Therefore, the orchestration of the various aspects of your communications must be in concert. Did I tell you I played “thirds” clarinet in junior high school? The best performances in this arena are by those who include search marketing in their communication tactics with these often disparate entities. Call your search vendor!

That is the good news, so my advice, get in the game.

However, there are still obstacles, two reported by the IAB.

First, how do we measure audience. Further, I am asked weekly by at least one client or prospect how do we measure our success? our ROI? Measurement is a challenge. Television has been around for 50+ years and there are still consistent measurement standards. The Internet? No standards. Standard measurement will come,  so get in the game.

Second, interactive advertising is still expensive to manage. For years Catalyst survived because the big shops did not want to spend the time on a small budget, expensive to manage, medium. The big shops are now participating but inefficiencies in the interactive advertising supply chain still exist. The communication community is working hard on this issue, and with the big boys in the game now, it will be resolved soon.

Don’t be discouraged! Search marketing and auction-based media buying have arrived and will eventually transform communication planning and tactics.

1. Recent TNS survey concluded that 64% of doctors said there should be some sort of moratorium on DTC advertising and 27% believe there should be no DTC ads at all.

2. According to Neilsen Net Ratings, two out of three people surveyed use the Internet to search for information just before and just after visiting a doctor.

Thus, search marketing for the pharma industry should be a significant investment. I say significant - but it pales in comparison to DTC campaigns. Move some of that very large media budget to search. I’m constantly told ‘we do not have a big online budget’.That’s because it’s invested offline. Why? Your docs don’t like it and your consumers are actively looking elsewhere.

Search is the manifestation of new consumer behavior. In the past, marketers predicted what consumers would do. With online access, it just got easier; consumers are now expressing what they want and expressing intentions. We as marketers need to change gears; we need to create the most relevant response. Our key role is to respond to intention. How are people talking about your drug, your competitor’s drug, your disease category, treatment for the disease, etc.? Google and Yahoo know. So go find out. Then ask yourself these questions: Have you created a relevant response for your consumer or doctor? Have you created a response at all?