When consumers view online ads about a prescription medicine and visit its dedicated website, the medicine's brand awareness and perceived value increase, according to comScore's third annual Online Marketing Effectiveness Benchmarks for the Pharmaceutical Industry study.
The study's findings also suggest that visitation to a pharmaceutical brand website generated significant levels of incremental new patient starts and refills.
Branded Rx Websites Work Best
The study found that branded websites were the most effective form of online pharmaceutical marketing, encouraging existing patients to refill their prescriptions and influencing prospective patients to begin treatment with the medication:
"A brand's website is the most effective online tactic for pharmaceutical marketers. Not only does it provide visitors with critically important information on the condition, treatment options, and the drug itself, but it is also one of the few environments where a brand can build a dynamic and recurring relationship with its patients," said John Mangano, vice president of comScore marketing solutions. "It is important, though, to realize that a brand's website is only one critical piece of a comprehensive marketing campaign that includes online display ads, search marketing, and offline marketing working in unison to raise awareness, educate consumers, and ultimately drive conversion."
Brand Awareness and Favorability
The study also found that online advertising and branded websites had a significant positive impact on awareness and favorability among patients and prospects. For prospects, exposure-only to an ad increased both aided and unaided brand awareness, with increases of 4.1 and 4.2 percentage points, respectively.
Pharma websites played the greatest role in increasing awareness and favorability among patients and prospects. Prospects exhibited an 18.0 percentage point lift in favorability after visiting a branded website, while patients reported a 17.2 percentage point lift:
About the data: All data cited here comes from comScore's Online Marketing Effectiveness Benchmarks for the Pharmaceutical Industry (2009 Release). Please click here to order a copy.
The study, performed in conjunction with pharmaceutical marketing consultancy Evolution Road, evaluated the impact of various online marketing activities including banner ads, rich media, search marketing, and visits to a brand website on a pharmaceutical brand's awareness, favorability, and sales results among both patients and prospects. The study was based on comScore's one million person US panel, for which online activity is passively observed, and survey data collected throughout the past several years.
