Over the years, pharma has been excelling at being physician-centric, but not so much at being patient-centric. However, pharma and life science brands are starting to shift gears. These are making patients a pivotal target audience in their communication and marketing strategies.
Patient-centricity is a term that describes the way companies in the field think about their patients and their needs. The core idea is to understand what your customer wants, and what your customer needs. Then, you deliver it to them in a way that is easily digestible but also valuable.
“The end-goal is to offer “health” rather than just a “pill.” – Cactus Life Sciences
Picture this, you’re looking for a new pair of running shoes. You could go into any store and pick up any show that looks good on your feet or fits well in your budget. What if you could get more information about the shoes you are looking for before buying them? It is here where patient-centricity and patient education videos meet.
Continue to read, to learn more about how video can help you become more patient-centric.
The benefits of patient education videos in
pharma
Video’s value and power are undisputed. Videos are engaging, memorable, and cost-effective. Furthermore, they’ve been a vehicle for businesses to build trust and loyalty by providing valuable information about their brands’ products.
This is particularly true for patient education videos. This is a variant of this content format that is particularly helpful to pharma and life science brands to increase trust and product understanding. All in all, video allows you to tell stories in a new way that best resonates with your audience.
Let’s get back to the shoe example. Before you buy your shoes, you might consider doing some research. You want to ensure the product you buy will satisfy your specific needs. For example, there might be some features you didn’t know about before coming into the store. Perhaps those shoes are designed specifically for runners with wide forefeet; they improve running performance or come with extra cushioning.
This reasoning also applies to pharma products. Before committing to a specific treatment, patients might want to learn more about the specificities of the recommended medication, the side effects, the cost, and many other aspects. So, pharma brands need to be prepared to provide this kind of information to remain relevant. Per se, these need to place patients’ healthcare journeys and become more patient-centric. Education videos can be the answer.
In the end, video is a powerful tool for patient-centricity. You can use it to improve the patient experience, personalize care and increase treatment/ medication adherence.
Patient-centric video content in Pharma: Best
practices to follow
Even though other fields of business use animated content, in pharma, there are certain key practices to take into special consideration. After all, you want to ensure that the patient education videos you create will be successful and engaging enough to attract your audience. But also, legal. How so?
- Understand regulations.
The pharmaceutical industry is governed by tight regulations that condition communication and marketing efforts pursued. Due to this, it is highly important you are aware of the content formats you are allowed to use. A clear example of this can be, many brands use patient testimonials to showcase the value of their products, however, they must be careful not to make them sound like direct advertisements or promotional materials. The same applies to patient education videos, you must place education above promotion – the ultimate goal is to deliver unbiased information that will help individuals make the most appropriate decisions according to their particular health conditions.
- Be transparent with your target audience about how you’re using its data.
Your target audience, namely patients, must know why you’re using their data and what for. Transparency is the link to building strong relationships with patients based on trust. If patients feel like they can trust you and your website, for example, they will have no reason to continue interacting with your brand.
- Be creative and innovative.
To make a lasting impression is to ally simplicity with the power of standing out from the competition by filling in the present gaps in the industry. When creating videos patient education videos, you particularly need to put your creative hats on. Medical information is oftentimes seen as boring and complicated. Your job is to demystify these conceptions. And there is no better way than through an engaging animated video that makes use of graphics and other visual aids to turn an otherwise unenjoyable experience into an engaging and informative one!
- Pinpoint your audience’s pain points and interests.
For your patient education videos to be fully patient-centered, you must know what type of information your audience is looking for. Only in this way, you can be successful in your communication efforts. For example, if you are a pharma company that focuses on the creation of medical devices for patients with heart disease and your patients want to know how these work and if they are effective, then you must create content around these existing questions. The key is to use your knowledge, research, and scientific data to showcase the value of your product.
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