Digital agencies biggest frustration

This week as a judge for PM360 Magazines Marketing awards I reviewed some really good materials like patient websites and healthcare professional programs.  I was really surprised by the number of really good programs that I had frankly never heard of so I decided to do some investigating and talk with some peers at agencies.

By the far the biggest complaint I heard concerned the budget, or lack thereof.

  I’m a realist and I know that budgets are tight within pharma these days but the ignorance of what a really good online marketing program can cost and what it can do if the dollars are there is truly staggering.  Why build a really nice house for people and then not have the money to invite people are add on a really nice driveway ?

There were times when I worked at both Lilly and Medtronic where people came up to me and said “what can I get for…”.  Most often I would respond “not much and I don’t recommend that we do it” if the budget was not realistic.  I would then recommend alternate programs that could be done and done really well within the dollars allocated.

Digital marketing, and the online marketing channel, are becoming more and more important but for some reason marketing people would rather spend tons of money on commercials that are not effective anymore than on developing a great online marketing program.  Hell, most companies don’t even bother to do usability studies on their websites !

The strategy drives the budget.  Agencies should have the courage to tell marketers, when they want a Mercedes on a Kia budget, that it can’t be done and they should be willing to say “we don’t recommend it and we can’t do an this program with these dollars because it will reflect poorly on the brand with it’s target audience.  More money is flowing into online at pharma but the truth is that the dollars coming in are not nearly enough to do it right and provide a great online program that meets both consumer and brand objectives and needs.  Do it right or don’t do it at all.