Understanding paid search and ROI
More U.S. adults use the Internet than doctors for obtaining health and medical information.
By on Oct 10, 2009More U.S. adults use the Internet than doctors for obtaining health and medical information. Consumers are much more likely to begin their quest for health information with a search engine rather going directly to a website, so why would I suggest that the most paid search by pharma is a waste of money?
It's important to gain an understanding of how people use search and obtain health information. This is why good eMarketing people not only give market research data but insights. Here are some for research:
Research Finding
Consumers who visit product sites are nearly three times more likely than the average U.S. adult to request prescriptions by name from their doctors. When consumers use search engines for pharmaceutical or health information online, they are most likely to search by the name of a specific condition/disease or the name of a specific product.
Insight
People don't just come home one day and start searching for health information. The search usually starts with a trigger such as a diagnosis or attempt at self diagnosis to determine if they need to see their HCP for treatment. Manhattan research has clearly shown that people will start the search via search engines but in all likelihood will click on organic search results rather than paid search results. Why? Because the trust in pharma is at an all time low.
If consumers don't trust you they will go elsewhere for health information
Research Finding
The most common situation for which they use a search engine for this purpose is when they have symptoms for a condition.
Insight
Consumers are self-diagnosing but they also want to be empowered patients when they go to their physician. Some medications have too many broad indications (see Cymbalta for example).
Specific health conditions drive information gathering
Research Finding
Approximately two-thirds of ePharma Consumers agree they can tell if a medical site is from a credible source prior to clicking on the search result, indicating that consumers feel that they are proficient searchers and are able to parse out relevant content for themselves.
Insight
As the chart below illustrates people are more likely to click on organic search results than paid search when it comes to health. If they don't trust you why would you think that they would come to your website?
ROI
As my friend John Mack recently said "clicks mean nothing" and he is spot on. To effectively measure keywords you need to measure:
-Cost per targeted action - could be to view a certain number of pages or could be to request more information.
-Cost per engagement: Number of pages viewed x total time on site (rounded off to nearest minute) divided by cost per keyword
The newest brands need to ensure that they purchase keywords but as soon as the awareness levels reach a certain point the investment in keywords should be reevaluated to ensure that you really are getting the best ROI.
Awareness of the disease state, symptoms and brand are all
key decision inputs for keyword marketing