Measuring ROI from digital activity

Despite its continued investment in digital channels, there is still a widespread belief within the pharma industry that ROI from digital campaigns is difficult to measure. This misconception often arises from a lack of advance planning around what should be measured, and a tendency to focus on basic metrics rather than deeper insights into how a campaign has been received.

When it comes to basic metrics, we can assess everything from the number of visits to the number of page impressions and the amount of time spent per page/session. This gives us reassurance that a campaign is attracting attention, but measurement should not stop there because it does not tell us what doctors thought about the campaign, or whether it has had an impact on their clinical practice.

Interactive data, such as levels of awareness and perceptions before and after a campaign, and changes in prescribing intentions and behaviour, can really help to prove whether a campaign is delivering value. These insights can be used to help companies establish and maintain high levels of engagement among target groups of doctors throughout the product lifecycle from pre-launch to extending the long tail of sales for mature brands.

Increase in sales is, of course, the gold standard measure of success, but it can be difficult to directly attribute or link investment in digital programmes to immediate improvements in sales. This is because digital activity must be measured alongside all the other activities that take a doctor on a journey of awareness, interest, desire and action.

However, in online programmes where there is no sales force activity and no other marketing support, the uplift can be directly linked. This was recently proved in an industry first campaign that Doctors.net.uk ran for a client with a product in the area of women's health. This was a “digital only” promotional campaign and has achieved above target sales growth since its launch in early 2013.

For more information on Doctors.net.uk, please call Tim Ringrose on +44 (0)1235 828400, or email Tim.Ringrose@mess.doctors.org.uk. You can also follow Doctors.net.uk on Twitter: doctors_net_uk

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