Metrics and measurement are more important than ever. Management is increasingly focused on accountability and ROI, and metrics dashboards powered by multiple sources ensure that we can measure anything.

Google Analytics tallies, rolls-up, drills down and dissects whatever you tag. Internal data like rep territories, sales calls, patient databases, etc. can be married with external databases like physician prescribing data, census data, disease incidence, allergy indices, etc. Add it all up and you get data soup.

The Dashboard Trap
Just because your dashboard can measure everything doesn’t mean you should. We’ve become so obsessed with what we can count that we’ve lost track of why we’re counting. You need a carefully thought-out measurement plan that’s tied directly to your objectives, one that provides only actionable information that drives decisions.

An account manager asked me, "How should we code the various opt-in vehicles to track how many patients opt-in from each?" My question back was, "Why do you want to know? What decision does it drive? You won’t eliminate any opt-in vehicles because you want to give patients the opportunity to opt-in at every touch point."

The manager replied, "Well, don’t you think that would be nice to know?"

As you evaluate what data to collect ask yourself: What is nice to know vs. need to know? Is the information actionable? Does it relate to my objectives?

4 Key Measurement Questions
When putting together your next pharmaceutical marketing or advertising campaign, here are four questions to ask that will streamline your measurement plan:

1. What are we trying to accomplish? Clearly define your objectives and get management’s buy in.

2. What are the key metrics? Only track metrics related to your objectives. You’ll find you need less than "everything but the kitchen sink".

3. Where do I get the data? Be selective with data points, especially online metrics. Of course you’ll need more metrics to define website engagement than you will just to count opt-ins, but focus on the most important points of engagement. You don’t need to track every possible navigation path and page view.

4. How quickly and how frequently do I need the data?
Some things you need to know right away; others can wait. A basic tenet of decision analysis is calculating the value of information. The cost of obtaining information should be less than the value of the information itself. You’ll pay a premium to get IMS Rx data earlier, and staff hours add up quickly to generate daily or weekly reports across all metrics, so choose wisely.

Why Less Is More In Pharma Marketing
You might think it’s best to collect all the information you can get just in case you need it. If you think that senior management appreciates all this data, you may want to reconsider. Efficient measurement is tied to objectives. Management will appreciate your concise focus when you report back only the metrics that are related to your objectives.

If this post got your analytics juices flowing, go here for the blog post I did last year on unbranded DTC promotion and measuring the ROI. Or. access the full article published in PM360.

How are you measuring your pharma marketing and advertising campaigns? Email me or post a comment below.

By Chuck McLeester, Senior VP Planning, Metrics & Analytics
Roska Healthcare Advertising

Out of the box thinking is gold. It can differentiate me-too brands in competitive markets and increase profits. Clients demand it. Awards laud and applaud it. But it can also be a double-edged sword, often pushing the boundaries of what can and can’t be said, leading to an overstatement of efficacy, omission and/or minimization of risk information and making unsubstantiated superiority claims (the three most common violations sited by the FDA in 2009 – 2011).
Agency creative teams often complain that creativity isn’t possible within the box (confines) of regulatory guidance. However, what if we change the focus? Instead of trying to push the boundaries “out”, we push them “in”, focusing on advertising that falls well within the government and FDA guidelines. This sea change requires us to do something counter-intuitive. Think inside the box.
Inside – The New Outside.
Let’s start with the understanding that creativity isn’t defined by the size of the box, but how our solutions resonate within it. Here are a few of my thoughts about how to start thinking “inside the box”:

• Ensure the agency’s creative team is rooted and grounded in the scientific rigor of the product and disease state. A deeper dive into the data and science will uncover hidden gems and opportunities. As a result, creative concepts will be more compelling, convincing, and a well-supported source of authority.
  
• Foster an innate connection between the medical and creative teams. Bring them together early in the process and have them joined at the hip through the conceptual stages. Medically relevant creative solutions will soon outshine those ubiquitous, clichéd, formulaic offerings that fail to communicate substantial messages.
  
• Engage the medical/legal/regulatory team early in the creative development. Ask them to review initial concepts. By doing so, you often avoid the situation where sweeping wholesale judgments must be made at the eleventh hour.

When the agency team truly embraces change and understands the parameters of “the box”, they’ll find opportunities galore (and the need to rewrite marketing claims to comply with warning letters will be a thing of the past).

Do you believe now is the time to focus on brilliant “in the box” thinking? Or do you think the existing model is doing just fine? Email me your thoughts and start a positive dialogue.
By Jay Bolling, President & CEO
Roska Healthcare Advertising

The mobile revolution is here. While the word revolution gets overused, the point is, you need a mobile strategy to reach audiences on the go (whether they are healthcare professionals, patients or caregivers). For this post, I boiled down the mass of information and strategies out there to create a quick, insider’s guide to mobile. So, here you go:

1.Right-size Your Content. DON’T take your entire brand.com website and try and make it mobile friendly. It won’t be. Instead, serve up pared back content that gives your audience only what they need—while they’re on the go.

2. Integrate Into Everyday Life. Physicians, nurses, patients and caregivers are not technologists. They just happen to be people who use technology as a part of their everyday life. Ensure your content, app, whatever—make their jobs easier. Make the management of their disease easier. Make their discussion with one another easier and more productive.

3. Make It Easy to Find. You put a lot of time and money into your solution. But nobody’s going to use your great solution if they can’t find it. So, market it. Optimize it for mobile search. Promote it using mobile media and traditional/digital channels.

4. Measure Your Success. Put the metrics and key performance indicators (KPIs) in place to know if you hit the mark (or more important if you just released a dud). Prove the value not only to your audience, but the senior management team that funded that puppy. It’s how you’ll know you made an impact in the lives of the people you touched, and also have the data to secure the funding for your next big initiative.

And, don’t lose sight of the core foundation for building any solid strategy (digital or otherwise).

• Gather Insights. You need to truly know your audience, whether HCPs, pharmacists, patients or caregivers.
• Make it Relevant. Understand what’s important to your customers. It’s not about shouting out your message or app, it’s about giving them what they want and fulfilling their needs.
• Provide Value. Whatever you’re offering—content, dosing apps, co-pay offsets—provide value. It’ll create connections and establish relationships that will pay dividends big time.

Think I missed any major steps or buckets? Email me or post a comment below.

By Kurt Mueller, Chief Digital & Science Officer
Roska Healthcare Advertising