Trust drives sales in the world of pharma. Gain a provider’s trust and they won’t hesitate to recommend and prescribe your product, whenever appropriate. The best way to establish trust, of course, is through reliability. Prove to a colleague or client that you can consistently provide them with something they need, and they will put their faith in you, time after time. Do it without coming off as self-serving, and you’ve built a lifelong advocate.
What, then, are HCPs looking for from pharmaceutical companies? The answer, for many, is reliable, non-branded content. Moreover, they want a steadily refreshed stream of that content. As DRG Digital Principal Analyst Matthew Arnold puts it, “If you’re not refreshing your content online, you’re not adding to the physician relationship; you’re actually damaging the trust they have in you.”
Bear in mind that physicians value their time, and you should as well. Presenting relevant information in a way that is quickly and easily absorbed adds a lot of value from their perspective. As such, video is an ideal medium for building solid, trusting relationships.
To get started on creating an ever-replenishing fountain of online video content, we recommend the following:
Partner Up
Surrounding yourself with allies makes any task easier. Internally, work with your medical affairs experts to come up with compelling, science-based stories relevant to the HCPs you are courting. Choosing to collaborate with an outside production company can also help you keep up the pace and streamline the creative process.
Break it Down
Consider the value of creating an ongoing series. Addressing complex issues—those that are most often useful to providers—takes time; time that they may not have in one sitting. Breaking them down and examining them a piece at a time can be more efficient and productive. Add in a warm, friendly host as a familiar face to further solidify the bond of trust with your audience.
Widen Out
Approaching an issue from a variety of perspectives adds credibility which, in turn, fosters trust. Capturing the views of patients, caregivers, and key opinion leaders allows HCPs to see the subject from different angles, giving them a more complete look at what is going on. Multi-dimensional thinking demonstrates care and consideration; both qualities valuable to the cultivation of trust.
Fresh insights from a party they know and trust are worth more than diamonds to health practitioners. Give them a bottomless vein of fresh, relevant content, and you will earn their loyalty for years to come.
Trust us on this.