In autumn, many pharma companies begin planning for the coming year. At the same time, it is not unusual to find that the current budget still has money left.
The question comes up quickly: how do we still put this budget to good use before the end of the year?
The obvious answer is often an additional campaign, another remote wave or a measure set up at short notice. But this is exactly where a change of perspective pays off. Leftover budget does not simply have to be spent. It can be used to create the conditions for better decisions next year.
Leftover budget is not a campaign brief
A typical example: an indication line has an annual budget of around 1.2 million euros. The budget goes into congresses, agencies, digital measures, field force materials and remote communication, among other things.
Over the course of the year, however, projects shift, approvals take longer or priorities change. At the end of October, around 25,000 euros are still uncommitted.
Another remote wave reaching several hundred specialists would be quickly commissioned. But the decisive question is not:
How do we spend the remaining 25,000 euros?
It is:
Which investment improves our impact next year?
That is a significant difference.
A campaign can deliver more than reach
Measures that have already been carried out can also show where potential remains untapped.
In the example discussed in the podcast, a remote campaign was originally meant to reach around 1,200 office-based specialists. Delays in adjustments and approvals meant it started much later than planned. In the intended period, around 750 qualified conversations took place in the end.
Still, it produced valuable insight: certain doctors, for example, had considerably more questions about practical use than others.
The real problem was therefore not only the lower reach. The information gained was not systematically fed back into further target audience planning.
This is where potential is often wasted: campaigns do not only generate contacts. In the example, the campaign provides additional hints about relevance, interest and information needs within the target audience.
That information should become part of the next round of targeting.
CRM data alone does not tell the whole story
Many companies already have extensive CRM data, potential classifications and visit histories from the field force.
That is an important foundation. But it does not automatically mean the target audience is fully understood.
Two practices can look almost identical in the CRM: the same customer rating, a similar practice size, a comparable visit frequency.
A look at publicly available information can still show a different picture.
Practice A explicitly names the relevant indication as a focus, offers a dedicated consultation and describes the matching diagnostic services in detail.
Practice B has a completely different professional focus.
In the CRM, both doctors can look the same. For communication, they may need to be prioritised differently.
Where AI can usefully complement targeting
With several thousand target doctors, a check like this can hardly be done manually.
This is where AI-supported methods can help to evaluate publicly available information in a structured way. For example:
- Which indication focuses are named on practice websites?
- Which diagnostic services are offered?
- Which specialisations are recognisable?
- Which publicly available information can complement the existing CRM picture?
What matters, though, is interpreting the results correctly.
If an indication is not mentioned on a website, that does not automatically mean that relevant patients are not treated. Data like this does not provide absolute truth.
It provides additional signals.
And these signals can help to ask better questions, segment target audiences more intelligently and prepare communication measures in a more targeted way.
The final assessment should therefore not be left to an algorithm alone. The results should be validated together with sales.
From leftover budget to a better target audience base
Instead of investing the entire leftover budget in an additional campaign at short notice, part of it can be used for a structured target audience analysis.
In the example discussed, the order of magnitude is around 10,000 to 15,000 euros. The actual effort naturally depends on the data basis, the size of the target group and the scope of the analysis.
What matters is less the specific amount than the defined output.
Such an analysis can deliver, for example:
- an enriched and quality-assured target audience base,
- a traceable segmentation,
- hints at recognisable indication and practice focuses,
- recommendations for prioritisation,
- and indications of which communication goals make sense for which segments.
In this way, leftover budget does not lead to short-term activism but becomes the foundation for the next campaign.
Why timing matters
November and December can be particularly well suited.
Many measures in the new year do not start on 2 January. In the example discussed, the first remote campaign of the new year starts at the end of February if all goes well, realistically more likely in March and in some cases only in April.
If the target audience base is analysed and improved at the end of the year, the results can feed directly into preparing for the coming year.
For example, different segments can be defined:
Segment 1: The relevant indication is clearly recognisable as a focus.
Segment 2: There are signs of potential, but information gaps remain.
Segment 3: Basic questions need to be clarified before any further outreach.
The real added value follows when the different channels learn from each other: remote communication provides insights for the field force – and the field force in turn provides information for the next remote wave.
Using leftover budget with the next start in mind
The decisive question at the end of the year should therefore not be:
How do we still get the budget down to zero?
It should be:
What can we do today to understand our target audience better next year and reach it more precisely?
Leftover budget can fund an additional campaign.
But it can also help ensure that the next campaign starts from a better target audience base.
And in the long run, that is where the greater value can lie.
Listen to the podcast
The full episode on “Restbudget clever nutzen: Mit besserem Targeting ins neue Jahr” is available in German.
Duration: 10:36 minutes