Digital marketing and webinars. Maximising the value of every initiative

First published in Pharma Industry, November 2020. Republished in full, translated from the Swedish original.

Editor's note, 2026

The argument is that a webinar is not an event but a piece of raw material, and that the work before and after it decides what it is worth. What it asks for is fewer initiatives done properly, a defined recipient in the form of a buyer persona, and time set aside afterwards to cut one webinar into many smaller pieces of content. The daisy flower approach, the reverse 80/20 split between making and promoting, and the point that the second half of the work is the half that gets dropped are all written as advice, not as history.

Where it needs checking is in the promotion mechanics, and this note names every place, because naming only some would leave the rest looking settled. The pre-webinar list recommends a tracking pixel on your HCP site so you can retarget visitors on LinkedIn, messages to the members of a closed LinkedIn group both in the group and individually, InMail from a premium account, and AI-driven banner targeting that identifies a likely customer in real time, aimed at doctors or patients. The last of these carries the words "fully in line with GDPR" in the article itself; that is a legal claim made without a source, and the same gap sits under the tracking pixel and the retargeting. Data protection is also only one of the two questions that recommendation raises: advertising towards patients is governed by the rules on medicines advertising, which are a separate body of law from GDPR, and this note does not say what those rules allow. Take that leg to your own compliance function as well. The post-webinar list recommends a landing page where the only goal is that a visitor fills in name and email to get access to the recording, and says the page carries "all the relevant checkboxes for GDPR" without saying what they should say; making access to content conditional on marketing consent is the specific pattern to take to your own data protection function before building it, not after. The article treats the promotional-approval side as out of scope throughout, including the instruction that speakers should repeatedly point participants to material held by the local product specialist, so that route needs to go through your own compliance function. The real-time translated subtitles named as a Zoom feature, and the QR code tip, both describe what products did in 2020 and should be checked against what they do now. And the covid-19 parenthesis next to the recommendation to aim for a physical meeting dates the whole piece: it was written when that meeting could not happen.

The figures, and two of the arguments, are worth reading with your eyes open. The article carries no references. The reverse 80/20 rule is introduced as something that "usually comes up", the claim that HCPs read up on their field in the evenings and at weekends rests on "all the surveys", and the claim that pharmaceutical companies do not live up to what healthcare expects digitally rests on "all the surveys and analyses I read", none of them named. Two of the article's own turns are worth knowing about as you read: the conclusion that the goal of digital marketing in pharma should be to create the conditions for a physical meeting is supported by the author's recollection that objections raised in his own lectures were resolved in his favour essentially every time, and the closing section answers its own three questions yes after saying outright that it has chosen to close its eyes for a moment to the factors that make all of it harder. The article is open about that second move, which is the right way to read the first one too.

In digital marketing every marketer should ask the question "how can we maximise the value of our coming initiative?" The reasons are many. Partly it is about budget and time, but above all it is that digital marketing today has to be optimised, has to rest on analysis of data, and has to be used in as many ways as possible in order to be done properly. In this article digital strategist Fredrik Holmboe presents how you should think before, during and after a webinar in order to maximise the value over time.

To maximise the value of something, anything, there has to be time to identify what is valuable to the recipient. It is not what you say but what the recipient hears you say that matters, something that is always filtered through subjective judgement.

In digital marketing there is no possibility of adapting a message based on an interpretation of the recipient's expression, such as facial expression and body language, that rests on subjective judgement. That is possible in a physical sales situation, but once a message has been presented on a screen it cannot be adapted.

There is no filter, no possibility of explaining yourself further if you sense that the message was received in a way that was not intended.

What is on the screen is what the recipient takes in. Every time and over time, something that turns out to matter further down in this article. Full stop.

That is why it is important, as far as it is possible, to identify who it is you are talking to and what is valuable to that someone.

That happens in a few well-defined steps:

1. Business plan
2. Product plan
3. The recipient

a. Who is it?

b. What do they believe?

c. What do they think?

d. Interaction preference?

