Communicating with HCPs via email can be very effective

SUMMARY: Doctors said they were dissatisfied were marketing emails (46%), telephone sales calls with sales reps (42%), and both webinars and websites (each at 39%) from pharma companies, according to Indegene. That should, however, not discourage the use of email to HCPs. If you follow some basic testing, email can be an effective tool for communicating information.

100 percent of U.S. pharma marketers use email marketing, and research shows that 73 percent of in-house marketers believe email marketing provided a strong ROI. But in comparing some A B testing, we found that certain emails to HCPs perform better than others. Here are some basics:

1ne: Physicians receive a lot of emails and don’t have time to read every one. We found they prioritize by subject line and sender. Your email needs to have a simple, eye-catching subject line. One of our tests, one of the most read emails, had a subject line of “new label information for prescribing just FDA approved.”

2wo: Keep it simple. In our tests short, direct to the point emails performed better than lower emails.

3hree: Limit the use of resource eating images and charts. Your email might be read on a small smartphone not a laptop or tablet.

4our: One way to test your email campaign is to include a link to pertinent information. It can’t be promotional or sales information and should not be a long document.

5ive: Having success does not mean you should email more often. Only send an email when you have something to say that will interest physicians.

6ix: A, B,C testing is essential for learning. Also, one message to ALL doctors sold not make sense. Your physician audience should be segmented by parameters that are important to the success of your brand.

7even: Testing “time-of-day” is just as important as A, B message testing. We found, for important updates, early morning was best. For other updates, mid-afternoon was best.

8ight: One of the best successes we had in email marketing was a copy that could be easily be sent to diabetes patients. Over 70% of physicians forwarded the email to diabetes patients, and over 40% used a coupon targeted at switchers.

9ine: Data is email gold. Physicians love data, and they love receiving the data before it’s all over the Internet. They especially like data about clinical trial updates.

Right now, some doctors are being overwhelmed with patients returning to the office, as well as the increase in telehealth requests. Your email has to be personally relevant, and you need to drill down a segmentation message guide. Our experiences show that email is still effective in communicating with HCPs.

Originally published at https://worldofdtcmarketing.com on June 2, 2021.