Importance of choosing the right POC marketing partners in healthcare

With the fast-paced tech transformation of the healthcare marketing industry taking place, making the right choices when selecting point of care (POC) marketing partners can make or break a campaign’s success.

With 96% of providers using electronic records in the US, the allure of more reach and expansive networks may seem tempting. However, partnering with those who truly understand HCPs - their behaviour and preferences, what messaging they have been exposed to, how, why, and when - can significantly improve business and patient outcomes. This, in turn, can minimise the scope for confusion, inefficiencies, and wasted efforts and investment, while also ensuring that it empowers HCPs, with the right information and knowledge, without draining them out.

Here’s why selecting appropriate, relevant POC marketing partners is crucial for healthcare marketers.

Understanding point of care marketing

Point of care (POC) marketing targets healthcare professionals (HCPs) and patients during their healthcare journey, particularly at critical moments of clinical decision-making. This could be in a doctor's office, hospital, pharmacy, or any setting where healthcare decisions are made. The goal of such platforms, however, must be to provide only relevant information that influences prescribing behaviour, patient adherence, and overall health outcomes, and not distract or overwhelm an HCP.

Pitfalls of reach without depth

Marketers must identify and do away with any partner that boasts extensive reach without the capability to provide quality interactions, which often lead to wasted resources. It’s not about reaching more HCPs; it’s about reaching the right ones at the right time with the right message.

Effective POC marketing requires a deep understanding of the target audience, including their needs, behaviours, and preferences. Partners lacking in-depth understanding of the healthcare landscape and the ability to harness and interpret data might offer large numbers, but fail to engage effectively with target audiences, resulting in generic messaging that fails to resonate and drive action.

It is important for a marketer to understand the psyche of the HCP and not bombard him/her with unwanted information. Therefore, marketers must evaluate POC marketing partners based on parameters beyond HCP reach, like detailed analytics and real-time insights on script lifts or intent secured.

Benefits of relevance overreach

The right partners excel at delivering precise, targeted messages to the right audience segments. This requires deep understanding of the nuances of the healthcare environment and the right skills to tailor marketing strategies, accordingly, ensuring that each interaction is meaningful and impactful.

Also, as HCPs and patients are more likely to trust and engage with content from reputable sources, it is imperative to work with partners who have a proven track record and deep industry knowledge, and provide opportunities/inventory that is accurate, up-to-date, and compliant with industry regulations. Research by McKinsey highlights that personalised marketing strategies can lead to a 5-8x return on investment (ROI) and significantly increase the efficiency of marketing spend by 10-30%.

Additionally, with constant advancements in technology and shifts in behaviour, it is important to identify a POC marketing partner that adapts quickly to new trends and even stays ahead of these changes sometimes, offering innovative solutions that keep campaigns fresh and relevant, ensuring that marketing strategies remain effective. The importance of adaptability is underscored by a Gartner survey, which found that 85% of marketing leaders in healthcare agree that agility in strategy and execution is critical to staying ahead of competitors.

Choosing the right partner

In the detailed, highly regulated world of healthcare marketing, the best POC marketing creates a holistic experience for the entire customer journey. Again, in getting this done, a major problem could well be the lack of comprehensive data and a slower campaign cadence, which in itself can indeed get in the way of creating a truly seamless experience.

The right partners design end-to-end strategies connecting multiple touchpoints - from diagnosis through treatment and beyond, to ensure a seamless and supportive experience for both HCPs and patients. They provide the experience, insights, and capability to move effectively among the multifaceted issues within the healthcare environment, delivering impactful, personalised engagements based on quality, relevance, and data-driven strategies. By following this approach, these marketers can avoid the pitfall of broad reach without substance, stay in the game, and pick partners who understand the nuances of POC marketing, so that campaigns are precise, timely, and meaningful, despite the many challenges of slim data and slower execution timelines.

Effective point-of-care platforms in marketing involve specialised skills and teams with a mature ability to create and orchestrate campaigns across EHRs and other POC platforms. It aims to engage the HCP subtly yet effectively with messaging that is tailor-made for them, not to disrupt them with irrelevant advertisements while they are going through clinical workflows. Thus, the ability to identify an ideal partner with requisite skills for POC marketing becomes critical, especially in managing the slower cadence and data limitations.

While many marketers may claim to reach the intended audience, only a select few truly comprehend the nuances of the appropriate platforms, timing, frequency, and the unique preferences of HCPs. In an environment where data scarcity and slower campaign execution can impede success, choosing a partner who truly understands HCP behaviour and the complexities of POC marketing becomes even more essential.