1. What do we want to change in the recipient?
2. Our message, the one that will create the change
3. Which channel should we use and why?
4. Sequence of follow-up communication

a. Channel per message

1. How do we measure, analyse and optimise?

What is always in place in every organisation is the business plan and the product plan. But do you have a clear definition of the recipient?

This is not the sales department's segmentation into A, B and C customers set up in a matrix, but a clear, multi-dimensional and detailed picture of who the recipient is. A so-called "buyer persona".

Do you have one of those as the basis for all your market communication when it is created, adapted and packaged?

The problem that arises if a clearly defined recipient is missing is that the answers to the steps that follow in the list above become vague, and the risk is high that the format, tone and focus of the messages vary a great deal over time.

To be relevant over time and convey value on several consecutive occasions, the first contact with you as a company and with your communication has to be followed by communication of an equivalent kind in terms of content.

Reverse order

In earlier articles I have always chosen to put the main subject of the article into a context through an opening description. In this article I do the opposite and go straight at what is promised in the headline and the standfirst, and then discuss the context afterwards. It is called "the inverted pyramid" and it is something that has long been used in journalism, where an article has always started with what has the greatest news value.

In the later part there are various tips for learning more about the area, do not miss them.

Before, during, after and extended value

A basic observation: sitting alone watching a presentation on a screen for an hour with the same speaker makes it hard to keep your concentration.

To hold the attention of the participants in a webinar there are several visual tricks. One important factor is making sure something happens on the screen of the person watching. Sharp colours, movement, sound, film, animations and so on are examples you can use.

The very best way of holding someone's attention, though, in my experience, is to bring in more speakers for the same webinar. The overall value people feel they get from taking part becomes greater, combined with the fact that big changes happen when the speaker changes.

Create an engaging tempo in the webinar

To give an example, some webinars I have spoken at had up to six speakers lined up in a one-hour webinar, where each speaker presented their subject somewhere between 3 to 4 minutes, 6 to 8 minutes, or up to 12 to 15 minutes. But no longer than that.

In the feedback it was clear that the participants felt there had been a tempo in the webinar and that in terms of content it was very valuable.

So if possible, with the goal of holding the viewers' attention, bring in more speakers per webinar.

Some basic details for succeeding with a webinar

You are now going to run a webinar and have brought in one or more "key opinion leaders" (KOL) to speak. Let us assume they are KOLs from several different countries, so the webinar will be in English and broadcast in the Nordics.

Aside from what is to be presented during the webinar, you have produced some form of material that you know is valuable to the participants. The simplest is probably to ask the speakers to write down their 5 to 10 most important points from their presentation and put it together into a good looking A4 PDF. But with time and cooperation you can certainly come up with something better and more substantial.

You have also made clear what the next step after the webinar is, a step that should drive your business forward. In my view this is something that creates good conditions for getting a physical meeting (when that is appropriate given the current situation with covid-19).

Finally you have produced a short survey that participants are linked to after the webinar. There you ask the usual questions about what they thought of the content, the speakers and so on. You also include a question about what they would like to see more of in future. If you ask for a name in the survey, look into the need for GDPR-related information. The advantage of asking for a name is that it opens up further segmentation of your customer database, either in the CRM system or on your email sending platform.

Ahead of the webinar

• You send campaign-related emails to your segmented list of HCPs.
• The segment that has been at your earlier training sessions: "We are running another webinar, this time with ..."
• The segment that has not been at any of your earlier training sessions: "We at [the company] are pleased to present [KOL] who will talk about [subject]. Our earlier training sessions have had an average rating of 4.9/5 in the area of [therapy area] ..."
• You send a postal mailing to a selection of customers. One tip many people do not yet use is QR codes, which today can be scanned with the camera on an ordinary smartphone.
• The sales reps get material for promoting the webinar in meetings, by email and possibly by SMS.
• You put a banner on your website for HCPs promoting the webinar, and you put up a note about the webinar under "Coming webinars".

