Is the pharmaceutical industry ready for inbound marketing? That was my burning question prior to the start of INBOUND 2013. Initially I thought yes, today I think yes beyond a doubt. 

I came back with a few takeaways to share with the pharma industry.

INBOUND Takeaway: Be Human 

Historically marketing has been pushy. As a company marketer your job was to push out product information and offerings regardless of timing or customer need.

In today’s connection economy these efforts are typically less than successful. 23 Reasons Inbound Marketing Trumps Outbound Marketing tells us:

• 44% of direct mail is never opened
• Communication is ‘one-way’ with old marketing efforts
• 91% of people have unsubscribed from company emails they previously opted into
• Old marketing efforts provide little to no added value

So how can we be successful? How can we connect with our customers? Dharmesh Shah, HubSpot co-founder, summed it very eloquently when he said, “inbound marketing solves for the humans.”

Your customers are not a database of contact information; they are individual human beings. I think this is even truer in the healthcare space. These are patients, caregivers, family members and they want to be treated with respect. Inbound marketing provides the pharmaceutical industry with a wonderful opportunity to connect with individuals vs. a patient population.

My week spent at INBOUND 2013 confirmed what I thought from the start, inbound marketing can be a great asset for the pharmaceutical industry and the time to begin these efforts is now.