The start of the calendar year, pharmaceutical companies look ahead to plan their media strategies. Some may be looking to use the services of a pharmaceutical marketing companies to take the heavy lifting whilst others are happy to go it alone. If you are deciding on enlisting the help of a marketing company, what should the pharmaceutical marketer be looking for when selecting a marketing company? This post outlines a few basic points that may be worth bearing in mind when selecting a pharmaceutical company.

Know the Target
The first step that should be taken into account by every company is to identify their target customers, for who the product is designed for, in order to stablish their marketing tactics.
It is well known that the end user of the products from pharmaceutical industry are patients, so probably companies should also focus here and not only in sales target, which are the doctors.
Up to this point it is clear that we have two different targets, each of them have their specific needs and the actions we take must be aimed at satisfying those needs.
Marketing to doctors, is all about identifying their needs and providing well-researched solutions, every action has to be as much specific as possible they do not have much time to capture their attention, the information must be of great scientific content, which provides value and differentiation from the rest of the competition, so that they find it more attractive when prescribing.

Social media presence
When people think about social media, pharmaceutical marketing companies aren’t the first thing that come to mind. Nonetheless, pharma companies need to keep in mind that their audience hangs out on social media. In other words, why shouldn’t your company have presence there too?

The content of our social media is very important, in order to get the attention of potential customers. Constantly updating what we offer as well as our technology drives viewers to consider us a constantly growing company in search of always satisfying customer needs. We must make sure that the content we publish goes through all the necessary regulations so there is no inconvenience. At the same time to have a scientific section and another one more focused on the patient.

IDEAS
Can the pharmaceutical marketing companies think creatively? Are they going to bring new ideas to the table or will they just put on the table a plan that lacks any lateral thinking? A good look through the portfolio section of their website is a good start. Ask for case studies from the company. Although they will not give you a full campaign in the pitch (that’s giving away their edge), they should be able to provide you with an outline of ideas that you may not have tried before.

PRICING
Crucial again. Do they work on retainer models or commission, or both? Are they flexible? How does there billing work? Is there a model that suits you best? All crucial questions for the pharmaceutical marketing company to go through with you. A good question to ask, is do they use timekeeping software to calculate billable hours?

Some providers don’t and rely on estimates at the beginning of the contact. It could be a good idea to ask for a submission of hours on a monthly basis and with regular adjustments

Market Segmentation
One of the tools employed in the pharmaceutical industry is the use of micro marketing strategies. With sufficient data on one’s customers, they can be divided into groups with promotions specifically-tailored to each individual segment. Thus the most effective message is employed for each audience, with each dollar being spent where its return is likely to be highest

Data mining techniques
The pharmaceutical industry is well known for using SAS to perform quantitative analysis for clinical research. Lately, however, competitive pressures have created opportunities in the marketing departments to use SAS for Data Mining. Applications such as sales force planning and direct marketing to doctors and consumers are employing many new SAS tools and techniques. This paper will provide an overview and examples of some of these Data Mining SAS applications in the pharmaceutical industry.

Data mining can allow you to know your data. It can help you make better decisions and design more effective programs with improved targeting. And finally, it can uncover problems in your data.