By Reni Mitchell and Matt Hamilton, Senior Vice Presidents, Client Relations
The pharmaceutical and healthcare industry faces an uphill battle in dealing with misinformation. Healthcare comms pros must continue to share their brand’s voice to gain and keep the trust of key constituents. Taking proactive steps can lead to impactful gains in this battle – and the tactics to get there can include earned media, research and insights. Below we share ways these tactics play a role in battling misinformation.
The Power of Earned Media
Building Credibility and Authenticity:
- Third-party endorsement: Unlike paid advertising, earned media coverage comes from independent sources, boosting perceived trustworthiness and authenticity.
- Storytelling and human connection: Earned media allows for richer storytelling that nurtures empathy and trust by showcasing real experiences and perspectives through interviews, features and testimonials.
- Combining medical expertise with a patient voice: Interviews with key opinion leaders and patients together can showcase both knowledge and the human experience. This combination can help build trust in the information provided while also humanizing an organization’s mission and messaging.
Transparency and Openness:
- Honest dialogue: Earned media interviews provide the venue to address public concerns and misconceptions by openly engaging with journalists from both consumer and industry facing media. This open dialogue demonstrates a commitment to transparency.
- Sharing research and data: Earned media can be a great forum to transparently share research findings, clinical trials, and other data in an accessible way, building trust in the organization’s scientific evidence.
Insights-Driven Communications
How Research & Insights Can Build Trust:
- Understanding stakeholders: Conduct quantitative and qualitative research to gain insights into the specific concerns, needs, and priorities of patients and HCPs, allowing for tailored communication strategies and addressing individual concerns.
- Building empathy and understanding: Qualitative methods like interviews and focus groups delve deeper into the emotional realities of patients and HCPs. This fosters a deeper understanding of their experiences and builds empathy, leading to more trusting relationships.
- Targeted messaging and combating misinformation: Market research can help identify specific patient and HCP segments and can enable development of targeted messaging and awareness campaigns that address unique needs and combat misinformation in specific communities.
- Track campaign performance: Continually optimize communication strategies by analyzing performance measurement data with different audiences.
By focusing on these key areas, the pharmaceutical and healthcare industry can leverage the power of earned media and research to build trust and improve communication with patients and healthcare professionals. In today’s media landscape, that’s exactly what’s needed!