Branded pharmaceutical websites continue to be most impactful in driving conversions among prospects and patients
A study from Comscore Inc Online Marketing Effectiveness Benchmarks for the Pharmaceutical Industry provide with insight into the impact of various online marketing activities on brand awareness, favorability, and sales.
“Our benchmarking data continue to show that branded websites have the greatest impact on conversions and also reinforce the significance of display and search advertising in increasing awareness and favorability toward a brand.” said John Mangano, vice president of comScore health marketing solutions.
The study found that visitation to a branded website generated the greatest positive lifts in conversion. Existing patients increased their refill rate 15.5 percentage points more than those who did not visit the site. The percentage of prospects beginning treatment after visiting a branded site was 8.8 percentage points higher than prospects with no exposure to the branded site.
The study also found that exposure to online display advertising and branded websites have a positive impact on awareness and favorability among both prospects and patients. For prospects, exposure to a display ad increased both aided and unaided brand awareness by 2.8 and 1.8 percentage points, respectively. The impact is greater for exposure and interaction with rich media ads, showing a 3.1-percentage point increase for aided brand awareness and a 5.5-percentage point increase for unaided brand awareness. For patients, favorability was increased only by exposure and interaction with rich media ads, showing a 4.1-percentage point lift.
Apart from online advertising, branded pharma websites also continued to have a significant impact on awareness and favorability among patients and prospects. Prospects exhibited a 16.9-percentage point lift in favorability after visiting a branded website, while patients reported a 15.6-percentage point lift.
Pharma product websites are driving consumers to the doctor to request prescriptions
Pharma product websites are effective at driving post-visitation action. 74% of ePharma Consumers visiting these websites take a product-related action afterward – as for example discussing product info with doctor, requesting or filling the prescription or searching for more product info online.
These data comes from a study from Manhattan Research which explores the online behaviors of ePharma Consumers using the Internet for prescription drug information.
The brand website Levitra, about erectile dysfunction treatment, resulted the top pharma product websites among the more than 320 tracked in the study, to drive visitors to request a prescription for the drug from their doctor.
A common theme among top websites is content and structure designed to lead consumers to talk to their doctor. Additionally, many of these products, such as the sleep aid Lunesta® and the acid reflux treatment Nexium®, feature doctor discussion guides or worksheets on their websites.
Top Pharma Product Websites Driving Visitors to Request that Prescription from the Doctor:
1. Levitra
2. Chantix
3. Cialis
4. Nexium (purplepill.com)
5. Yaz
6. Lyrica
7. NuvaRing
8. Symbicort
9. Viagra
10. Lunesta
Apple iPad dominates healthcare
90% of market share for tablets included vertical sectors such as healthcare. JP Morgan analysts estimate that the 81 million scheduled for manufacture is almost twice the estimated 48 million to be sold during 2011. 22% of physicians are using iPads.
For healthcare, the iPad value is these five advantages:
- Improved Productivity - Physicians comment about more time with patients for diagnosis and treatment.
- Better WLAN Utilization – Hospitals and medical centers have invested in WLANs with providers that meet the 1996 HIPAA requirements for patient privacy.
- Adopting Cloud Storage – As HIMSS 2011 showed, the wireless carriers have been developing their hosted virtual storage solutions with Verizon having its Health Information Exchange (HIE) and AT&T offering Healthcare Community Online (HCO). As Electronic Medical Records (EMRS) proliferate, cloud solutions meet the need to customize and centralize storage. The iPad solves the problem of healthcare getting to the cloud at anytime, anywhere, and for anything.
- Remote Applications – The iPad accelerates the development of smart medical devices for home use, rehabilitation centers, and long-term facilities.
- Collaborative Research – The iPad could make the difference to practice evidence-based diagnosis and prevent out-of-guideline treatments. An example is the study reported in the January 2011 JAMA that 22.5% of Implantable Cardiac Defibrillators (ICDs) are unnecessary.
Source: Gerson Lehrman Group
Insight from the Publicis Healthware WebMonitor
4,32 is the average number of page views per visit on Health related websites in February 2011.
