What is Content Operations?

If you know my story, you know I've loved the order of MLR since I was introduced to it in 2011. The concrete guardrails of the SOP, the flexibility of the Regulatory guidances to interpret and craft your approach, and the constant evolution and expansion of the process and technology is the perfect combination of structure and innovative creativity to keep my neurodiverse brain happier than it's ever been.

The biggest change I'm seeing in MLR lately is the need to shift from a single lenses focus on SOP and tactical execution of process management to a more holistic? approach which is a comprehensive Content Operations function focused on return on investment by monitoring and optimizing the creation, management, distribution and analysis of content across all activities and channels, with the goal of educating and engaging healthcare professionals (HCPs), payers, and most importantly patients and their caregivers. Content Operations comprehensively takes into account so much more than campaign focused goals because it embraces the ideology that content strategy touches everything Commercialization related - speaker programs, events, Congresses, training, omnichannel, websites, CRM, Ad Boards, Symposia, sponsorships, field engagements and enablement. Oh my! It is not a function focused on just process management any longer, it has evolved to look across all activities and functions to provide valuable and strategic partnership across the organization.

The full lifecycle of content, from planning and creation to distribution and measurement ensures that all content is aligned with the company's overall marketing strategy. Holistic content operations also involves a close collaboration between Operations and other departments, such as Marketing, Medical Affairs, Legal, Regulatory Affairs, Sales, product distribution, Safety, Compliance, and Quality. This ensures that all content is aligned with the company's overall strategic goals and objectives and is consistently messaged and branded across all activities in all functions. This is particularly important in the pharmaceutical industry, where content must be scientifically accurate and compliant with regulatory requirements.

The goal of holistic content operations is to create and deliver a consistent and engaging experience for anyone interacting with the company's collateral. This involves developing a deep understanding of the target audience, their needs, and their pain points. It also requires creating content that is relevant to the activity and overall goals, is informative, not salesy, easily understood, and accessible.

Here are some specific areas to focus on…

Content Strategy

Content strategy should define the company's overall goals for content (you NEED to know your why), as well as the target audiences and channels that will be used to reach them. It should also identify the types of content that will be created, when and where it will be used, and how it will be measured.

Content Planning and Creation?

Once a content strategy is in place, the next step is to plan and create individual pieces of content (ideally made up of components !). This involves identifying the key topics that need to be covered, as well as the format and tone of voice that is most appropriate for each audience, activity, and channel. Content should be created by a team of experts with knowledge of the industry regulations and understanding ofthe specific needs of the target audiences. A journeymap is so helpful here.

Content Distribution and Promotion

Once content is created, it needs to be distributed to the target audiences in a variety of ways and in a seamless manner. This can be done through varying the distribution channels, such as the company's website, social media, email, events, and paid advertising. We recommend Mobile Locker and StorySoft to name two innovative ways outside the orange behemoth (which still integrate) to be extremely successful in outreach and data collection in a cost-effective way.

Content measurement and analysis?

It is so important to understand how your efforts are resonating. You can only do this through measuring the performance of content in order to see what is working well and what needs to be improved. This can be done by tracking metrics such as website traffic, social media engagement, click rates, and lead generation and then evaluating inventory, meeting requests, and revenue data to see how fluctuations align with activities.

A holistic approach to content operations also offers a number of benefits for pharmaceutical companies, including the ability to recentralize operations. When I first started in pharma, operations had just separated from a more centralized function to two separate and very unequal Marketing Operations and Medical Affairs Operations functions. As we enter the era of omnichannel strategy, I believe operational centralization is back on the table. Content Operations as a centralized function provides:

Improved Efficiency and Effectiveness

By taking a holistic approach, companies can streamline their content creation, management, review/approval, and distribution processes, along with the planning of content use, as described above, leading to improved efficiency and effectiveness. Plus, cost savings.

Increased Brand Awareness and Engagement?

A holistic content strategy can help to increase brand awareness and engagement with HCPs and patients by ensuring that the company is consistently visible on all of the channels that the target audience is using and all activities they engage with. This is because it ensures that content is relevant, informative, and engaging to all audiences in all instances. I like to refer to it as precision marketing.

Confidently Compliant

Companies benefit from a centralized Content Operations function because they ensure that all content in use is compliant with all internal procedures that verify regulatory requirements. This is important because pharmaceutical companies are subject to strict regulations when it comes to marketing their products and these fines can knock your socks off and leave the corporate coffers empty.

To implement a holistic approach to content operations, life sciences' companies should start by developing a comprehensive content strategy. This strategy should define the company's overall goals for all content operations, as well as the target audiences and channels that will be used to reach them. You'll want to develop a team of operations' professionals who understand end to end content lifecycle management and the ecosystem it supports across the organization or partner with Phoenix BioPharma Group, LLC or other boutique firms like us to support this paradigm shift within your organization.

I believe centralized Content Operations is the next stage in pharma's approach to the widespread economic adjustments taking place across the industry, while still meeting the need to be a patient centric and data generating organization. To avoid losing out centralize and outsource until you achieve the desired effect balanced against your ability to invest and resource. Let me know if you want to chat it through!