The rapid shift to a digital-focused world has transformed how life sciences companies operate. To stay relevant, marketers in pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and biotechnology must revamp their engagement approaches. In response, many are fine-tuning their digital strategies to better connect with healthcare professionals, patients and distributors.
To assist life sciences marketers in grasping, strategizing and optimizing their digital initiatives, ON24 has compiled the latest insights in the 2024 Life Sciences Digital Engagement Benchmarks. Let’s explore the key findings:
1: HCP preference for digital interactions continues to surge
Webinars are a goldmine of data for life sciences marketers to gauge HCP interests. In 2023, webinar engagement surged by 13%, outpacing other industries by 5%. Notably, HCPs’ enthusiasm for digital interactions soared, tripling in average engagement reactions per webinar attendee.
There was also a notable uptick in HCPs seeking virtual events that foster peer-to-peer interactions. Breakout session attendance skyrocketed by 4x year-over-year, demonstrating HCPs’ appetite for collaborative learning and knowledge sharing.
The key takeaway? Offering ample opportunities for audience engagement yields valuable insights for life sciences marketers.
2: Personalized experiences are accelerating rapidly
Personalized experiences are gaining rapid traction, with a staggering 91% increase in call-to-action engagement. Recognizing the importance of personalization, life sciences professionals have found a 24% surge in on-demand webinar views within personalized experiences.
Targeted and personalized digital experiences are important to engage with audiences on a personal level — causing engagement to flourish and offer insights into audience interests and preferences.
3: HCP engagement is intensifying and continuing well past the live day of the event
HCPs are embracing virtual self-education, spending an average of 52 minutes engaged in live webinars. Notably, the registrant-to-attendee conversion rate for life sciences webinars increased by 61%.
Post-event engagement remains high, with 55% of HCPs opting for on-demand webinar viewing, signaling sustained interest in continuous learning. On-demand engagement also surged by 17% year-over-year, surpassing the global average by 5%.
The demand for on-demand and convenient resources, particularly webinars, is evident, highlighting how important it is to provide flexible content access.
4: HCP engagement with continuing medical education in digital formats is rising
HCPs are embracing digital CME programs, with a 54% increase in certifications per attendee. This points towards their growing reliance on online learning platforms and the demand for credible medical information sources.
This surge in digital CME adoption reflects HCPs’ preference for convenient and trusted online educational resources.
5: HCPs and patients are increasing the amount of content consumed in digital formats
Digital content consumption continues to grow, emphasizing the importance of tailored and relevant content. Personalized experiences witnessed a 19% year-over-year increase in average content consumption per visitor and a 91% surge in CTA engagement – personalization is clearly the way to drive more digital customer engagement.
On average, there are now 45 on-demand assets hosted on each content hub — and video engagement has been particularly strong, with views growing 33% year-over-year, highlighting the significance of offering diverse and engaging digital content.
By leveraging these insights and adapting their strategies accordingly, life sciences marketers can effectively navigate the digital landscape and drive meaningful engagement with their target audiences. To delve deeper into these benchmarks, explore our webinar and report on this topic for actionable strategies to fuel growth in 2024 and beyond.