Consumer Research Module from Manhattan Research

Product Site Landscape:
A Glance into Today’s Top Condition Markets

Manhattan Research Healthcare Analyst Jessica Maginsky provides an in-depth look at the quickly growing population of consumers visiting pharmaceutical brand websites. The module details the demographics, referring sources, reasons for visiting site, opinions, interests, and post-site actions of consumers visiting the websites of pain management, contraceptives, rheumatoid arthritis, type 2 diabetes, and osteoporosis products. Maginsky also explores key strategies for marketing to specific audiences and condition groups, from initial reach to driving them on-site to prompting desired actions.


Product Site Landscape: A Glance into Today's Top Condition Markets

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION

I. PAIN MANAGEMENT
  • Introduction to the Pain Management Market 
  • Figure 1-1: Satisfaction with Product Sites for Pain Management 
  • Close-up 1-1: Visitor Opinions 
  • Figure 1-2: What Prompted Visitors to Sites for Pain Management 
  • Figure 1-3: Visiting Product Sites for ‘Self’ or ‘Other’ 
  • Snapshot 1-1: Demographics of Visitors to Product Sites for Pain Management 
  • Figure 1-4: Reasons for Visiting Product Sites for ‘Self’ 
  • Figure 1-5: Actions Taken after Visiting Product Sites for ‘Self’ 
  • Figure 1-6: Sources Used for Health Information Monthly or More Often 
  • Close-up 1-2: Product Marketing Techniques for the Pain Management Market 
  • Close-up 1-3: Top 10 Brands in terms of DTC Spend
 
II. CONTRACEPTIVES
  • Introduction to the Contraceptives Market 
  • Figure 2-1: Satisfaction with Product Sites for Contraceptives 
  • Figure 2-2: ePharma Women 18-34 Visiting Product Websites 
  • Close-up 2-1: Visitor Opinions 
  • Figure 2-3: What Prompted Visitors to Sites for Contraceptives? 
  • Snapshot 2-1: Demographics of Visitors to Product Sites for Contraceptives 
  • Figure 2-4: Reasons for Visiting Product Sites for ‘Self’ 
  • Figure 2-5: Actions Taken after Visiting Product Sites for ‘Self’

 

III. RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS (RA)
  • Introduction to the RA Market 
  • Figure 3-1: Satisfaction with Product Sites for RA 
  • Close-up 3-1: Visitor Opinions 
  • Figure 3-2: What Prompted Visitors to Sites for RA? 
  • Close-up 3-2: Online Marketing Campaigns 
  • Figure 3-3: Visiting Product Sites for ‘Self’ or ‘Other’ 
  • Snapshot 3-1: Demographics of Visitors to Product Sites for RA 
  • Close-up 3-3: Paid Search Ads for RA (RAStraightTalk.com) 
  • Figure 3-4: Reasons for Visiting Product Sites for ‘Self’ 
  • Figure 3-5: Actions Taken after Visiting Product Sites for ‘Self’

 

IV. TYPE 2 DIABETES
  • Introduction to the Type 2 Diabetes Market 
  • Figure 4-1: Satisfaction with Product Sites for Type 2 Diabetes 
  • Close-up 4-1: Visitor Opinions 
  • Close-up 4-2: Humalog Coupon 
  • Figure 4-2: What Prompted Visitors to Sites for Type 2 Diabetes? 
  • Figure 4-3: Visiting Type 2 Diabetes Product Sites for ‘Self’ or ‘Other’ 
  • Snapshot 4-1: Demographics of Visitors to Product Sites for Type 2 Diabetes
  • Figure 4-4: Reasons for Visiting Type 2 Diabetes Product Sites for ‘Self’ 
  • Figure 4-5: Actions Taken after Visiting Type 2 Diabetes Product Sites for ‘Self’ 
  • Figure 4-6: Visiting Type 2 Diabetes Product Sites for Someone Else 
  • Figure 4-7: Reasons for Seeking Additional Information about Product 
  • Close-up 4-2: Januvia Article 
  • Figure 4-8: Visiting Product Sites for Someone Else 
  • Figure 4-9: Actions Taken after Visiting for Someone Else

