It was Socrates who said, “The unexamined life is not worth living.” At Digiday we say, “If you don’t know where you are, you may never end up where you want to be.” As part of our ongoing effort to try to establish benchmarks 
for the digital advertising, marketing and media industry, Digiday worked with Acxiom to pick 10 of the top questions we think digital marketers should consider to guide their success.
For today, we asked Richy Glassberg, COO of Medhelp.org, “Has your company clearly identified your best customers?”
Answer: Yes we have, by examining the vertical space in which we play. Unfortunately, we play in the most regulated portion of the advertising space, in the digital portion of this space, which is even more regulated, and finally in the community aspect of this vertical. While the world is swooning over “social” we are the largest pure-player in the consumer community space in the health/medical vertical. Unfortunately, the FDA hasn’t issued guidelines for advertising in UGC for the Pharma’s [which is the place most industries go to for real time customer input.]
So, to answer the question, yes, we know who our best customers SHOULD be: the Pharmas’s, and we know the characteristics of their best potential customers, but they are hamstrung by lack of guidance from the FDA on how to use digital marketing to find and engage them. So, while we can deliver the best, most targeted, engaged experience for our best customers, we have been forced to be creative in making the advertising work within the confines of what everyone in the space knows they’re allowed to do.
Looking ahead, the Pharma industry has made fantastic strides in the last 3 to 5 years in using the Web to get a deeper dialogue with the consumer. Think about it, they have a high consideration product; you can’t buy it online and it could mean your life. With that going for them, they have done great in thinking outside the box, even with the regulatory constraints, to engage consumers in a meaningful way. I do feel like the Pharma’s have really done some exciting things using the power of the Web.
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Now, it’s your turn. We’ve also folded this essential self examination into our State of the Industry Survey for the Data Marketing Summit, Dec. 4-7, at the Stein Eriksen Lodge in Deer Valley. Take our survey and you’ll receive a full analysis of the answers we receive. And, in addition, respondents will be entered for a full VIP pass to DMS. Finally, if you know you’re ready for a deeper dive,you can take Acxiom’s full interactive assessment now. Or, answer the question below in our comment section.
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