Market to physicians online, firms urged

Pharmaceutical marketers should target medical professionals through blogs, networks and message boards, a new report has claimed.

A study by JupiterResearch has revealed 63 per cent of physicians who use the internet participate in pharma-sponsored marketing programmes on a monthly basis.

This compares to 53 per cent of doctors who do not have web access.

Monique Levy, senior analyst for JupiterResearch and lead researcher for the study, said marketers must explore this growing sector.

"Connected physicians who perform social activity in a work context in general are more engaged with and responsive to online pharma marketing than are unconnected online physicians," she explained.

David Schatsky, president of JupiterResearch, suggested that pharmaceuticals could find their marketing is undermined by their failure to fully exploit social media.

Recently, Manhattan Research reported that pharmaceutical websites should not be simply trying to gain a greater number of unique visitors.

Mark Bard, president of the company, said many such firms are using agencies and brand-development teams to ensure their sites provoke purchases as well as traffic.