Pharma often treats Disease‑State Awareness (DSA) campaigns and commercial brand launches as completely separate realms, Med Comms and PR generally handle the former, while commercial teams focus on the latter. But by integrating data and effort during Phase 3, companies can substantially boost first‑party data acquisition, build a far more targeted HCP funnel, and prime the commercial launch for peak performance.
Lead with Commercial during Phase 3…not after
Right now, Med Comms may lead the awareness push, but commercial teams should be sitting at the strategic table from day one. They own:
- Overall data strategy: planning pixel drops, server‑side conversions, CRM integrations
- Media activation: working with digital partners able to capture HCP engagement data
- Funnel architecture: connecting awareness through consideration to conversion
That alignment ensures data captured during Phase 3, when frequency and engagement are critical, feeds directly into commercial pathway, not siloed in Med Comms archives.
Data gold from awareness: First‑Party > Third‑Party
Therapeutic verticals (like pharma) face uniquely low cookie acceptance rates. One industry commentary reports that many HCPs use iOS devices, blocking third‑party cookies entirely, making cookie-based tracking unreliable (mmm-online.com, websitepolicies.com, arxiv.org).
In fact, digital marketers report 30–50% cookie acceptance at best, with pharma audiences often even lower (reddit.com).
Conversely, first-party data, collected via server-side integrations like Meta or LinkedIn Conversion API, is far more reliable. These tools enable direct conversion tracking without cookies, making them especially valuable in highly regulated arenas like pharma. LinkedIn’s API, for example, supports privacy-preserving data integration while unlocking granular audience insights.
From Awareness → Consideration → Conversion: A Unified Funnel
Running tightly integrated campaigns during Phase 3 allows you to:
- Capture opt-in HCP data at educational touchpoints
- Retarget with consideration messaging via LinkedIn/Meta with this first-party data
- Activate conversions post-approval using CRM—email nurture, webinars, based on learned behavioral profiles
- Spend smartly, focusing commercial launch media investments on highly characterized HCP segments
It’s a layered, funnel-based approach that builds marketing equity and stickiness, well before brand approval.
Real Results: Better email CRM, lower reliance on journals
You come out of Phase 3 not with a list of names, but with a segmented, opt-in CRM populated with data-backed behavioural profiles. That means more personalized messaging, richer nurtures, and deeper brand equity growth.
📉 Less reliance on gated journals or third-party portals, since compelling educational content, tracked and nurtured, has already earned HCP trust.
📈 Better programmatic targeting at launch, leveraging first-party segments via endemic publishers and developer integrations instead of diluted third-party data.
Cookieless isn’t coming… it’s already here
- Safari and Firefox long ago restricted third-party cookies; Chrome’s phase-out remains imminent (academic.oup.com, pharmexec.com).
- 75% of marketers still rely on third-party cookies—despite 40–60% of HCPs using cookie-blocking browsers (mmm-online.com).
Pharma marketers can’t wait—they need to pivot to deterministic, server-side, first-party pathways.
Collaboration is not optional, it’s critical
“True collaboration is a must” as highlighted in Forbes, aligning marketing, legal, privacy and IT from day one (forbes.com).
Key action points for internal alignment:
- Commercial teams & Med Comms co-author DSA campaign briefs.
- IT/privacy provides guidance on Meta/LinkedIn conversion setups.
- Marketing ops ensures CRM data capture is structured, consent-based, and integration-ready.
- Legal and compliance review assets early, enabling rapid A/B tests.
The outcome? A data-fuelled commercial launch, zero friction.
Summary: Six ways DSA + Commercial alignment wins
| Benefit | Description |
| ✅ First-party data acquisition | Establish robust CRM segments via tracked awareness campaigns |
| ✅ Reliable tracking | Boost conversion insight using server-side tools (Meta, LinkedIn CAPI) |
| ✅ Pre-filtered HCP audience | Target hottest leads immediately post-approval |
| ✅ Personalized nurturing | Use CRM data to deepen relationships pre-launch |
| ✅ Greater launch ROI | Lower wasted spend, higher CPM precision |
| ✅ Brand equity | Build trust before branded messaging ever begins |
Your action plan for Phase 3 launch success
- Engage commercial early—co-lead the Phase 3 DSA campaign.
- Design for data—opt-in forms, server-side tracking, CRM ingestion.
- Map the funnel—from awareness → consideration → commercial conversion.
- Activate connections—Meta/LinkedIn CAPI, endemic placements, contextual programmatic.
- Ensure compliance—privacy-reviewed content & tracking, full audit trail.
- Measure engagement—track behaviour early, KPIs during launch, and refine month-over-month.
By reimagining Phase 3 DSA as a joint Med Comms + Commercial content/data engine, pharma gains a measurable, compliant, and targeted launch path built on real first-party engagement.
Let’s stop chasing cookies and start capturing connections. For more insights speak to one of our experts today at [email protected].
