Let’s talk about the future of pharma communication, in speaking with our customers it certainly has changed over the past 20 years! Especially when it comes to communication technology - things have really taken a turn for the best (in my view at least).

Here are a few of the ways that I think communication is set to change in the coming years and show how our platform, Snakker™ is already making a difference.

Drug and Treatment Promotion

First off, drug and treatment promotion has shifted gears towards being more HCP and patient-centric – from throwing a dart in the dark to placing it exactly on the bullseye, if you like.

It’s no surprise then that people trust people over large brands and organizations. We all tend to trust people that we know (through personal experiences, referrals, and/or virtual presence, etc.) over those we don’t. Having this level of relationship already lowers the objection barriers when communication is delivered and curated for a trustworthy channel – patients trust their doctors, HCPs trust their peers.

Snakker™ helps life science organizations build upon these relationships by giving the communicator the ability to not only create/curate content but also the messenger, and insights creator; ultimately bringing everyone’s thoughts, opinions, and insights closer.

Continuous Medical Education (CME)

The ongoing learning and professional development that HCPs undertake to maintain, enhance, and update their knowledge and skills throughout their careers is at an all-time high. But some of the content I see HCPs being forced to engage with is anything but exciting.

This is where Snakker™ is helping customers:

1.  To provide pharma and life science organizations with the space to create and share nutritious, short, relevant, and accessible on-the-go digital content to their HCPs, and

2.  To empower HCPs by placing them in the driver’s seat with the content from a time, place, and interest perspective.

Anyone remember these “Choose your own adventure” books? That’s how we think all CME education should be.

HCP Access

Now, when it comes to reaching HCPs, things have evolved too (thankfully). Medical Sales Reps (MSLs) or Patient Journey Partners (PJPs) don’t necessarily always have the luxury of going door-to-door to meet with HCPs – with their undivided attention. Remote detailing, virtual meetings, and digital HCP engagement has been on the rise and isn’t stopping any time soon.

Snakker™ enables customer-facing team members to convert, tailor, and tweak their medical content (eDetailers, drug promotions, clinical studies, KOL webinars, etc.) into interactive and engaging bite-sized pieces of content that not only present the content in a convenient manner, but also gather qualitative and quantitative data for input into the HCPs preferences or opinions for your next Snak™, discussion, or marketing campaign. MLR approval has been considered here too, so the content can be restricted to enable only specific parts which can be adjusted.

‍Digital Communication

And speaking of tech, in case you didn’t notice, digital communication is everywhere! Pharma companies are entering the fray on the social media discussion with strong non-branded plays as well as traditional channels such as email marketing, digitally enabled congresses, and a host of other smart approaches. The trend I see is a genuine desire to add value to their customers in an open and transparent way.

With Snakker™, ideas, thoughts, preferences, and opinions can be shared with the rest of the audience – transparent and rewarding with live in-video poll results from other HCPs.

Current Challenges

But then again, it's not all smooth sailing. There are some real challenges that need to be overcome in this digital world. Pharma leaders are struggling to fit all these digital channels into a seamless strategy, giving customers a top-notch experience. Plus, dealing with huge amounts of health data requires some serious data analytics skills.

We have thought hard about how we too can add value to Snakker™ customers. Through our platform dashboard, individual Snak™ results, and unique tracking code abilities, huge amounts of data can be spliced, diced, and exported with ease. Snak™-specific engagement rates, average view times, and Snak™ journeys, among other things, are also tracked to show you what’s working and what isn’t. The goal here is to use the data and craft better content experiences that help HCPs get the information they need in the format that speaks to them.

Not another platform

It was debated at length when we were designing Snakker™ whether we should become a platform where HCPs gather or a conduit by which existing platforms and channels could be enhanced. Fast forward to today – we chose the latter.

Now, let's focus on the nitty-gritty of communication challenges in the pharma industry. For starters, most of our customers use a variety of existing channels of communication with their customers, everything from HCP portals to marketing automation journeys, paid/owned channels, education platforms and more need to be orchestrated to deliver a seamless set of data that helps inform a variety of decisions.

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One of the standout features of Snakker™ is that these can be shared and posted on any platform and/or embedded to any HTML page with ease. The best part is that all your data is kept within the Snakker™ platform and is not shared with any third-party platforms piggybacking off your efforts.

Ultimately, we believe that choice and relevancy are a game-changer in the future of pharma communication, adapting to the evolving landscape of the industry. The shift towards more HCP and patient-centric drug and treatment promotion highlights the importance of building strong relationships with data insights providing the Northstar on the horizon for savvy brands to navigate toward.