What more can you do? Here are some examples you may not be using today:

• Retargeting on social media
• If you have a tracking pixel on your website for HCPs, you can promote the webinar to those who have been on your site and therefore carry that pixel on their computer, through LinkedIn for example.
• Message in a closed group on social media
• If you have created a group for HCPs on LinkedIn for example, you can send a message both in the group and as a personal message to the group members.
• LinkedIn InMail
• With a premium account on LinkedIn you get a certain number of InMails per month. These can be used to send messages to individuals you are not connected to, and so can be a way of reaching your most important customers.
• Trade media
• Niche trade media that goes specifically to your target group, for example oncologists reached through Onkologi i Sverige, is a good channel both digitally and in print.
• Artificial intelligence
• If you want to be at the front, it is today possible to use artificial intelligence (AI) to boost and maximise a company's banner advertising, whether you are addressing doctors or patients. Based on a range of different factors, and fully in line with GDPR, the AI model can effectively identify a potential customer with high precision and reach that person where they are here and now, in real time, in a range of different media.

As you can see there is a whole smorgasbord of channels, and of variants within each channel, to use for promoting a webinar.

A final but incredibly important part of what should happen ahead of a webinar is to remind those who have registered on several occasions, for the simple reason that a virtual meeting is easier not to turn up to than a physical one.

The first send is of course the confirmation that the registration has gone through, and that is the moment to say more about content, speakers and anything else of value to the recipient.

After that, the usual set-up for reminders is 1 week before, 3 days before, 24 hours before, 1 hour before, and when the webinar starts.

All the sends should carry information about where those who have registered can turn if they have any questions, ideally in the form of a direct number to the person who has coordinated the event.

What happens during the webinar?

The safest option for broadcasting a webinar "live" is to record what is to be presented in advance, but there is of course an appeal in broadcasting completely live.

One big advantage of broadcasting genuinely live is the possibility of bringing questions from the participants into the broadcast to be answered immediately, something that in my experience gets the other participants going and asking questions, and creates an involvement that shows up later in the evaluations.

But let us say that in this case you are running a webinar where the presentation itself is pre-recorded.

• Before the start of the webinar, run a video of a digital clock counting down from 10 minutes. As a nice detail a calm melody can be added, which then becomes more energetic closer to the time of the webinar.
• Use a moderator who welcomes the participants to the webinar, introduces the speaker and explains how and where participants can ask questions during the webinar.
• If possible, bring in the speaker or speakers to answer questions after the presentation. It is not unusual for most of the questions to come after the presentations, if you have told people that is an option, and for the webinar to run over time as a result.
• Start the recorded presentation by the speaker or speakers.
• Whether the webinar is live or recorded in advance, the speakers should on several occasions raise the possibility for participants to get hold of the material you have produced, and the fact that this is available through the local product specialist.
• Take and answer questions through the chat or the Q&A channel. There can be several people answering in different areas so that you cover every possible question.
• Use a so-called "news ticker", a news strip, that sits for a minute or so at the bottom of the picture. This is done once or twice during the webinar to promote one of your resources or materials that are relevant to the participants.
• Always end a webinar with a clear call to action, that is, an offer describing what the participant has to gain from acting the way you want, and tell them how they will be sent to a very short survey to answer a few questions.

One detail that can be worth knowing about is the possibility of translating what is presented into another language, presented as subtitles in real time, on the Zoom platform.

What happens after the webinar?

This is when you have the chance to really maximise the value of your effort.

