The pharma sector suffered a crippling blow as the pandemic made its way to the world unannounced, forcing sales representatives off the road and blocking them indoors. Marketers then turned to the medium which had been waiting to be explored to its full potential: digital, New Era in Pharma Marketing

To reduce the risk of spread of COVID-19, many state-level doctor’s associations have communicated to pharma companies as well as medical sales representatives associations about the suspension of all visits from the representatives of pharma companies.
Doctors are preferring to get information like medical updates, new treatment regulations, guidelines and all companies involved in manufacturing through online communication. They are increasingly getting comfortable with remote reach as they do with patients and caregivers.
Pharma reps have always been challenged by less access to the HCP than desired, but these face-to-face encounters have been completely extinguished and New Era in Pharma Marketing had to come into existence during the fight against the pandemic. Marketing initiatives have had to be cleverly revamped with an increased focus on digital and social media campaigns directed at patients and HCPs; many companies are reporting great success with these initiatives.

Hyper personalization means better business outcomes, given the content HCPs receive is far more relevant and appropriate. To deliver such highly targeted content is only possible with artificial intelligence (AI) leveraged by real-time data. The days of mass marketing, though not over, looks numbered as physicians look up to more targeted information.

This year was the year of remote healthcare. COVID-19 made even physicians switch to telehealth platforms to deliver care to patients, via phone, app or a website. Platforms offering care digitally saw exponential growth in the year that was marked with challenges for patients and physicians alike. COVID-19 gave a significant and desired push to telehealth platforms.

Digital transformation has provided considerable opportunities for pharma marketing activities with focused business strategies and a good return on investments. Therefore, experts indicate that there is a need to build robust, digital-driven delivery capabilities to leverage business opportunities.