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Tailoring Your Healthcare Marketing Program to the iPad

If one thing is clear, it's that tablet computing is here to stay. With Apple expected to sell more than 40 million iPads in 2011, "the fourth screen" has come to consume a greater share of computing time among early adopters and tech enthusiasts.

Generally being those early adopters and tech enthusiasts, doctors as a group have been quick to pick up the iPad and integrate its user-friendly interface and interactive experience into their practices. According to a recent survey by GSW Worldwide, 30% of doctors are already using iPads and 28% more plan to start using it in the next 6 months. In addition, with schools like Stanford Medical School integrating free iPads into their welcome kits for new students in 2014, the adoption of touch-based tablet computing among those in the medical profession is only going to rise in the coming years.

Savvy pharmaceutical marketers have taken notice of this rising tide and have begun to offer pharmaceutical marketing details in a digital form on the iPad, to most doctors. approval. According to an April 2011 survey by Intouch Solutions, more than 1/3 of doctors had received a pharma detail via iPad, and of those, 68% reported being extremely satisfied or very satisfied with the format. In addition, 8 out of 10 said that digital detailing is the same or superior to paper-based results.

So we know two things: doctors are using the iPad themselves and they prefer it when being marketed to. But how does one create a successful healthcare provider marketing experience using the iPad?

There are three key things to remember when designing a healthcare provider detail for the iPad that will make or break your marketing efforts:

  • 1. Keep it short and sweet (and flexible) — Doctors still want to talk to sales reps, but the amount of time they are willing to spend with a rep has been on the wane for years, to the point where you're lucky if you get 2-3 minutes. That's not a lot of time. And 12% of specialists and 14% of PCPs said they expect to decrease the amount of time they spend with pharmaceutical sales reps, according to a recent study by The Physicians Consulting Network. Keep your program short and focused on essential data points, or you'll end up running out of time. In addition, you'll want to create supplemental options (PDFs, educational websites, hotlines) in the event your time does get cut short — make it easy for the doctor to follow up themselves.
  • 2. Make it custom — Doctors today want the information that healthcare marketers provide, but they want it in a way that speaks to their practice, their patients and their specialty specifically. When designing an iPad marketing tool for your marketing outreach, make sure that it is customizable to the doctor specifically. In addition, you'll want to anticipate questions at touchy conversation points and create interactive callouts or capabilities for drilling down data so the salesperson and the doctor are able to discover the answers to his or her questions together, creating a more interactive and immersive experience.
  • 3. Make their job easier — Any successful iPad marketing tool will incorporate a two-tiered system where there's one version of the detail specifically for the doctor, and along with it, your organization offers a value-added iPad app that creates efficiencies for the doctor with the patient. Whether it's an educational tool, a calculator or other illustrative or interactive experience, creating an app to couple with your product that makes the doctor's job easier will go a long way in tipping the scales in favor of your product over another option.

The success of any healthcare marketing tool depends on whether or not you're able to create a fast, customizable, value-added tool for your potential customer. Success means another prescriber on board with your brand and potentially millions in sales for your organization over time. Failure means another flashy computer program with zero ROI.

The battle for the fourth screen is on. Which side will you be on?