• Since you created a piece of material before the webinar, which was promoted several times during the webinar, this has probably resulted in participants getting in touch with the product specialists.
• Since you had a clear call to action at the end of the webinar, you now harvest the fruit of it.
• Since you created a survey ahead of the webinar that a few percent of the participants took the time to answer, that now has to be evaluated.
• Every webinar, provided the speaker or speakers allow it, should be put up on your website for HCPs as so-called "premium content".
• Create a landing page presenting the webinar where the only goal is that visitors who have not seen the webinar fill in their name and email address in order to get access to it. On this page you have all the relevant checkboxes for GDPR. The design of landing pages matters, so do google to understand which factors play a part when you design your page.
• Promote the webinar to all the customers who did not watch it live, following the list above for what you do ahead of a webinar in terms of email sends, postal mailings, material for the sales reps, banners on your website for HCPs and possibly retargeting on LinkedIn for example.

In all the steps, before, during and after, there are a few points that are especially important, and they are the ones aimed at creating the conditions for the next step in your customer contact.

The reason? The primary goal of digital marketing in the pharmaceutical industry should be to create the conditions for a personal meeting between a product specialist and an HCP.

When I have lectured I have met certain objections to that goal, but in essentially every case we have been able to agree that the objection sat in an area where "marketing handles the progress". By that is meant that in some industries digital marketing is all it takes to move an individual from unaware to customer, and that this ought to be possible in dealings with HCPs too.

But there is a rule of thumb that comes up now and then, which is that the first and the last contact should be physical, and that in between there can be digital interactions that move an individual closer to a purchase or a prescription.

So it is for that reason, together with the large access challenge we have, that the goal of digital marketing in the pharmaceutical industry should be to create the conditions for a personal meeting between a product specialist and an HCP.

Summing up before, during, after and extended value

That it takes time to follow the points above before, during and after a webinar in order to create maximum and extended value is not hard to understand. That is exactly why every webinar needs more room in the budget and in the calendar.

And not only that room before and during a webinar, only to then leave the project as one more tick on a long to-do list, but above all afterwards.

With a correct set-up for a webinar you create the conditions for several extra advantages for you as a company, where the main one is, aside from the chance to analyse the information you have gathered which is genuinely important, that you have access to a valuable resource you can use in future sales and marketing activities to make contact with the customers you do not have contact with yet and perhaps do not even know about.

But it takes time, budget and a chance to focus on making every webinar really, really good. And how you create the conditions for making outstanding webinars means we move over to the context that surrounds the steps described above.

Focus more and do less

There are too many simultaneous projects running in the marketing departments of pharmaceutical companies for digital marketing to be done properly.

There is too little time to analyse and optimise digital marketing projects.

It is clear in all the surveys and analyses I read that pharmaceutical companies in general, with a few exceptions, do not live up digitally to what healthcare expects.

Last but not least, digital marketing is not cheap. Even though there is an incredible return on investment (ROI) to be had if it is done the right way, it is not far off burning money if it is done the wrong way.

When every company is in the middle of a digital transformation, and digital marketing is in every business plan and product plan, it is no longer possible to duck the fact that digital is and will become a very large part of our lives.

The first issue of this magazine was printed in November 1998 in connection with Läkarstämman and sent out to pharmaceutical companies around the country. That is 22 years ago, and it is easy to land on the thought that a long era of outstanding information in printed form is going to its grave in order to continue digitally from here. But is it really that long?

When I talk to colleagues who have worked in the industry since 1998 I hear, not too rarely, that sales and marketing work towards healthcare is broadly done in much the same way now as it was then.

What I hear is that the biggest difference now compared with then is that today we try to squeeze more things into a working day than ever before. Is that something you agree with?

I started at Janssen-Cilag, as it was called in 2006, and when I think back on how I worked then and how sales work looks today, I am prepared to agree.

What I am not quite prepared to agree with is that more projects, doing more, is better for improving competitiveness. In digital marketing it is in most cases precisely the opposite. It is always better to do fewer and really good things than more and half good ones.

So how do we change the view that more is better, and maximise the value of every initiative by focusing more and doing less?

Gather information

The first sentence in this article read: "To maximise the value of something, anything, there has to be time to identify what is valuable to the recipient."

