New Research Shows Medical Doctors Prefer a Mix of Digital, Face-to-Face Marketing

Press release:

Survey of over 5,400 specialists, PCPs on Physicians Consulting Network indicates 2/3 own smartphones, 1/4 have tablets

New York, NY; March 31, 2011:

For pharmaceutical companies marketing to health care professionals, going mobile is only part of the story. New research by Knowledge Networks using the Physicians Consulting Network (PCN®) shows that doctors are seeking a combination of digital and in-person marketing. Specialists and PCPs alike are relying more and more on smartphones and tablets to check email, research medications and conditions, and take online surveys; but they still prefer in-person visits with drug sales reps over electronic pharma marketing ("e-detailing") by a factor of three to one.
The study is the third in four years among members of the Physicians Consulting Network, the only healthcare research panel that combines senior-level survey expertise with access to thousands of hard-to-reach, highly engaged specialists. PCN's Digital MD Marketing series tracks doctors' uses of and attitudes towards personal digital technologies, drug marketing approaches, electronic health records, and other topics of central interest to pharmaceutical marketers.
Drawing on responses from 5,490 doctors, the 2011 Digital MD Marketing research shows that

• 67% of PCPs and 61% of specialists now have a smartphone (64% of doctors overall)
• 27% of PCPs and specialists alike have tablet computers (such as iPads) – about 5 times the level in the general population
• Shopping and survey taking via mobile devices have grown significantly since 2010, but "e-detailing" grew less dramatically and is less common
• Reference applications, such as Epocrates and WebMD, are the most popular mobile medical "apps" – while apps from pharmaceutical manufacturers receive minimal use

The survey also asked physicians their preferred method of interacting with pharmaceutical sales reps, revealing that

• 79% (top two box) of PCPs and 74% of specialists prefer in-person dialogue with reps; physicians ages 55 and over skewed higher on this answer by 12 percentage points, compared to those under 40
• 23% of PCPs (top two box) and 28% of specialists prefer computer-based e-detailing; physicians over age 55 viewed this method only slightly less favorably than did younger physicians

The new Digital MD Marketing research also shows that 61% of PCPs and 50% of specialists still maintain an open-door policy when it comes to sales rep visits – as compared to those doctors who insist that sales reps make appointments or who do not see reps at all.
"Mobile technology has indeed proven a boon to busy physicians, helping them keep up on the latest information and manage their practices," said Jim Vielee, Senior Vice President in charge of PCN®. "Their focus on the practical – and slow adoption of branded pharma apps and mobile e-detailing – is something marketers need to keep in mind to make their efforts balanced and effective. Our findings also reinforce the important role that sales rep visits still play in doctor interaction; the transition to digital is still just that, and ignoring either side of the equation is likely to backfire."
The Physicians Consulting Network (PCN®) is the only healthcare research panel that combines senior-level survey expertise with access to thousands of hard-to-reach, highly engaged specialists. In a world where drug development is becoming more specialized, PCN connects you with your high-value health care professionals, such as oncologists, neurosurgeons and diabetes educators.
Knowledge Networks is passionate about research in marketing, media, health and social policy – collaborating closely with client teams throughout the research process, while applying rigor in everything we do. We specialize in innovative online research that consistently gives leaders in business, government, and academia the confidence to make important decisions.
KN delivers affordable, statistically valid online research through KnowledgePanel® and leverages a variety of other assets, such as world class advanced analytics, an industry-leading physician panel, an innovative platform for measuring online ad effectiveness, and a research-ready behavioral database of frequent supermarket and drug store shoppers

"Parents" magazine y facebook

 "Parents Mag Offers the ‘Content Carrot’ for Facebook Growth"

Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Steve Smith

About a year ago, Parents magazine had a small but growing presence on Facebook, with about 25,000 

fans. But in short order a concerted plan to leverage the social network more effectively with readers has grown the base exponentially, now standing at 256,000. “We have incorporated social media – Facebook and Twitter – and really thought about digital and editorial together to develop for Facebook a well-rounded presence and portfolio,” says Dana Points, editor-in-chief,Parents.

Like other magazine brands with fast-growing Facebook fan bases, Parents is starting to look at the social network as a publishing platform, a place where its users can meet and engage in unique content. The very popular Parents Cover Contests now lets users on Facebook enter their kids’ pictures directly on that page for a chance to see their young ones featured on a future cover. “A big chunk of recent growth has come from the cover contests,” says Points.

Even more ambitious was a recent “Expert Day” event held live on the platform where parenting experts answered user queries. Arranging to have a group of professionals ready to respond to the rapid fire, real-time environment was a challenge, Points admits, but it paid off in high amounts of interactivity. “We received about a question per minute," she recalls. More than half of questions posed were answered directly by an expert and others got responses from fellow users. But overall 80% of the wave of queries posted received an answer. “Sometimes when you offer a timed event it increases the appeal because it is a narrow window of opportunity,” she says. But it demonstrated that editorially driven programs had an important place on Facebook, even if they required some heavy lifting. The program doubled the average number of daily likes Parents was getting go its page. “It was gratifying to me that it didn’t’ have to be a contest. This carrot was the content.”

