Why Online Drug Ads See the Best Conversions

[caption id="attachment_69171" align="alignright" width="325"] "Bad Drugs," Creative Commons license. | Credit: Flickr by Derek Gavey[/caption] TV drug ads don’t make consumers buy nearly as much as online pharmaceutical messages, finds a new study. Around 70 percent of surveyed consumers told researchers they asked their doctors about medications they saw advertised on the Web, while 64 percent did so after seeing them on TV, reads research announced on Monday by Remedy Health Media. The digital health platform that provides content and tools to healthcare marketers commissioned the survey that polled “750 adults on how they prefer to get their health information.” Consumers Trust Online Pharma Ads Trust is the No. 1 conversion catalyst, reads the study. So the best thing pharma marketers can do is get the drug information to healthcare providers and help them get that content on their websites. While 14 percent of surveyed consumers trust TV ads — which may come from the drug manufacturers themselves — “the most trusted resources are healthcare providers (80 percent), health websites (63 percent) and, to a lesser extent, friends and family (30 percent).” TV Pharma Ads Don’t Get Repeat Business While a 6 percent difference between online and TV conversion rates may not seem so stark, one of the survey findings was that TV also didn’t sustain: Thirty-five percent of those surveyed have never contacted a physician about a medication they saw on TV. Moreover, 28 percent have only done so once, while 29 percent have done so on two to three occasions and only 7 percent have done so more than three times. TV Pharma Ads Aren’t Adequately Serving Marketers’ or Consumers’ Needs That’s bad marketing, says Remedy Health President Jim Curtis in Monday’s announcement. “TV continues to see billions in health and pharmaceutical ad spend, yet the results continue to be underwhelming,” said Curtis. “Per our study, more than 60 percent of individuals have either never reached out to a physician about a medication following a TV ad, or have only done so once. This is simply not good enough from a customer awareness, or an ad performance, perspective. Advertisers should begin looking at how their efforts and spend could be leveraged elsewhere.” This 60 percent figure is especially bad because the study shows many of the consumers searching for healthcare information are doing so because they have long-term illnesses. The research says: “53 percent search for health content to find out more about living with a chronic condition.” What do you think, marketers? Please respond in the comments section below.

Performance Marketing

Why Online Drug Ads See the Best Conversions

Consumers

Heather Fletcher

About

Subscriptions

Events

Publications

Consumers

WORK SMARTER - LEARN, GROW AND BE INSPIRED.

Subscribe today!

Heather Fletcher