LinkedIn is a growing trend among pharma marketers. In fact, many think it’s a unique platform that facilitates the establishment of meaningful, as well as resourceful, connections with the target audience. In Europe alone, the platform already counts over 163 million users.
At the same time, pharma companies’ HCP engagement is a growing concern. With the increasing demands in the market, informing and promoting your product and/or services at the right place and time is vital. Per se, you must ensure that your communication strategy is tailored to your consumers’ needs.
For that, today we are letting you in on indispensable tips that will help you maximize HCP engagement with LinkedIn.
How to Maximize HCP Engagement with LinkedIn
1 – Follow the 80-20 LinkedIn rule
People, especially HCP, don’t enjoy blunt sales tactics. Particularly if they don’t explore the educational part of the field. So the lesson is, to talk about yourself, but not too much.
The 80-20 rule is the golden ratio to manage content creation on your LinkedIn page. While guaranteeing that it is relevant to your audience, without being only about a restricted scope of themes.
So, 20% of the time you should explore your brand’s values, products, and events. This will keep the audience updated enough on your company’s happenings and activity in the field.
Some of the things you can promote:
- Conferences & webinars held by your company;
- The latest advancement in research and drug trials;
- New drugs and treatments that are available and approved; and
- Share the faces of your team…
Then, with the remaining 80%, you should strive to touch upon the pain points of your audience. Make sure to also tackle the topics in the field that are of concern to the wider community. This will generate interest and open up a door for discussion and debate.
Some of the topics you can explore:
- HCP and patient engagement;
- Healthcare consumerism;
- Digital shift and the role of online platforms;
- Video marketing and its role in the pharmaceutical industry…
By following the 80-20 rule you can, then, engage your audience with the right balance of content that will motivate it to communicate with you.
2 – Maximize HCP Engagement by being a part of discussion groups
LinkedIn is about discussion, exchange of points of view, and reflection. So, it is not enough to have a company profile. You must be active. Most importantly, interact with other users.
Over 40% of healthcare professionals take part in online networking activities. Especially in discussion groups. And so, it is there one of the places where you can find your HCP.
By taking part in these you can:
- Engage with your audience;
- Share your company’s values and positioning on determined topics;
- Identify the topics of interest to your audience. Not only that but also the services and products they are looking for in the industry;
- Assess your competition and its offer.
LinkedIn groups are great for generating unique networking opportunities. Professionals can explore topics of interest and spark resourceful discussions reflective of their importance in the industry. Year after year, there has been a 28% increase in health-related discussions on the platform.
So, make sure you identify the key groups in your industry. And ensure that you take active participation in there. As it is here where most of your HCP will be engaging with content and extracting information for their day-to-day practice.
3 – Tailor your content to your audience’s needs and interests
One part of targeting your audience is to understand its interests. So what you share with it must be relatable and of relevance. Thus, it is important that when you plan your LinkedIn communication strategy and create your content, you tailor it to your HCP’s interests.
So, if you are targeting physicians, you must consider what type of content they engage the most with, and what topics might be of the most interest. You can consider, for example:
- COVID and the impact of telehealth;
- Innovative treatment options; and
- New medical studies and advancements in the field…
But to do that, you should strive to know and understand your audience. And only from there, can you tailor your content to its specific needs and interests.
Thus, you must ask the questions:
- What the competitors are doing that you are not
- The gap between the offer and customers’ interests
- What is happening now in the field
- The topics that might be of relevance to the specific field
- Challenges that my consumers face
By doing this, you ensure you remain relevant and of interest, as well as competitive in the market.
4 – Be innovative in your promotional content
Having a LinkedIn profile does not do the whole trick. Nor posting your news and topics for debate. You should think of how to present your content. And how from it, you can reflect your brand’s identity and values.
The truth is that long, bulky posts are the easiest way to lose the audience’s attention halfway through. You ensure that your message and content follow through to their full extent. Or that, at least, the viewers retain the most important information. And video is the perfect tool for that.
Through a video, you can include the same information as in a medical paper. Only within a shorter period, and in a more engaging fashion. That is why content conveyed via video is retained 95% of its entirety. It’s remarkable when compared to a mere 10% if read on a text (Arkadin).
Video marketing is a growing trend in the pharmaceutical industry. Among marketers, it’s also gaining notoriety. Through video you can:
- Give insight into your product’s features;
- Show a visual presentation of your drug’s MoA (mechanism of action);
- Share your recent research in an interactive, easy-to-understand format…
Video content is effective. According to Wyzowl’s most recent report, ‘Video Marketing Statistics 2022’, this year, more than 80% of businesses expect to include video in their marketing and communication strategies. It does not only engage your HCP. This can also reach a wider audience from which you can gain increased brand awareness.
Maximize HCP Engagement with content strategy! Make video part of your LinkedIn strategy today…
Find out how PubExplainer can help you turn your HCP experience with your brand, memorable. Book your free demo today to learn more!
