The COVID –19 Pandemic has been a moving target. Every time it feels we have a pulse on its direction, the situation changes, leaving many in biopharma scrambling to keep programs on track. There’s a reason pharma and biopharma spend hundreds of millions of dollars on speaker programs annually. Speakers and KOLs provide key insights which can influence healthcare professional’s perceptions and actions. Peer-to-Peer outreach works. If these programs aren’t executed, HCPs lose out on crucial medical education which could negatively impact patient care. As an industry, we have pushed forward to avoid that disruptive scenario by adopting innovative virtual means of communication at an unprecedented rate.
What Can We Do?
While many marketers in biopharma have recognized the need for virtual solutions, it’s proven difficult for most to navigate how to best use technology as an effective live program alternative in a manner that integrates these programs with the sales organization. Any product leader who has attempted a virtual program initiative during this pandemic knows that acquiring the technology platform is only a small part of the equation. The key is finding an experienced partner who knows the ins and outs of the available platforms, rules of pharmaceutical program management, and the nuances of effectively interacting with peers virtually.
In 2019, Vision2Voice Healthcare Communications (V2V) formally launched Virtual SpeakerCasts® (VSCs) in response to the increased need we saw from our clients for virtual or online peer-to-peer- marketing options. After all, unforeseen weather and travel complications are nothing new and neither is the need for virtual solutions. We found there was not just a need for the technology, but the expertise required to construct the most effective virtual peer-to-peer programs in the healthcare industry. At the time we announced the launch of VSCs, there was a cautious migration in the industry to virtual communications, typically seen as a combination of live and virtual just to test the waters. There’s no way we could have foreseen at the time that a global pandemic would force such an immediate shift industrywide to virtual meetings, but situations in which in-person programs cannot be conducted are exactly what VSCs were created to address and not just for the short term.
Here’s How a Virtual SpeakerCast Can Help Improve HCP Communications
Virtual SpeakerCasts elegantly combine innovative and reliable technology and a customized management portal with an experienced V2V team to deliver virtual programming that aligns reps, HCP participants, and speakers.
At its core, the focus of VSCs are to provide all of the hallmarks of a live, in-person event virtually with easy planning and deployment for you and the sales force.
Perhaps your product has just received FDA approval for a new indication but sales force communication with HCPs has been disrupted. While many sales teams are unable to meet face-to-face with HCPs, that doesn’t mean they have to only rely on email and phone calls. A VSC can help you mobilize your sales team to set up meetings with their HCPs virtually in the office, at diagnostic and treatment centers, hospitals, clinics, and even at home. VSC’s can also be configured as a virtual lunchtime event. These smaller scale virtual meetings bring representatives, speakers, KOLs, and HCPs conveniently together in an interactive virtual environment. A key benefit of the VSC is that all of the interaction and education is still there in a secure, virtual environment. These meetings keep costs low and can be conveniently duplicated much faster than traditional methods to reach as wide of an audience as you require.
Or maybe the uncertainty of the pandemic is making it impossible for the sales force to schedule venues for live, in-person dinner programs several months from now. Using a VSC, the same event can now be replicated virtually. Attendees simply log in from their home or office to participate and engage with the experts along with interactive elements such as polling and question and answer sessions. A virtual program event has the added benefit of reaching HCPs from anywhere, including those who live outside of major metro areas.
VSCs are not just limited to direct HCP promotional programs but also serve to effectively host virtual advisory boards, providing engaging, educational, and strategic discussions between KOLs and experts around a virtual roundtable. In these highly interactive events, all participants are able to see each other and interact live and in real time from anywhere, similar to how they would during an in-person ad board.
Logistics and Planning
With a VSC, all events are completely scalable to reach any HCP individuals or groups as needed. Our proprietary VSC logistics management portal allows our team to efficiently set up multiple programs in a time and cost-effective manner to automate and track registrations and reminders, book and confirm speakers, finalize content, assign tasks, and more. This platform also comes with full application programming interface (API) integration, meaning our system is compatibility to work with any third-party logistics systems Our portal is customized to your needs and was built from the ground up for biopharma by biopharma because we understand the unique needs when running virtual meetings and programs.
What if your company doesn’t have a logistics partner or internal system? V2V can easily grant client access to our exclusive logistics management platform, allowing your team to work in tandem with ours when creating and deploying your next line up of peer-to-peer programs.
During this pandemic, we’ve found the true advantage of a VSC is the flexibility it provides for biopharma marketers. In an age of uncertainty and constantly shifting guidelines, VSC’s are a cost-effective replacement and companion for in person speaker programs and peer education. Whatever your upcoming peer-to-peer events, Virtual SpeakerCasts® can help ensure all of your brand’s objectives can still be met in a virtual setting. Vision2Voice can create a custom plan for your brand team to quickly deploy programming that ensures HCPs get the critical information they need to make the best decisions for their patients. Want to learn more? Fill out this form for more information on Vision2Voice Virtual SpeakerCasts®.
