In the world of pharma and healthcare, there are plenty of opportunities to interact with customers both on and offline, so, let’s take a moment to explore some of them. Broadly speaking, communication channels can be grouped into three main categories - owned, paid and earned.

Owned channels are communication channels that are controlled by your brand.

Perhaps the most obvious example is your website. Most pharma companies have a corporate website which is mainly used for business communications, and a brand website which includes promotional and non-promotional information.

Then, there are the company’s social media pages, where customers can view or comment on brand or non-brand related posts.

Email is another channel commonly used in pharma. Brands and representatives send emails to update customers on topics like stock availability and new product launches, while company representatives also send emails directly to their customers.

In fact, while it may sound odd, company representatives like sales reps and account managers, are actually examples of ‘owned channels’ too. As well as emails, they’ll be sending out direct messaging through channels like SMS, WhatsApp and WeChat, to arrange meetings and phone calls, or to share promotions.

Meanwhile, medical representatives will discuss disease and non-promotional activities with customers. Their knowledge can be very useful when HCPs want a more in-depth understanding of things like clinical data related to specific products, or the medical and clinical aspects of a therapy area or disease.

Then there are live events, like webinars, and on-demand content, like podcasts, which can be extremely valuable to customers, because hearing from peers and experts helps them understand more about the treatment for a condition or disease.

Finally, there are good old-fashioned printed materials like leaflets or flyers, to share information with customers.

The next group is made up of paid channels. These don’t belong to your brand - they’re communication channels that you can advertise on and use to engage with customers, but they do come with a fee.

In the world of pharma, examples might be third-party online websites like Medscape, which are used by HCPs to look for information and advice. Or, they might be third-party webinars and podcasts that your brand has commissioned.

Conferences held by third parties are also a popular way to increase awareness of your brand or product. And, pharma companies will often pay to sponsor a symposium, where experts discuss the rational and appropriate uses of medicines.

The last group on our list is earned channels. This is when material is written about your business, but hasn’t been paid for or produced by your brand. It would typically appear as things like comments on social media channels, or on websites in the form of ratings and reviews.

Some businesses see this as free promotion, but of course, this material can be positive or negative, and you can’t control what’s being said!

What you can do though, is make the effort to engage with customers either directly by responding to a social media comment, or indirectly through the author of the post. Customers appreciate it when a brand takes the time to listen and engage.

In fact, social media is becoming more and more popular to connect with customers in a more informal way. Monitoring social media activity will also reveal useful insights into what’s being said about your brand or therapy area, as well as what people are saying about your competitors!

So, those are the three main groups, but we don’t have time to cover all the channels in each one. The important thing is to be familiar with what’s out there, and explore the possibilities different channel groups can offer your brand. Finally, you should also stay on top of industry trends and look at how other businesses in your field are using their channels to connect with their audiences.

Choosing the Right Channels

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