Leverage a Mixture of Hard and Soft Metrics to Gauge Pharma Digital Marketing Returns
71% of surveyed digital marketing teams report tracking hard metrics.
March 06, 2014 08:22 AM Eastern Standard Time
RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Of surveyed digital marketing teams, 89% measure their return on digital marketing initiatives, according to Cutting Edge Information.
The new study, "Pharmaceutical Digital Marketing: Transforming Your Multichannel Marketing Mix to Unlock Brand Value," found that turning to return-on-investment (ROI) analysis to bolster support for digital initiatives may initially pose some problems for brand teams. Typically, upper management is better accustomed to hard financial data that traditional methods so clearly produce. However, data related to digital initiatives is often a bit fuzzier.
To overcome this challenge, it is important that digital marketing teams provide both hard and soft metrics to support digital initiatives. Hard metrics provide essential financial data and allow companies to fully evaluate an initiative's quantitative success. One drawback is that gathering the appropriate data needed to build a hard analysis can take months. This delay depends on a number of factors, including size of the consumer base, the type of initiative platform being evaluated, the ROI evaluation process being used and whether or not the initiative supports a branded product. By comparison, soft metrics can provide almost instantaneous feedback that is crucial in the initial implementation phase.
"While nearly all companies recognize the importance of hard metrics, 71% of surveyed teams report tracking these numbers," said Sarah Ray, research analyst at Cutting Edge Information. "Hard metrics may include the impact on sales data, buy-in from the media or cost per customer interaction. Hard metrics provide a better overall picture of the value associated with different initiatives, driving teams to find the best ways to measure ROI and develop a method for collecting this information."
The study, "Pharmaceutical Digital Marketing: Transforming Your Multichannel Marketing Mix to Unlock Brand Value" (http://www.cuttingedgeinfo.com/research/marketing/pharmaceutical-digital-marketing-social-media/) addresses the great potential for biopharmaceutical companies to expand their digital marketing reach. It explores new online channels, including social media and mobile technology, which are growing within drug and device companies' marketing media mix.
The study will help pharmaceutical marketing executives:
Build multichannel marketing initiatives that align with company needs while providing valuable customer experiences
Measure ROI for digital marketing initiatives
Increase digital marketing budgets and staffing resources
For more information about pharmaceutical marketing benchmarks, contact Cassie Demeter at 919-403-6583.
Contacts
Cutting Edge Information
Cassie Demeter, 919-403-6583