New customer engagement is increasingly becoming more data-driven. This, in turn, is driving a convergence of marketing between the consumer and healthcare personnel. These changes to what has traditionally been a more fragmented marketing approach underscore shifts in digital marketing.
Understanding the interplay between consumer marketing and advertising—and how it can be leveraged for optimal benefit—is one of the subjects addressed by Sarah Caldwell, General Manager of Crossix Analytics at Veeva Systems.
Caldwell joined Fierce Pharma publisher Rebecca Willumson to discuss changes, challenges, and opportunities in pharmaceutical marketing brought about by the growth in telehealth and digital marketing.
The convergence of marketing efforts generates new engagement data, and analyzing the impact and timing of digital media communication presents intriguing new insights. With this new information, marketers have opportunities to optimize omnichannel efforts like never before. However, capitalizing on these opportunities requires the creation of cohesive digital strategies to reach consumers and healthcare personnel across multiple screens and media platforms.
VEEVA/Crossix Veeva is the global leader in cloud software for the life sciences industry. Committed to innovation, product excellence, and customer success, Veeva serves more than 1,100 customers, ranging from the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies to emerging biotechs. As a Public Benefit Corporation, Veeva is committed to balancing the interests of all stakeholders, including customers, employees, shareholders, and the industries it serves. For more information, visit veeva.com.
Rebecca Willumson:
Hi, there! I'm Rebecca Willumson. I'm the publisher of Fierce Pharma, and I'm here today with Sarah Caldwell, GM of Crossix Analytics at Veeva. Sarah, thanks so much for joining me today.
Sarah Caldwell:
Hi Rebecca. Thanks so much for having me.
Rebecca Willumson:
Sarah, to start us off, can you just share a little bit about yourself and your role at Crossix Analytics?
Sarah Caldwell:
Of course. I've spent my entire career in healthcare data and analytics. I've been with the Crossix team for the past 15 years, and as many people know Crossix was acquired by Veeva Systems about two years ago. I'm now the GM of Crossix Analytics and I oversee product, analytics, services, marketing, and sales.
Rebecca Willumson:
Sarah, tell me what aspect of pharma marketing is poised for the biggest disruption?
Sarah Caldwell:
This is a great question. I see HCP omnichannel marketing as poised for really, really great disruption. We see the rise of the digital rep. We see a continued increase in digital meetings. At the same time, we see a continued decrease in in-person access to HCP and with all of this HCP, digital marketing has had to fill the gap. So at the same time with all of the advances in digital targeting, HCP marketers now have the opportunity to more efficiently reach HCPs through channels like social media, through digital display, through online video. In fact, in 2020, our customers reach 25% more of their target HCPs through digital media year over year.
Sarah Caldwell:
With this, we're also seeing an increase in the impact of HCP digital media, and we're seeing more and more new patient starts being able to be attributable to HCP digital media. I see a real opportunity for continued disruption in this space.
Rebecca Willumson:
Tell me, what does customer engagement look like in today's world?
Sarah Caldwell:
Customer engagement is increasingly becoming more data-driven. What we're seeing across the industry is more of a convergence between consumer and HCP marketing, where historically these have been more fragmented. Take for example understanding more about the interplay between field activity and consumer marketing and understanding consumer sees, advertising then goes to an HCP that has been recently called on. We can understand these interplays. We can understand these impacts.
Sarah Caldwell:
In addition to becoming more data-driven, we're also seeing customer engagement becoming more deliberate. As marketers have access to data, such as sequencing, such as the incremental impact of each touch point and optimal frequency, we're seeing big changes here. I'll give you an example. We're working with a customer on a multi-touch attribution model for high value HCPs. One of the learnings that we're seeing is, not surprisingly, that a rep call combined with HCP digital media is more impactful than a rep call alone. However, the sequencing matters. If that HCP online advertising is triggered after the rep call, that's more impactful than if it was triggered before the rep call. So again, we have more information and with this information at marketers fingertips, they're able to become more deliberate with how they figure advertising and drive customer engagement.
Rebecca Willumson:
So TV and video watching behavior continue to change dramatically. How will this impact pharma's ability to reach patients and HCPs with video advertising?
Sarah Caldwell:
Yes, Rebecca. Over the past several years, more and more people are consuming video across different channels. We have with laptops and smartphones and smart TVs and tablets, the reality of anywhere, anytime, on any device, is here. In addition, we have channels like social media, on-demand, and live streaming video that have really significantly played a role in the uptake of online video.
Sarah Caldwell:
As a result, marketers have had to tailor their content and their messaging to fit within the parameters of these different platforms. We see a real opportunity within healthcare marketing for marketers to have a cohesive digital video strategy. With that, we see an opportunity to test, measure, and optimize using a common currency to get the most out of their investments.
Rebecca Willumson:
Very good. Well, I think that's a great way to close out. Sarah, thanks so much joining me today. I enjoyed our conversation.