Pharma marcomms is continuing to evolve its approach to the media mix. In this #TrendTalks roundtable discussion titled “2025 Tactical Media Operations,” sponsored by Haylo, senior executives from the pharma and healthcare sectors weighed in on how they are using EHRs as an element of omnichannel marketing, whether or not HCP and DTP data is making it easier to plan a media strategy and to what extent they are using AI for predictive analytics.
While the point of care as a media channel represents only 2% of the pharma marketing budget in 2024, the tactic saw increases. Panelists discussed how valuable a touch point EHR is for their brands and how that has changed in the past few years.
Louis Naimoli, VP, programmatic business development and strategy, Haylo, noted that marcomms pros need to consider the different EHR solutions, from single systems that have their own technology and sales team to aggregators that buy and resell across EHRs and new strategies that offer integration at the HCP level. “Understanding where your EHR vendor falls on this scale is an important aspect of determining the value and opportunity for your brand,” he added.
Strategic use of EHR
Because EHR is more expensive than other tactics, panelists agreed that it must be used strategically with clear objectives in mind. Too often, the responsibility of selecting a provider is delegated to media planning, which doesn’t deliver the best results.
“EHR is a very important deep-funnel opportunity. You have to be strategic with who is included in which part of that funnel to get the better return on that investment,” said Christine Trucco, director of digital strategy, Salix. Another panelist added that when the media agency controls the process, some details can be missed. “The learning has been for us to talk directly with different providers so that we have a better understanding and push for those innovations and options,” she said.
EHR, said Henry Anderson, director, digital marketing and omnichannel operations, Supernus Pharmaceuticals, is a marketing tool that can provide scalpel-precision and reveal some very specific information, but requires the right partner. Anderson’s team recently collaborated directly with an EHR platform to design a very tailored customer experience in a specific part of their workflow, noting “this approach allows us to solve very unique challenges for the brand team.”
Participants agreed that direct and targeted deep-funnel initiatives, such as copay enrollments, cost-saving enrollments and prior authorization initiations, are all connections worth exploring.
As the role of the pharmacy continues to evolve, pharmacists could become an even more opportunistic touch point for marketers. Tapping into pharmacists’ needs and providing them with data and solutions to their pain points are opportunities panelists were interested in exploring.
Benefits of bringing media buy in-house
Panelists also debated the wisdom of bringing media buying and allocation in-house. “Bringing media buying in-house only makes sense if you’re committed to hiring really talented people because you believe you can do it better,” said Jim DeLash, omnichannel marketing director, GSK. “I’m anti-efficiency and pro-effectiveness.”
One participant felt that bringing certain functions in-house makes sense if companies own their data. “If companies have data across all channels, they have access to deeper-level insights and can make more informed decisions,” she said. “Traditionally, media teams often guided purchasing strategies. Now, with access to internal data, companies can make more strategic and data-informed decisions.”
“We drive the strategy,” agreed another pro. “We have strong data sets and sync them up with our strategy and feed that into media purchases. We rely on them to help find the right partners and channels for the strategy and insights that we’ve shared with them, so it’s synergistic.”
Anderson said his team in-housed part of the media strategy for a mature brand. He is more disposed to taking that approach with a mature brand and bringing an outside team in on a growth brand or strategic driver. “There’s a hybrid in the marketplace of companies delivering inventory and technology media companies that allow you to load your media into some of these platforms. The barriers to media delivery are coming down as platforms improve their self-serve systems and interfaces,” he said.
Naimoli noted that teams using self-service platforms and buying in-house need to vet their technology providers carefully to ensure that they are truly delivering value. He stressed the importance of using audience quality KPIs to evaluate effectiveness.
Rethinking evaluation and data-sharing
The panel also discussed how they evaluate the quality of sources used for digital, programmatic, social and other ad campaigns.
“While cost efficiency is a key consideration, it’s not the sole factor when evaluating a marketing mix strategy,” said one participant. Examining various customer types while leveraging predictive models to make media-buying decisions and using KPIs to measure performance have also changed the dynamic.
Data-sharing remains a barrier to effective evaluation and panelists discussed how they are approaching that challenge. “One of the challenges to true omnichannel and getting a holistic view of customer behavior is connecting all these different data sources,” said DeLash.
For Anderson, data-sharing is also a challenge and is working with leadership to create new value from it. “The power of data is in the combination of all these different elements that you can put together to create new layers of insight and new attributes. Everybody should be able to see a certain slice and to put a picture together that helps them drive their business responsibility.”
DeLash admitted that his team has battled other business units over how dashboards and metrics correlate with sales. “We’ve started to look at paid search activity and website visits as the two key metrics for whether or not a campaign is delivering revenue impact,” he said.
Many points of contact
Website visits were also a point of deliberation for members of the panel. “While a strong website presence is valuable, it’s crucial to recognize that customer journeys often extend beyond the website. Therefore, companies must develop strategies to understand the complete customer experience across all channels involved in a campaign or journey. This includes analyzing how these channels interact and contribute to overall campaign effectiveness,” said one panelist.
As they wade into predictive analytics, panelists considered the attributes they are seeking in a technology and/or media vendor partner.
“A partner that can help us bend that trend and change the industry model of how we’re thinking about going to market in the future is important,” said Trucco.
Anderson admitted to feeling that AI is currently “overhyped and underdelivering.” He noted that he wants a partner to help his team “figure out what is going to attract an audience to the table.”
“Many companies are attempting to use AI for content and targeting, but there’s so much more we just don’t know,” said one participant. “I want insight into what is possible.”
