10 steps to a more effective e-detail
pharmafile | August 20, 2007 | Feature | Medical Communications, Sales and Marketing |Â Â creativity, e-detailing, marketingÂ
With so many pharma companies still to take up e-detailing, experience of moving along the learning curve is proving to be a valuable asset to those that have it. But if you've never worked on an e-detail before, where do you start?
The following 10 steps offer a creative perspective on where the e-detailing novice should begin.
1.Know how to select and brief your agency
To get the right agency to do the job, you need to know what to look for. Your existing agency may be great at advertising, but will they understand the technology involved? Or you may know of an excellent digital agency that produces marvellous websites, but will they understand the restrictions that go hand- in-hand with pharma marketing?
Ideally, you want a good cross-section of both; that is, an agency that knows pharma marketing, but has good digital skills, too. You also need one that delivers on both form and function, both of which are essential to a successful e-detail.
Also consider how you'll work with the agency. Getting on and being on the same wavelength isn't always a given – successful teams are, as we know, ones that work well together. And don't be tempted to go with a friend's agency; you want one that will make you look good when your e-detail is in action.
Once you've made your selection, make sure your brief is up to scratch. Getting the brief formulated can and should be a collaborative effort between agency and client. You, as the client, can provide all the relevant background information and research, and the agency can offer a creative insight along the way, which can be developed collaboratively. It's a good way to make sure you both start off on the same tracks. At this stage, your objectives should be laid out as clearly as possible – that way, you have a clear reference point at every stage of development.
2.Your internal team and platform decisions
Remember, as your agency becomes part of your marketing team, you and your colleagues will be working closely with them, so make sure you're all on the same path by ensuring you and your team communicate internally. If everyone knows what's going on and how things are measuring up to objectives, decisions will be easier to make and will be more likely to be the right ones. Having your team there to support you and having the trust there to let them help will avoid any delays when you can't be there.
Similarly, you want to make sure you get medical, legal and sales teams involved from the beginning. Start with consultations and move into more in-depth involvement as your e-detail progresses. What you'll find is that they'll all bring up useful comments and viewpoints that you or your agency may not have considered. This means when your e-detail is finished, everyone should be happy.
One decision you should definitely make collaboratively will be the platform provider. With different back-end options for software, you'd be wise to consider which is going to best meet your objectives. Get your agency involved and also your own team as you want everyone to be comfortable with how your e-detail operates and its limitations, particularly your salesforce, who will be using it daily. Get them involved, too. Finally, consider your long-term objectives and plans for expansion of the scheme and take these into account.
3.Design, copywriting and fonts
As we're tackling this from a creative perspective, it's important to cover how the design affects the overall success of the project. You may find yourself with the temptation to cram information into the e-detail – after all, there's plenty you could talk about – but remember this is a sales tool.
You want the e-detail to continue to promote the key messages that have been developed throughout the rest of your branding and campaigns and these should be reinforced by the salesforce with their clinician contact time.
Make sure your agency is using their design skills, too, and not getting caught up in what the technological capabilities are. Good design should be effective – you almost shouldn't be aware of how you're interacting with it, it should be natural. You'll soon notice if you have to really think about what you're doing and that's a sign of bad design.
The same goes with the copy. Make sure it's in line with your brand and campaigns and that the tone of voice is appropriate to your audience and will talk to them in the right language. Think about how this will affect the perception of your brand and how you want your product to be positioned. This should all be apparent through reading the words.
Finally, your choice of typography will affect your user interaction. Remember that you're trying to engage your audience, not switch them off. Make sure your typeface is clear, consistent and in line with your brand and messages. You've got heavy information to convey, so you want to make it as easy as possible for your audience to take it in.
The combination of these three design elements will form the overall opinion of the user. Make sure you and your agency are considering these individually and carefully at each step of the way. Pay attention to the smaller details, too, because if you miss something, they won't appear so small.
4.Page progressions and navigation
It is essential to seek consultation from your field force by asking them how they feel about using your proposed designs. Navigation has to be logical and intuitive; you don't want your sales rep getting lost in an e-detail halfway through a presentation which will only serve to frustrate everyone involved. Consider your call lengths – are we looking at four minutes or 40?
One of the major benefits of e-detailing is the potential to pre-select the appropriate presentation depending on who the rep will be visiting. This allows you to essentially offer a bespoke presentation in each meeting, meaning your content is always relevant and your rep is more likely to follow the proposed pathways. However, you don't want to waste all this with page progressions not working seamlessly or quite as they should.
