The truth hurts. B2B healthcare advertising frequently misses the mark.
As someone who leads a healthcare division at a creative agency, that’s hard for me to say, but it’s not just me saying it.
I recently sat down with a group of primary and secondary physicians for a no-holds-barred discussion on how Pharma and MedTech companies try to communicate with them. .
It wasn’t easy listening. Across the board, they expressed similar frustrations. ‘Just talking about data doesn’t work for me,’ they said. Campaigns failed to inspire, and neglected the intelligence of their audience: ‘Advertising to doctors should be big, brave and clever!’; ‘no one at the end of a prescription is stupid.’
In just a few hours, I had collected richer qualitative data and more meaningful feedback than in years of results analysis. Successful campaigns, for this group of professionals, were easy to spot.
To paraphrase one practitioner: ‘What makes me really connect with somebody, really believe them and trust them, is when I think they care about my patients.’
Why in this space have we forgotten the value of trust and connection, the very basics of effectiveness? Making human connections is the bedrock of any good marketing strategy.
Listening to customers, understanding their needs and how you can satisfy them enables better communication between brand and buyer. We know this – so let’s do better.
Human side of data
B2B comms in this space are traditionally unemotional. While data that’s presented is clearly essential this focus has robbed our materials of empathy. We’re fundamentally guilty of not engaging this professional audience on a deeper, human level.
And the results of this approach are… underwhelming. Analysis using face scans to measure emotional responses have shown that 75 percent of B2B adverts are “ineffective”.
What is the value of an advert that leaves three-quarters of its audience unmoved? As one practitioner highlighted during our listening sessions: ‘I don’t want to be talked at.’
There is a feeling that typically, healthcare communications are dry, poor quality and far from engaging. The healthcare professionals themselves are calling for change.
Direct to patient comms in this space have evolved. Consumer financial advertising has notably transitioned to emphasising the emotional long-term value of products – like investing in life goals – and consumer healthcare now focuses on people at the centre of their campaigns.
But we’re still failing our healthcare professionals – after all they’re people too. People who want to feel supported with practical help and understanding of their situation. Which, naturally, will help them then communicate more effectively about the product or device, to their patients.
Talking the talk
Think about the way doctors speak to their patients. The process is about communicating a diagnosis in the most efficient way possible. But, as a patient, unless stated otherwise, you wouldn’t want information communicated in a cold, detached manner.
You wouldn’t want overly fluffy language, sure. However, some form of emotional awareness and consideration of how you would receive and react to this news helps it sit better.
One of the best examples I’ve seen of this is Siemens Healthineers ‘Magnetic Stories’ campaign. While not directly targeted to healthcare professionals, it addresses the MRI machines that they use.
Look at the focus of the advert: replacing the anxiety of a young patient with awe and fascination through the use of audiobooks within the system. It aims to make the experience not just tolerable, but inspiring. And if the patient is comfortable, it makes the procedure easier for the operators doing their jobs.
The campaign has seen huge success, winning the Grand Prix at the Cannes Lions Pharma category in 2024. It proves a focus on empathy is how you create better experiences for patients and practitioners alike.
Very few doctors or surgeons will view their successes through the lens of data. The work these professionals do each day is often transformative for their patients’ lives – an immense source of pride.
We need to continue reflecting the powerful, real-world stories of our audiences back to them in our marketing. But, it’s not a ‘one size fits all approach’. That’s where insights are invaluable.
Knowing the behaviours and preferences of the audiences helps tailor approaches to the different needs of different practitioners. You wouldn’t speak to a dentist the same way you’d speak to a psychologist, but you want to ignite the same emotional reaction.
While data is king in our industry, taking the time to understand your audience on a personal level will always trump national or industry-led statistics. Rather than reading between the lines, why not simply ask your audience what makes them tick?
TikTok too
Tailored content shows an understanding of particular problems of particular practitioners. But just as important is tailoring how to talk to these people.
That requires thoughts of channels of engagement. The marketing ecosystem is expanding exponentially, with hundreds of new ways to address audiences. We need to look at how we’re talking to healthcare professionals, which channels they’re on and where we can plug into.
Pharma is rapidly adopting digital media to communicate key messages to doctors. Most marketers have created online spaces, with LinkedIn being a primary channel of communication in this field.
However, most digital teams are failing to create sustainable engagement with physicians. Healthcare needs to understand how to better utilise online platforms. And there’s room to be creative within that.
Quality content should always be the intention. We need to be giving accurate and reliable information in this field. But we also need to think about where these people are interacting.
There’s no reason why the industry couldn’t embrace new channels more, like Snapchat, TikTok and Instagram specifically for professionals. We’ve recently found HCPs on TikTok talking about pre-op skin preparation – brands should be there harnessing these discussions for their benefit.
The message for pharma and healthcare marketers is simple: doctors are people, too. No matter how qualified, they are not machines put on earth to sort out disease. They are human beings who face the same pressures and respond to the same motivations as everyone else.
Marketers need to go back to the drawing board, look at what we’re saying, and crucially, how we’re saying it to make those distinct, authentic connections with our audience. After all, that’s how you recognise these professionals are people too. Shock your B2B comms back to life with some human first understanding.
Nick Dutnall is Managing Partner at BBD Perfect Storm Health
