In its newly launched digital handbook, PMLiVE.com included a seven-step guide to create a successful digital strategy for pharmaceutical companies put together by Ben Tilly, marketing channel manager at Sanofi. Even though these are only the basic steps for planning a complex digital approach and surely, many more details need to be worked out along the way, this guide can serve as a checklist for launching a creative digital campaign.

Here are the main steps Ben Tilly mentions as crucial ingredients of a successful digital strategy:

1. Determine the key business objective before choosing the channels or key performance indicators.
2. Know your target audience:  Who are they, what kind of behavioral patterns do they have?
3. Differentiate you customer groups. Segmentation is key and so is choosing the right channel and appropriate messages for different audiences.
4. Develop all key performance indicators that you want to measure later. This is a step to take only after getting to know your audience and deciding what channel to use.
5. Measurement is crucial in every phase of creating and implementing your digital strategy.
6. Channel integration should be done with careful consideration, multi-channel strategies also need to have a clear objective and a rather simplified approach.
7. Engagement with sales representatives is one of the most important parts of putting together a digital strategy.  Reps have the insight about your customer that is more than valuable, it is the crucial information that a successful digital strategy can be based on.

Planning ahead, a clear idea of objectives and careful consideration of the audience’s characteristics when choosing channels and messages – these are the crucial components of building a digital marketing strategy in healthcare and pharma. But most importantly creating a digital strategy can’t be separated from other marketing activities. Efficient marketers can blend digital efforts into the company’s complex marketing approach.

(Source: PMLiVE.com)