Navigation is the same and you want to keep an eye on how the e-detail is actually used. For this, you'll either have to really stand back to get a clear picture or, even better, get the salesforce back in. Again, attention to detail is important. In one of our developments, we realised that by following convention and placing buttons in the corners, reps would be covering valuable content as they navigated the pages. It's these small details that will affect usability.
5. Photography and animation
Photography and animation are powerful tools for enhancing engagement. Carefully selected use of them in the right places will create variety and help to convey your messages in a way that will help retention of information. Again, make sure this is not only consistent with your brand, but also that it is appropriate to the information being conveyed.
It's all about the small details forming part of a bigger picture. In Tazocin, Creative Lynx used subtle animation to really enhance the graphic representation. These were just small details that created a smoothness and sophistication that isn't possible on printed paper. Make sure, however, that you don't go overboard and merely provide a distraction.
6.Multimedia options
This is an area where your e-detail can really excel and stand way above a paper detail aid. Engaging your physician with interesting video testimonials of key opinion leaders, or patients who have been treated, can create a very compelling and convincing argument for a drug. Not only will it encourage your doctor to listen and learn a bit longer, allowing you to get more information across, but it also paves the way for extra creativity which will aid message retention.
Video testimonials are just one option, however. You may want to consider other features, such as soundbites combined with animation or other features. Feel free to mix it up and to use different features in different places – in fact, the more variety, the more you're likely to engage the audience.
7.Timescales
Get your agency to agree your timescales from the outset so everyone knows what they're all working towards. It may sound obvious, but for something complex like an e-detail, it is vital. If you have a rapidly approaching launch date, it may mean you have to compromise on some of the content for the first stage in order to make a tidy and polished e-detail in time. Extra ideas will always come out as the e-detail is developed, but they don't always need to be implemented straight away. In fact, updates will keep the content fresh and are another benefit of e-detailing over traditional methods.
The great thing about e-detailing is that it can be added to at any point. You can easily get your agency to revamp a certain slide, change the content or add extra slides at a later date. The Tazocin e-detail is now in its third evolution and improvements are being made at each stage. This also allows enough time to see how the field force actually uses the detail aid to allow changes to be made as necessary.
8.The creative approval process
Mention the words approval process to any pharmaceutical marketer and you'll probably get a disgruntled groan. Anyone who has experienced the process has felt the frustration at some point as creativity can seemingly be diminished in order to fit in with global. Frustrating as it can be, it's part of the industry we operate in, so if we can make that process quicker and easier, everyone feels the benefits.
For this reason, it's a good idea to understand any limitations from the outset and design around them. Doing this from the start allows for more creative thinking time to design something that's accepted by global marketing and legal teams but which still has impact. If you work on the global team, chances are the process will be a little easier – but there is, of course, still a process to go through. The trick is to get it right first time and not have to make any last minute changes.
9.Training and roll-out
Just as important as designing a great e-detail aid is showing people how to use it properly. There is no point having an all-singing, all-dancing e-detail if your field force is not trained properly in its functionality. Get your agency and your platform provider to deliver full training to either yourself or your team who will be using it. Particularly with a new product launch, you need things to go well from the start and be able to roll out your e-detail from day one. Moreover, this will allow for vital feedback from the field force once the e-detail is in action and this can form the basis of any subsequent updates.
10.Monitoring creativity, results and effectiveness
Monitoring creativity is not an easy task. After all, creativity is, to some extent, subjective and there is no real way to measure it; it depends on individual opinion. You will, however, notice if the creative thinking isn't there with your agency.
You want something that is pushing boundaries a little, being a bit innovative – it's sometimes the only weapon against the competition. If you suspect your agency isn't delivering the creativity it promised at the pitch, raise it with them – they'll probably be horrified and step up their game.
Your results will give quite a strong indication of effective creativity. Monitor how long each slide is being used – the most creative and therefore engaging will most likely be the ones with the longest time spent viewing. The same goes for effectiveness – get a creative e-detail right and youll soon see the results.
A balance of creativity, marketing insight and robust technology will provide an e-detail that delivers real results. Get your agency right, work with them and follow this 10-step process and youll be on the right track.
David Hunt is head of e-communications at Creative Lynx.
For more information visit: www.creativelynx.co.uk
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