (search engine optimization), and marketing. Working with an agency that specializes in branding pharmaceutical companies is a way to create the appeal necessary to attract visitors to your website and followers on your social media platforms.
Agencies are not just well-versed in designing modern, professional, and attractive campaigns. They also work to launch campaigns that provide results. Agencies understand a variety of online advertising techniques and platforms, allowing them the opportunity to boost your business in various facets of the internet. Whether you are interested in creating PPC (pay-per-click) advertisements or if you prefer using social media marketing on platforms such as Facebook Ads or Instagram Ads, an agency can help deliver the results you desire while working with the budget you have available.
Understanding the importance of a quality promotion and marketing strategy is a way to outperform the competition in your market while building a professional reputation for your business and brand. With the right tips, tools, and resources, ensure your pharmaceutical company and the products or services you offer is taken seriously and well-received by the patients, consumers, and investors you intend to reach.
About the Author: Dawn is a budding entrepreneur. After graduating with her MBA, she spent a few years working in the CPG industry and a few more working in the business tech industry before she set off to start her own business. She has been consulting with businesses, large and small, on the side ever since.