Four reasons why digital marketing is key for pharma firms in MENA – Eureka Digital

From Covid-19 to the risk of another debt crisis, who has not had a hard time in 2020? However, some industries kept on the rise and witnessed even more than their usual growth rate. One of those industries is digital marketing.

In the MENA region – especially in the GCC, most of the population is online. Internet penetration in the region is among the highest in the world, with the UAE and Kuwait seeing rates close to 100 per cent. According to the GSMA, the MENA region also has some of the most penetrated mobile markets globally, with smartphone connections expected to exceed 500 million by 2025. For instance, 18.38 million mobile connections in UAE indicate 187 per cent population penetration, while active social media users have recorded 99 per cent penetration.

How Covid-19 affected internet usage

Due to Covid-19, many citizens and residents were forced to work and study from home to limit the spread of the virus.

In turn, internet usage increased, driven by demand rising for video content, greater time spent on social media as well as increased online product purchases.

People have also become more aware of their health in general with increased demand for products such as sanitisers, nutrition supplements and medications. This has made it crucial for pharmaceutical companies to be present online.

This has increased the need for many businesses to adopt digitalisation, especially in the pharma industry.

Digital marketing is key, especially in healthcare

Digital marketing has become the best way to reach a wide audience in a cost-effective way. It allows you to measure your success and track the number of people engaging with your business or product.

Using digital marketing tools allows a company to be in direct connection with its consumers, answer their questions, and engage with them to keep them coming back.

In a world where working online has become obligatory, using digital marketing to reach out to people has become a mandate, especially in the healthcare and pharmaceutical sectors.

As a digital marketing agency founded in the UK in 2015, Eureka Digital is specialised in helping healthcare and pharmaceutical companies with a strong focus on the MENA region. Some of their regional clients include Ego Pharmaceuticals, Sanofi, AstraZeneca, Abbott, Leo pharma, Hikma, Merck, WHO and others. They offer services like social media marketing, mobile app development, website building, content marketing and SEO.

“I remember the days when digital marketing for pharma was like talking about SpaceX starship going to Mars. But now it is more like talking about electric vehicles, with Eureka the Tesla of the digital marketing for pharmaceutical companies,” says Mahmoud Saleh, co-founder and CTO of Eureka Digital.

The company outlines four main reasons why pharma providers must opt for digital marketing: 

Clarity

Having many sources of information about a drug has no longer made pharmaceutical companies the sole provider for information. This can cause the right information to be lost among the tons of available sources.

Direct Communication with Patients

Digital marketing facilitates direct communication with patients via messages and content that is pre-approved by governmental health authorities.

24/7 help

Being on social media has made it more accessible for patients to inquire about a medication or a healthcare service around the clock.

Targeting

Each drug is compatible with a certain group of people like drugs used by elderly people or kids which determines what social platform, and what type of content to use.

Ahmed Samy, co-founder, and director of business development at Eureka Digital says: “When we started more than five years ago, we served only Saudi Arabia and Egypt. Now we serve the whole MENA region, including the GCC besides South Africa and Australia. Our vision is to be a leading digital marketing agency in the healthcare sector in the world; we start regionally and aim globally.

“Our customers are not only clients who pay us for digital marketing services but also the online community of consumers, patients, caregivers, and sometimes healthcare professionals who read, watch and engage with the content we produce, so we make sure we provide value via getting information from trusted sources and then presenting it in a simple, creative and entertaining way,” he says.

For more information on Eureka Digital and the solutions they offer, Click here