Marketing Online: Why a Canadian Campaign?

The noise about online marketing is deafening.  More and more Canadian Pharma marketers are paying closer attention to this rapidly evolving medium.   Some are already enjoying the benefits of first-hand experience, fine-tuning their online campaign based on data generated by a wealth of measurement tools available (see Google Analytics for starters).  Other marketers remain on the sidelines (some rightly so), considering many questions.  I hear this one often.

My global/US team has a website… why do we need anything specific for Canadian customers?  Won’t they just go to that site?

Answer:  Yes, some customers may go that global/U.S. site and get some valuable information.  Specifically, if you have a brand.com site and they happen to go there OR the site comes up at the top of the list on a google search.

However, here are some situations where a Canadian online campaign may better serve your brand:

1.  When you want to integrate your offline  local activities with an online campaign.  All of your brand communications could include a link to an online property.  A fully integrated marketing campaign is a great way to maximize the frequency of your message.  It helps to drive traffic online, providing your customers with  yet another place to go for information.  

2.  When you want to engage your customers with the Canadian office.  This could include requesting rep visits, samples or med info requests, to name a few.   This could be a good strategy if you do not have a competitive share of voice out in the field.

3.  When you have an important patient service offering.  Online patient programs often link to other HCP resources, and offer bilingual video and print content. 

5. When you want to build a “tribe”.  Lets face it, there are some Pharma brands that “act, sound and feel” like consumer brands.  If you are trying to create a following, you may have better success if it is Canadian.  (Check out Seth Godin’s latest book Tribes for more info)

4.  When your brand name is unique to Canada.  This offers the opportunity to optimize search engines requests (Paid and organic searches) in Canada.  Remember that search engines “know where you are” based on your IP address and therefore serve up content that is relevant in both the organic and sponsored search listings.

Bottom line:  Non-Canadian sites may be helpful in building brand AWARENESS, but Canadian sites can best offer brand ENGAGEMENT opportunities.