Over the years I have often been asked what good looks like when it comes to digital in pharma. I have been asked for benchmarks and examples from other pharma. Who does digital best is another popular question. My answer to this is there is no single answer. There is no single pharma company that stands out across the board in digital. There are some that have done great apps but have terrible websites, or have done great apps but failed on social media.
So when I am asked what good looks like I tend to reply – what do you think? As a pharma company whether you are targeting HCPs or patients it is important to remember that these stakeholders are people – just like you and me. Sometimes the way I see pharma talking about HCPs it is as if they are a separate species, a species that does not use Amazon or Tripadvisor, or any other online services. Our stakeholders are however people like you are me, and like you and me they use online services for everything from shopping to banking.
That is why when I am asked what good looks like I ask my clients to think about their own use of digital. What is that they like about Amazon? What do they hate? What are their own online behaviours? Whilst where we shop and go for news online varies country to country basic behaviours and expectations are very similar. No one likes pop up ads or pages that take forever to load. No one enjoys clicking multiple times trying to find basic information. In this day and age we all have certain expectations when it comes to digital, and we expect to be able to access information quickly and easily. Why should we not expect the same basics from pharma? Why should we are users have to battle to get to the information we are looking for? Will we keep trying or just go somewhere else?
I don’t know about you but I know if a website, or other digital tool, does not give me what I want, and quickly, I will go elsewhere. I am fairly certain the same rings true for pharma customers too. Therefore when someone asks what good looks like – the answer is already there in our own day to day behaviours and expectations. Don’t you think?
