Channel Preference in the Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Industry in 2024

Introduction
The pharmaceutical and healthcare industry is undergoing a profound transformation in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has accelerated the adoption of digital technologies, transformed customer expectations, and disrupted traditional business models. In this context, it is crucial for pharma and healthcare companies to understand the channel preference of their customers, especially healthcare professionals (HCPs), who are the key decision makers and influencers in the industry. 
Channel preference is the term used to describe the preferred modes of communication and engagement that HCPs have with pharma and healthcare companies and their products, treatments, and issues. 
Taking channel acceptance as a proxy for channel preference is a common gap in the industry so it is important to clearly understand the difference between these two distinct concepts.

Channel preference vs Channel acceptance: 
Channel acceptance refers to the Channel that a HCP may use for professional reasons, even if it is not their preferred one. It can be measured via click or open rates and all the typical engagement measures. 
Channel preference refers to the Channel that a HCP would love to use and select, based on their own personality. It is the channel that, given all options, the HCP would naturally navigate towards because that’s where they feel most comfortable.
Understanding channel preference is important for pharma and healthcare companies to design and implement effective and engaging marketing and communication strategies that can reach and persuade their target HCPs. By doing so, they can create a seamless and fluid customer experience that can lead to higher customer satisfaction, loyalty, and advocacy. This can also help pharma and healthcare companies to increase their market share, revenue, and profitability, and to gain a competitive edge in the rapidly evolving and highly competitive industry.
The aim of this essay is to investigate the topic and benefits of channel preference, using data and insights from various sources, such as studies, reports, blogs, and articles. It is structured as follows:

• The first section provides an overview of the common channels that HCPs use or prefer, such as face-to-face interactions, remote interactions, email interactions, and social media interactions.
• The second section analyses the patterns and differences in channel preference across multiple specialties, using data from a recent market study in Australia. In this study over 40,000 HCPs from 10 specialties were assessed in 2022 and 2023 in relation to their individual channel preference.
• The third section discusses the benefits and challenges of understanding and aligning with channel preference, such as creating more effective and engaging customer experiences, increasing customer satisfaction, loyalty, and advocacy, and gaining a competitive advantage.
• The fourth section summarises the main points and provides some recommendations to leverage channel preference in their marketing and communication strategies.

Common Channels in the Pharma and Healthcare Industry
In the pharma and healthcare industry, channels are the routes or modes of communication and engagement that pharma and healthcare companies use to interact with their customers, especially HCPs. Channels can be classified into different interaction categories, such as:

• Face-to-face, such as individual or group meetings, visits, or conferences, which can provide a high level of personalization, trust, and interaction, but can also be costly, time-consuming, and restricted by regulations or safety measures.
• ​Email, such as newsletters, alerts, or invitations, allows for a high level of reach, frequency, and measurability, but can also be ignored, deleted, or filtered by spam or clutter.
• Phone, highly convenient, accessible, and flexible, but can also be perceived as intrusive or shallow.
• ​Video Chat, a fast and engaging medium but can also be affected by technical issues, privacy concerns, or digital fatigue.

These channels can be used individually or in combination, depending on the objectives, content, and context of the communication and engagement. A pharma or healthcare company may use a face-to-face meeting to introduce a new product or treatment, a video call to provide a product demonstration or training, an email to send a product brochure or invitation, and a social media post to share a customer testimonial or success story.

Patterns and Differences in Channel Preference
To understand the patterns and differences in channel preference,  a recent market study was analysed. In this study over 40,000 HCPs from 10 specialties in Australia were assessed in 2022 and 2023 in relation to their individual channel preference.
The following are some of the key findings, based on the aggregated data:

• Across the 10 specialties assessed, the channel Email had the highest share with 31%.
• Phone was the 2nd strongest channel preference with 28%
• ​Remote 1:1 video calls were the next strongest channel with a preference of 21%
• The last channel of the assessed 10 specialties was face-to-face with 20%

In the reviewed study the focus was on channel preference, not channel acceptance as previously described.

The study also revealed some interesting differences in channel preference according to the specialty of the HCP. The following are some of the highlights from the study, based on the individual data:

Channel preference by specialty

• Face-to-face by General Physicians and Oncologists (34-37%)
• Email by Pathologists and Neurologists (45-53%)
• Phone by Gastroenterologists and Cardiologists (41-44%)
• Video Chat by Endocrinologists and Oncologists (24-29%)

These findings show that channel preference is not uniform across the pharma and healthcare industry, but rather varies according to the specialty. Therefore, pharma and healthcare companies need to adopt a more customer-centric and data-driven approach to understand and segment their target HCPs based on their channel preference, and to tailor and personalise their communication and engagement accordingly.

Benefits and Challenges

Benefits: By understanding and aligning with channel preference, pharma and healthcare companies can

• Create more effective and engaging customer experiences: deliver the right content, to the right customer, at the right time, through the right channel, thus increasing the relevance, value, and impact of their communication and engagement.
• Increase customer satisfaction, loyalty, and advocacy: meet and exceed customer expectations, build and nurture long-term and trust-based relationships, and encourage customer retention and referrals.
• Gain a competitive advantage: differentiate from the competition, increase market share, revenue, and profitability, and enhance brand reputation and image.

Challenges: To understand and align with channel preference, pharma and healthcare companies need to

• Collect and analyse customer data: collect and analyse large amounts of customer data from various sources, such as studies, reports, blogs, and articles, using advanced analytics and artificial intelligence. It is essential to ensure that data quality, privacy, security and ethics are in the forefront.
• Integrate and optimise multiple channels: integrate and optimise multiple channels, such as face-to-face, remote, email, and social media interactions, using digital platforms and tools, such as apps, chatbots, and virtual reality together with cross functional teams working in unison towards a richer customer experience. 
• Adapt and innovate in a dynamic environment: adapt and innovate in a dynamic environment, where customer needs and expectations are constantly increasing. Therefore it is important to embrace a culture of agility, flexibility and creativity. 

Pharma and healthcare companies need to overcome the challenges and leverage these benefits by understanding and aligning with channel preference in the pharma and healthcare industry.

Conclusion
Channel preference is a key factor that influences the communication and engagement between pharma and healthcare companies and their customers, especially HCPs. Importantly, channel preference is not uniform across the pharma and healthcare industry, but rather varies according to the specialty and individuals.
Pharma and healthcare companies need to adopt a more customer-centric and data-driven approach to understand and segment their target HCPs based on their individual channel preference, and to tailor and personalise their communication and engagement accordingly. 
This can help to create a seamless and fluid customer experience that can lead to higher customer satisfaction, loyalty, and advocacy, and to gain a competitive edge in the rapidly evolving and highly competitive industry.

Recommendations to leverage channel preference in marketing and communication strategies are:

• Conduct regular and comprehensive studies to collect and analyse customer data on channel preference, using advanced analytics and artificial intelligence.
• Integrate and optimise multiple channels and train cross functional teams to work in unison towards a richer customer experience.
• Adapt and innovate in a dynamic environment, where customer needs and expectations are constantly increasing.

The 2023 channel preference study shows that channel preference is not uniform across the pharma and healthcare industry, but varies according to the specialty. 

Generalizing the specialty by the dominant preference would lead to addressing the majority of HCPs with their non-preferred channel.

Ultimately it is critical for pharma and healthcare companies to understand the individual preference of each HCP.