Healthcare providers and patients alike want information on their terms.They want control of when and how they receive health content. So, how is the market responding? According to Sarah Caldwell, general manager of Crossix Analytics at Veeva Systems, savvy life sciences companies are leveraging digital solutions to their advantage.
In an interview with Fierce Pharma, Caldwell said the right digital solutions give pharma marketers three clear advantages: Better targeting, omnichannel engagement and more agility. With technology, marketers are using data and analytics to better execute patient-centric marketing, resulting in more meaningful engagements.
Listen in as Fierce Pharma Senior Conference Producer Stephanie Butler and Caldwell discuss how pharma brands can be successful in this new environment.
Stephanie Butler:
Hello, I am Stephanie Butler, senior conference producer at Fierce Pharma. And I'm here today withSarah Caldwell, who is the general manager of Crossix Analytics at Veeva Systems. So Sarah, thank you for joining me today.
Sarah Caldwell:
Nice to be with you, Stephanie.
Stephanie Butler:
So I just want to start off by asking you, could you tell me and share a little bit more about your background and your role at Veeva Systems?
Sarah Caldwell:
Absolutely. I've been in the healthcare data and analytics space for the past 20 years, with 15 of those being with the Crossix team. I'm currently the general manager of Crossix at Veeva, and our team provides media and marketing optimization solutions as well as audience solutions to the pharmaceutical industry.
Stephanie Butler:
Excellent. So just to start off with our questions for today, I want to kind of ask you how have customer and patient expectations evolved in the current healthcare marketplace?
Sarah Caldwell:
We've seen a lot of evolution over the past few years in this space. Number one, we see that HCPs and patients want information on their own terms. They want to be in control of when and how they receive healthcare content. So for example, with field reps, we see that they're meeting with HCPs both through video calls and in person details. So we're seeing a mix of that continue after the pandemic. On the patient side, we have the emergence of telehealth. So in specialties like psychology, we're seeing that telehealth has become a standard of care. Many patients and many doctors are using it. When it comes to other providers, the telehealth standards vary. So it can be confusing to patients on when they can have a telehealth visit versus when they have to go in person.
Stephanie Butler:
Yeah, it's definitely evolved over the past couple of years especially. And I think what can pharma brands do to be successful in this new environment?
Sarah Caldwell:
Great question. I think pharma can meet patients and HCPs where they are. So for example, if we go back to telehealth, if you're a pharma brand and your condition can be easily treated over telehealth, serve up content to patients in HCP so they can better prepare and have a very productive telehealth interaction. When it comes to media, diversify your media mix. Try new and emerging channels, meet patients and HCPs where they are.
Stephanie Butler:
Yeah. Great advice. So how do you think digital experiences and solutions are now changing how pharma companies can better meet their consumer needs?
Sarah Caldwell:
Great question. So digital solutions give pharma marketers three clear advantages. There's better targeting, better omnichannel engagement, and more agile marketing. I'll get into each of these three. Better targeting. Pharma marketers can create health audience segments to better reach the relevant patient populations whenever and wherever they are consuming content. By creating these niche segments, pharma marketers can also create customized messaging for each of these segments. With the emergence of digital TV, pharma marketers can also take advantage of the engagement of TV with the precision targeting of digital. So that's one when it comes to targeting.
Better omnichannel engagement. There's so much data out there, and with the advance of digital measurement solutions, pharma marketers now have insights into things like optimal frequency and optimal sequencing. So what this means, is you know the right amount of frequency to reach your target population with the right sequence over the right period of time. Now, it is true that not all sequencing can be acted upon, but much of it can be and that's definitely something that we're excited about. And then there's more agile marketing. Digital solutions allow pharma marketers to move faster and be more adaptable. What we see with our customers, is that they're using information to understand what of their digital investments are more effective than others. And since digital can be turned up and turned down, this allows them to use information to scale the more effective and impactful investments and dial back those that aren't as impactful.
Stephanie Butler:
That's great. I've heard a lot more about agile marketing, I think in the past couple of years too. Just to kind of follow on, you mentioned data. So how can marketers now use data and analytics to better execute a patient-centric marketing?
Sarah Caldwell:
There have been so many advancements with data and connecting data that I think marketers are more advanced than ever in being able to connect patient and HCP data for meaningful engagements. For example, one of our new products called HCP Trigger Data takes patients who have visited a brand.com website... And we know from measurement that patients who come to your brand.com are very relevant. They've likely either come from a doctor visit or are preparing for a doctor visit or getting ready to refill their prescription. So they're a very relevant patient population. Through data, we can connect those patients who come from your brand.com to the HCPs they visit after website engagement. What our early adopters are using with this information, is creating rep engagements and non-personal promotion triggers to then use this patient data to engage with HCPs at a relevant time after they have seen a very highly qualified patient.
Stephanie Butler: