Imagine you’re in the doctor’s office, waiting to see your doctor or healthcare provider. You have some time on your hands, so you’re browsing through your phone and checking app notifications. Suddenly, you receive a pop-up message about a new pollen-allergy medication. You’re reminded that you’ve been meaning to talk to your doctor about a recommendation for a new allergy medication; it’s peak spring, and your current brand just isn’t doing the job anymore.
Or you reach for one of the magazines in the waiting room—you choose one that has a spiffy Cover Wrap around the magazine. The Cover Wrap explains that your go-to local pharmacy is offering a wider range of cold-and-flu drugs than before. You send yourself a reminder to drop by the pharmacy on your way home from the doctor to check out the new products.
This is the power of advertising at point-of-care locations—generating awareness, educating consumers, driving doctor-patient conversations, and influencing purchase decisions.
Advertising at the point-of-care has evolved and become more sophisticated, integrating geo-targeting and data. It’s no longer about pharma reps selling samples of new drugs to healthcare practitioners. Now, successful POC advertising communicates with doctors and patients alike through visually stimulating and highly targeted content that helps inform conversations and purchases. Through effective messaging placed in doctors’ offices and waiting rooms, brands can reach patients when they have some down time, are surrounded by limited distractions, and are looking for content that is not only useful, but also engaging.
Benefits of Point of Care Marketing Strategies
Here are some stats that showcase why point-of-care advertising is so powerful:
- The average patient waits 20 minutes in the waiting and exam rooms. During this time, patients read magazines and browse their smartphones.
- 97% say magazines make the wait time go faster, and 84% don’t mind waiting if there is a good magazine to read.
- 68% of adults value the information they’re exposed to at the pharmacy or physician’s office. Individuals exposed to point-of-care ads are 41% more likely to recall such ads.
- Adults who have seen advertising at the pharmacy or physician’s office are 84% more likely to discuss the ad with their physician, and 77% more likely to discuss it with a friend or relative.
- They are also 68% more likely to ask a doctor to prescribe a specific product.
Point-of-Care Pharmaceutical Marketing Trends
Brands are quick to recognize avenues for potential returns, and this is no different for point-of-care advertising. In fact, 36% of pharma brand marketers expect to increase their point-of-care marketing spending this year. Moreover, around 20% of brands reported shifting dollars from digital media to digital point-of-care in doctors’ offices and hospitals.
Point-of-care ads are compelling, and ever more so when associated with a renowned publication—the likelihood of a well-known magazine being picked up by a patient is higher than for a lesser-known publication. These magazines are effective tools in the hands of self-selecting consumers who want more information about health in general, and their condition in particular.
Speak to our media experts today about how we can make point-of-care messaging work for you.
Learn about other digital marketing services offered by MNI.
Sources
- The Evolution of Point-of-Care Marketing in Pharma - ZS Associates
- GfK MRI, Fall 2017. Kantar, 2017