In addition to contests and exclusive content, the third leg to the Facebook stool for Parents is talking directly with users and letting them see their voices played back in the magazine and on the Web site. Several months ago the letters to the editor page was remade with social networking and interactivity in mind. Now part of the mix are Facebook questions that get expert answers. And of course the print magazine has persistent shout-outs for its readers to become part of the conversation and “like” Parents.

And along with editorial strategy, the metrics too have evolved. A year ago many magazines were measuring Facebook success by their number of fans/likes. Now Points and her social media manager Sarah Hull are looking at the kinds of discussions that take place here, the number of comments different editorial inspires, how engaged people seem to be and then how many people are brought back to Parents.com. “It’s a virtuous circle,” Points says. And the circle gets bigger as people re-distribute the content throughout the social network.

And sometimes success and engagement come simply from asking the right question. Parents recently garnered its first post with 2,000 comments. The wave of responses was to a simple question posed to Facebook visitors: “How old were you when you had your first baby?”

Publishers debate merits of marketing services

Many business-to-business (B2B) media executives are adjusting to life after the Great Recession by repositioning their revenue streams around marketing services. While some publishers are taking a leap of faith into a new operating paradigm, others are cautious about the perils of competing with agencies and reducing their margins.

What are marketing services?

According to VSS Communications, the marketing services industry was $215 billion in revenue in 2010.

• Direct / Database Marketing: $107 billion
• Consumer Promotion: $46 billion
• Event & Entertainment Marketing: $28 billion
• B2B Promotion: $26 billion
• PR & Word-of-Mouth: $6 billion
• Outsourced Custom Publishing: $2 billion

At American Business Media's annual conference this week, Scott Peters, co-president of Jordan Edmiston Group, highlighted two key areas of growth opportunity for B2B publishers: database marketing (forecasted to grow to $120 billion in 2012) and interactive marketing services (projected to reach $40 billion in 2012). Print advertising for B2B media, on the other hand, will continue to decline through 2014.

Which media companies are doing marketing services well?

Many attendees and speakers at the ABM conference repeatedly stated that no B2B publisher was doing marketing services well, overlooking IDG Connect as a potential model of how to implement marketing services successfully. Penton Media recently acquired EyeTraffic Media in order to get a running start in the space, while Northstar Travel Media recently launched a marketing solutions division focused on five areas of client support: technology platforms, events, research, creative services and social media management.

Kim Paulsen, SVP of Penton's Marketing Services division, encouraged publishers to address the issue of talent by either hiring new blood with outside experience or acquiring agencies who are already capable of executing. Michael DeLuca, president of Meister Media, echoed this sentiment, lamenting the lack of account management DNA within the publishing ranks. Gary Slack, chairman & chief experience officer of interactive marketing communicatin agency Slack & Company, chimed in on the issue of talent, advising publishers looking to build a business organically to hire some agency pros for key positions. Paulsen also highlighted the importance of technology as a means of enabling the business, saying, "If you don't become an automated marketing specialist, you're crazy!"

Marketers don't want content from publishers

One of the big surprises at the ABM conference was marketers' perspective on quality content. While publishers believe they can provide superior content for marketing collateral, Mark Wilson, vice president of corporate and field marketing at tech vendor Sybase, disagreed. Sybase, in fact, is hiring its own social media-savvy journalists as it remakes its marketing structure to look more like a newsroom.

"It's never been easier to put content in front of decision makers," said Wilson, adding that quality was the key for success. Penton's Paulsen spiced up the debate saying something that everyone in the room was thinking: "Vendor content sucks." The two seemed to agree on the fact that publishers can provide context, packaging and polish to custom content, however.

Competition with agencies a sticky issue

During a panel session containing marketer, agency and publisher alike, competition and coopetition came up early and often. As publishers expand the services they offer, they often bump up against agency partners for business. Paulsen jumped on the subject early, saying, "We are smart to partner with agencies, but in some cases agencies keep us away from the customers and don’t deliver new creative ideas to customer." Slack warned that publishers looking to attack agency relationships would find it difficult, noting that publishers "don’t operate monogamously with clients."

In the following session, Scott Vaughn, CMO for UBM TechWeb, chimed in on the issue. "There's no business in competing with agencies for clients," he said. This quote generated a response from the peanut gallery when former Reed Business Information CEO Jeff DeBalko responded via Twitter, "Tough to avoid when pursuing new $ streams." Sybase's Wilson had perhaps the most interesting comment on the issue saying that he wanted his media partners to bring him innovative ideas and his agencies to handle the operations