One of the most important tasks for the sales force, who are the ones with the most time out with customers, should be to gather information from the market and report it back to the other departments in a structured way.

The reason is that all the surveys of how HCPs read up on their profession say that it happens in the evenings and at weekends, when they are not busy with patients and administration.

For us to succeed with the right message for the right person, in the right format at the right moment, the basis for deciding which initiatives to invest in has to be broad.

It is the need in the local market that decides which initiatives have the chance to move people and be valuable, and it is the defined recipient in the form of a "buyer persona" that decides the basic shape of them.

And the sales force is by far the best at gathering that information and building a broad basis for the decision. That is the external perspective.

When we then look at the internal perspective and how the marketing department should work, I want to present the following concept.

"The daisy flower approach"

A few years ago I was at a training course, Advanced multichannel marketing, in Paris where I came across the concept of "the daisy flower approach" and I have to admit it was love at first sight.

The concept is about picking out 2 to 4 larger initiatives during a year and focusing a large part of the available resources on them, while dropping a number of less important initiatives.

Like a flower with petals, an event is created, a webinar, where the webinar is in the middle of the flower and all the activities around the webinar are the petals.

To connect that with the steps and suggestions I listed earlier in the article, let us assume you bring in several speakers to keep the tempo up and really get as much valuable information as possible into the time set aside. It is then entirely reasonable to assume that the webinar costs more money and takes more time to arrange.

At the same time the webinar probably becomes much better, since those watching get more valuable information from more reliable sources for a smaller investment of their time.

Which means that the time you spend preparing an initiative like a webinar is time you save for your customers in terms of value in the form of time, if we stay with the reasoning above.

Maximising the result

When it comes to the petals, the reverse 80/20 rule usually comes up, which in practice means you should spend 20 percent on creating a piece of material and 80 percent on promoting it.

Once the basic material has been created and promoted according to the suggestion for how to act afterwards, it should be gone over again with the aim of cutting it down into smaller parts and other formats so that it can be used in other channels.

One piece of content, such as a webinar, has the potential to be the seed of a large number of other pieces of content.

To give a concrete example of how this can be done, I point to what is probably the world's best example of what is called re-purposing, the digital guru Gary Vaynerchuk's content model, https://bit.ly/gary_vee_content_model

It is of course obvious, but worth raising anyway, when it comes to approval of marketing material. A piece of content that is a smaller part of an already approved piece of content has a greater chance of being approved quickly, even if that is occasionally not the case, since every individual piece of content has to be seen in its own context. But broadly it holds, and we all know that content which is easy to create and gets approved quickly is a blessing for every marketer in the pharmaceutical industry.

Finally, tying it all together

Can fewer initiatives over a year lead to better and, for the customer, more valuable interactions with you as a partner?

Can fewer initiatives lead to the chance to analyse and optimise market communication, whatever the channel, and so create better and better activities over time?

Can fewer initiatives lead to extensive marketing in terms of the amount of content?

In this article I have put forward arguments and reasoned that the answer is yes to all of those questions, well aware of and with great respect for factors such as governance and material from head offices around the world.

In order to get to a line of reasoning that does not stop at exactly those factors that make things harder, I have chosen to temporarily close my eyes somewhat to them.

I think that if we are going to get change, we cannot stay in what makes things harder but have to take a big step over it and focus on what can actually be affected in your own market.

It would be incredibly interesting to hear your view and to discuss the subject.

I, and many with me, hold that digital maturity and commercial communication need to get better in the Swedish pharmaceutical industry, and my goal is to be a strongly contributing factor to that happening.

If you want to be my fellow passenger on that train, do get in touch and we will see how we can work together for change in your organisation specifically and in the Nordic pharmaceutical industry more broadly. You reach me on 072-9757000.

All the best until then,

Fredrik Holmboe

fredrik@dualia.se

Read the Swedish original at pharma-industry.se. Cutting one piece of work into everything it can become, and putting the time in afterwards and not only before, is what the Content Engine Sprint is built around.