Online Pharma Marketing Keeps Delivering Strong Results

An analysis of 1.3 billion pharmaceutical ad impressions from more than 15 brands reveals that online pharma marketing continues to produce strong results, resulting in increased brand awareness and a notable impact from branded website visits.

According to the seventh annual report of ComScore, titled “Online Marketing Effectiveness Benchmarks for the Pharmaceutical Industry,” there were 21% more drugs and medication display ads on the web in April 2013, or a total of 2.85 billion.

ComScore also examined the frequency of branded website visits, determining that users who visited a site displayed a 14.8 point lift in aided awareness and an 8.8 point lift in unaided awareness. The study also revealed a 10.9 point lift in favourability to the brand after monitoring users visiting a branded website, as well as a strong 30.3 point lift in intent to talk about treatments. Intent to discuss treatment also saw a 14.3 point lift among patients, while brand favourability scored a 14 point lift.

In terms of online ad exposure, intent to discuss treatments demonstrated the most impressive lift, of 7.7 points for prospects and 7.3 points for patients.

ComScore notes that nowadays, businesses dealing with direct-to-consumer pharmaceutical marketing are facing huge challenges to remain successful as they are often forced to operate with smaller budgets, stay ahead of competition and comply with regulatory norms. This highlights the need of measuring progress in digital marketing – this could help to justify the effectiveness of campaigns and confirm these activities are contributing to brand awareness and favourability, treatment discussions and scripts filled.