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Maximizing MCM Impact: Part 3
Mike Ness, Director Healthcare Communication at Data Ad
Nov 12, 2019

If you don't measure, you can't maximize

In the last blog, Magali discussed how pharma marketers can determine where they currently sit on the Customer Engagement Maturity Curve by considering their access to a variety of data and their current level of digital readiness. Regardless of where you fall on the Maturity Curve, your ultimate goal is to optimize the return on every single promotional dollar being spent.

In this blog, let’s consider the organization that has invested in an MCM strategy. What are some approaches to maximize ROI? Are you dynamically using all the available channels at your disposal to ensure your marketing message is heard by your most valuable customers?

As Gilbert discussed in the series introduction (Part 1: Can Achieving Your Marketing Goals be as Simple as a Drive in the Park?), relying solely on email and Rep contacts can leave large gaps in the coverage of your message. A well-planned strategy means a well-built marketing journey and a channel mix that is wisely applied to the correct segments to boost communication impact and maximize invested dollars.

Allocate the Right Channel Mix to the Right Customers

In order to maximize the impact of each marketing dollar, marketers need to use the most cost-effective combination of channels that will bring the highest value for their customers.

Let’s consider a typical market in primary care. The graph below illustrates a representative customer segmentation, where a small percentage of your customers (i.e. 15%) represent a large share of your market. Consequently, the vast majority of your customers (i.e. 85%) deliver significantly less value and, in many cases, are being underserved.

In this scenario, your top-tier customers are generally well-served by your existing marketing mix. While there may be opportunities to supplement the program with the addition of non-personal and digital channels, like email, your sales and marketing efforts here are delivering maximum results.

If we turn our attention to the bottom of the chart, however, we can see that there is a larger segment of the market that represents an enormous number of non-visited customers where we typically have low or near zero coverage. The reasons for this may be varied including no-see physicians or customers for whom we do not have opted-in email consent. Here, we can use a multichannel marketing approach, delivering a regular cadence of communications with low-cost non-personal and digital channels such as email, Web and fax. The key to creating value from these segments is to measure the outcomes from each of your activities.

Putting Theory into Practice

To paraphrase management guru Peter Drucker, you can’t maximize if you don’t measure.

Hence, while a well-defined MCM marketing strategy for each of those segments will help you increase your reach, educate your customers, and optimize your budget, it is only by measuring ROI on these activities that you will drive long-term value.

Once you plan your MCM tactics it is important to think about how you will define success. Ensure that how you collect metrics on your outreach activities is part of your plan. Often these are the actions taken by your customers such as clicks, responses to a survey, or web registrations, etc. Only by measuring will you have the ability to course correct and get the most from your budget.

What’s Next…

In our next, and last, blog in this series, we will discuss benchmarking and the power of AI (Artificial Intelligence) and ML (Machine Learning) to help you fine-tune your customer experience strategy.

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