 

V. OSTEOPOROSIS
  • Introduction to the Osteoporosis Market 
  • Figure 5-1: Satisfaction with Product Sites for Osteoporosis 
  • Close-up 5-1: Visitor Opinions 
  • Close-up 5-2: NOT So “Twitterific” 
  • Figure 5-2: What Prompted Visitors to Sites for Osteoporosis? 
  • Figure 5-3: Visiting Osteoporosis Product Sites for ‘Self’ or ‘Other’ 
  • Snapshot 5-1: Demographics of Visitors to Product Sites for Osteoporosis 
  • Figure 5-4: Reasons for Visiting Osteoporosis Product Sites for ‘Self’ 
  • Figure 5-5: Actions Taken after Visiting Osteoporosis Product Sites for ‘Self’

 

KEY TAKEAWAYS FOR MARKETERS

Excerpt

The question of how much to invest in a product site arises time and time again. It’s not only necessary that a product site exists, but what is even more important is that it’s created well. Some consumers will only visit the site once, so it is important to make the most of that opportunity. The existence of a product site must be supplemented by other marketing techniques that will actually drive traffic to the site.

A product site alone doesn’t constitute a complete marketing strategy, as evidenced by Figure 1-6 (Sources Used for Health Information Monthly or More Often). Product Websites have a low frequency of visitation among consumers with chronic pain or fibromyalgia, for example, and the overwhelming majority use search engines to find health information. In order to create a comprehensive marketing strategy, it’s important to know how to get consumers to visit your site. So where do you find consumers to visit your product site? The answer is: where they would be already. Places like search engines (Google, Yahoo! Search), general health sites (WebMD, About.com) – are all viable places to have advertisements for a product.

Another fundamental part of designing a product Website is to understand your audience. Are they patients? Are they caregivers? Are they influencers to other members of their families? In many markets, such as Type 2 Diabetes or pain management, we see that a significant portion of visitors to product sites care for someone with the condition. For other markets, such as contraceptives, caregivers aren’t part of the picture. Based on who is visiting the site, it’s important to keep an active and engaged audience.

Once visitors have landed at the site, the focus should shift to the actions these consumers take after they leave. What is the point of driving traffic to the site if the ROI is less than desirable? Perhaps visitors talk about the product with a family member or friend afterward – indicating they are possibly an influencer, a positive return here. Another outcome is speaking with a physician about the product or the condition – also a positive result. Requesting a prescription medication from a physician for the product would most likely have the highest ROI.

As seen in the graphic below, consumers visiting product sites are 3.1 times more likely than an offline consumer to request a pharmaceutical or prescription medication from a physician. Therefore, this group of consumers visiting product sites is quite valuable to the pharmaceutical marketer for this reason alone.

Another element of creating a successful marketing strategy is understanding top traffic sources such as television, doctors, and articles. Many of the product sites discussed here are characterized by consumers visiting due to these top sources. Whereas television advertising is a huge motivator of product site visitors to sites for contraceptives, doctors have more of an impact in driving visitors to sites within the pain management market. As is the case with some product sites for Type 2 Diabetes, an article prompted the majority of site visitors to visit. This is especially the case in the wake of the recent warnings issued by the FDA on Avandia and Actos. Despite these warnings, oftentimes a product’s benefits outweigh the negative effects, and articles or physicians can provide insight to consumers who are hesitant to take a particular product. A scholarly voice can sometimes make or break the situation.

Last, but certainly not least: what do consumers want? A complete marketing strategy should target content to what the consumer is looking for – from condition information and free trial coupons, to side effects and dosage information – and even information on recent news or FDA warnings, as this can build a positive relationship with the consumer in the present, as well as in the future.

This module will analyze all of these factors by therapeutic category, providing an analysis within each market of key issues and drivers.


Full access to this report is available for clients of Manhattan Research’s ePharma Consumer® v8.0 market research and strategic advisory service. For information on gaining access, please email sales@manhattanresearch.com or call 1.888.680.0800.

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