HCPs may lack time, but that does not mean they lack engagement
Doctors lead busy lives. Hopefully not all are logging the 97-hour weeks reported by Adam Kay in his bestselling novel This is going to hurt: Secret diaries of a junior doctor, but nevertheless between seeing patients, reviewing test results, writing up notes and maybe conducting clinical research, your average health-care professional (HCP) has little time to browse. Our HCP audiences, at least those in oncology and cardiology, report having less than an hour a day to read, watch or listen to content.
Yet they have a high need for validated information to help them in their role.
Research by EPG Health finds that HCPs value educational and contextual information over prescribing and product information or even key trial takeaways. They want to know about the treatment landscape and what diseases it holds.
In other words, they want stories. What’s more, they value stories delivered by trusted, independent sources.
Small, but many portions
So how to engage with HCPs? The winning formula is a combination of information-rich content, conveniently delivered in concentrated bites.
A strong storyline is a way to distil complex information into an easy-to-read format. It will lead HCPs on a journey while also respecting their time challenges. The best stories will include a human angle that adds an emotional edge to the intellectual core.
A story’s main quality is that it focuses on a situation, rather than a product. A story places the reader within the narrative, engaging them and making them care. The more engaged readers are, the more likely they are to offer their trust — and the more of that you have the better.
It’s important not to over-complicate your story. Rather than selling all the silver at once, focus on one of the crown jewels. It is better to have one plotline that shines brightly than several less-lustrous pieces. Overall coverage is best achieved by combining multiple separate stories over a series to build a collection. By extending the story over time, it has space to grow and evolve.
Explore all the angles
Whether it’s progressing from disease to target to treatment, or examining one object from multiple perspectives, the serial narrative is a strong option.
GSK is a multinational pharmaceutical company with many successful products as well as a thriving research arm. We have helped GSK tell its story in many formats, from early stage vaccine research to helping to tackle public health threats such as meningitis and antimicrobial resistance.
Lucent Diagnostics is maybe not as well-known a name, but it has a lot to say when it comes to diagnosing Alzheimer’s disease. This is a fast-moving and complex landscape, and our storytelling on their behalf has evolved in line with the science, from introducing tau as a biomarker, to exploring the latest research on a host of biomarkers for a wider range of neurodegenerative conditions.
So be creative! Although HCPs are notoriously time-poor, that does not mean you should deliver only the bare essential facts. Spending a little more time and effort to build a narrative, and grow your output over time, will pay off in the long run.
If you’re interested in learning more about clinical storytelling for HCPs with Nature Partnerships, contact our team today.
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