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Non-Personal Promotion (NPP) is a critically important aspect of HCP marketing as the traditional rep-focused commercial model continues to be strained.  HCPs are questioning the value of the sales call (as observed by increasing rates of “No-See” physicians) while gaining experience with new forms of digital promotion, including interactive promotional programs, interactive chat and video detailing.

To level-set, this is how I define NPP:

Brand commercialization initiatives that do not involve the sales force as the primary communication channel.

Here are five best practices to consider when developing your next digital NPP initiative:

• Create credible, peer-delivered content.  Use one of the most powerful levers of HCP marketing: KOL influence.  Create engaging rich media content featuring trusted KOLs in the field, and format it into a self-directed experience.  Provide the user their choice between more than one KOL?  Even better!
• Make the interactive, online experience self-directed.  This requires us as Pharma marketers to relinquish control of the traditional “push” message (we need to get over it).  We live in a “pull” world, and if your customers aren’t getting what they are looking for… they walk with their mouse.  Offer up an engaging experience that is respectful of their time and unique information needs.  This can be accomplished through smart navigation choices and options posed to the customer.
• Personalize it.  When you think about it, Non-Personal Promotion is a horrible name.  Who wants to be promoted to in an impersonal way?   In the era of iTunes, Amazon, Expedia and Zappos, personalization is just not recommended; it will quickly become an expectation.  For HCPs, this means personalizing the first “touch” with your known customers (e-mail or web-key for example) with content that is specific to their needs, then  gleaning valuable data from their interactions with interactive promotion programs and what they request from a fulfillment perspective.  This information can all be used to optimize your next “touch” (outbound e-mail, display ad, website landing page) with the customer.
• Live fulfillment.  One of the goals of your NPP initiative should be to build and enhance relationships with your field force and company.  Therefore, if a target customer requests anything as a result of participating in an online promotional activity, why not have the rep deliver it personally?  Given the ongoing access challenges faced by the sales force, these programs can serve as important door openers and relationship builders.
• Integrate your “Personalized” NPP initiative into your overall HCP marketing plan.  Successful NPP initiatives should be thought of as constant “conversations” rather than campaigns.  To that end, think through the key components of your NPP initiative (Outreach, Engagement, Fulfillment, Observation & Adjustment) and how best to integrate these activities into your overall plan.  Specifically, data integration and analytics can require multiple stakeholders to lock down, so make sure you start these conversations early in the planning cycle.

Note:  Julie Batten and I recently spoke on the topic of “Personalizing Non Personal Promotion” at the recent Eye for Pharma conference in Boston.  Check out our presentation on slideshare here.