Ep 64 Leverage Your Pharmacy Team to Meet Marketing Goals by Pharmacy View Podcast published on 2023-01-05T01:45:05Z In this episode of the Pharmacy View Podcast, host Scott Carpenter, EVBC is joined by Sarah Rendell, Head of Marketing and Communications, Peak Strategies (WA) Pty Ltd. Listen in as the two of them talk about the need for marketing in the Pharmaceutical Industry and how teams need to be leveraged to deliver results. Sarah, in their own words, is a lover of all things social media. Having planned their own wedding solely based on Instagram research, Sarah is a strong advocate when it comes to leveraging the access and benefits of the same. Sarah joined Peak Strategies six years ago and was initially brought into the team for internal marketing. But soon the role evolved into providing consulting to the company’s clients and helping Pharmacists have a meaningful business that they are passionate about through the use of various forms of digital media and traditional marketing as a part of the overall business strategy. Adding further to what Peak Strategies does, Sarah shares how they started by providing the whole accounting suite for Pharmacies and this has now evolved to include a great deal of consulting—from marketing consulting to business and finance consulting. Sarah believes that a good marketing strategy has an all-encompassing plan as it combines traditional forms of marketing with digital marketing. Their advice is: • Have 3rd party specialized consultants help and guide you in your marketing, just as you are a Pharmacist who specializes in patient healthcare. • But as a Pharmacy owner oversee what is going on as you know the most about the customers and patients that are entering your Pharmacy • Ensure that all of your marketing strategies are impactful and very similar to what you are already doing at the store level because that impacts the customer experience. When Sarah and the team at Peak Strategies help customers, they want the customers to understand that the process is very collaborative. The team that works within the Pharmacy is already marketing day in and day out simply by the virtue of doing what they do to serve the customers. The goal of a marketing strategy is to aid that process and add value by driving more traffic in from outside the four walls of the Pharmacy. No longer does just having an ‘Open’ sign at the entrance work—Pharmacists need to showcase why people need to come and pay for their products and services. This is where Sarah believes external consultants come in. Their advice is that Pharmacists need to engage and work with someone who: • Understands the industry • Understands business-to-consumer marketing • Fills the gaps in delivery with their expertise The goal should be to ensure that the marketing strategy thus developed aligns with: • What the customers want and what they see value in • What you are passionate about as a Pharmacy owner Sarah emphasizes that the team is a Pharmacy owner’s number one marketing asset and that they need to be engaged in whatever marketing is done—both digital and traditional. Saying that most purchasing decisions are made before stepping out of the house, Sarah talks about the increasing importance of digital communication. Having said that, here are the nuggets of wisdom: • Have a digital presence • Focus on at least two channels • Have a localized marketing strategy • Be consistent with your content (at least three times a week) Sarah helps each client build a 12-month marketing strategy and for the first three months of that, they conduct a short course for onboarding so clients can get the help they need to come up with their own marketing plan. What the team at Peak Strategies does is help with implementation. Sarah emphasizes that Pharmacy owners need to capitalize on the trust they have in the community and be bold with the use of digital marketing so that more and more people understand what products and services are available in their local Pharmacy.