Quiz: How Much Do You Know About EDA Online Communication Guidelines?

As many of us know, digital marketing is an effective way to reach people online to turn them into customers. There are many platforms you can use like websites, social media, and email marketing. The best thing about digital marketing is that it is cost-effective and enables you to reach people faster and convert more since it is easier to target a specific audience and connect with them directly. When it comes to healthcare products, it is not as simple as that. Since it is directly related to people’s lives, there must be guidelines to regulate the content we publish and avoid putting people’s lives on the line. Here is a glimpse of how digital marketing for pharmaceutical products is different from any other type of product based on the EDA guidelines for online promotions.

Target Audience:

A target audience is an audience meant to communicate with and deliver the message to convince them to take the desired action.

In addition to the known demographics and psychographics, we rely on them to define a target audience. The audience for pharmaceutical brands or healthcare products can be healthcare professionals (HCPs), patients, or the public. The permission to publish certain content can differ from one group to another. For instance, promotional materials for prescription pharmaceutical products is permissible to be targeted for HCPs with securing according to the EDA Guidelines For promoting medical products but do not show permission from the public or patients. We can direct awareness materials about health or disease to patients or public or HCPs.

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Writing Content Based On The EDA Guidelines

 Content involves planning, writing, and editing web content. It can include writing blog posts, social media, emails, eBooks, or ads.

In the pharmaceutical and healthcare world, any content should adhere to the same regulations & guidelines issued by the General Administration for Regulation of Marketing & Advertising Materials (RMA). The content made for healthcare products is not like any content you create online. So, depending on the platform you publish the content on, you might be required to do a few more things than just the actual content.

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The EDA regulations on content can include things like hashtags. A hashtag – according to the EDA – is a word or phrase preceded by a hash symbol (#) used on social media sites to identify digital content or group messages on a specific topic. This function was created on Twitter and allows people to easily follow topics that are interesting. While marketing a pharmaceutical product, a hashtag theme should be followed by the company name.

Example: #Theme _Company name

#احمي_طفلك_ شلل_الأطفال_اسم-الشركة

#احمي_طفلك_اسم- الشركة

Regarding promotional material for a non-prescription medication: the product name should follow the theme; Example: #Theme_ product name

#صحتك_تهمنا­­_اسم -المستحضر

Certain statements should be included in the content such as “Always read the full prescribing information”. Leaflet approval date, or “Seek further information about the condition or treatment options from your doctor”.

A statement for healthcare professionals can include something like:

“Healthcare professionals should report any suspected adverse reactions to the Egyptian Pharmacovigilance Center (EPVC) & Pharmacovigilance department of the product Applicant of Material”. With a hyperlink or contacts of the reporting channel.

How To Write URLs And Hyperlinks

Regulations can be related to the URLs and hyperlinks you use, for example:

• When using URL shortening services, the URL or web address itself should tell the user what the landing page consists of (e.g., www.ABCDX.com/risk).
• The URL or web address itself shall NOT be promotional in content or style. For example, URLs like www.bestcancercuredrug.com will be rejected. Rather, it should be a “browser viewed pdf file” that contains the content.
• The hyperlink should be clear and labeled appropriately to communicate the importance, nature, and relevance of the information it leads to. It should be placed as close as possible to the relevant information it is related to and should be easily seen.

There is much more we can talk about regarding the regulations and guidelines made for advertising pharmaceutical and healthcare products. These were just a few of them to explain what it might mean to market a medicinal product.

Do you wish to make an impact by digital marketing your brand? Contact one of our team members and get more people to engage with you online now!