Marketing strategies to promote your pharmacy (that don’t cost a lot)

Pharmacists are facing increasing demand and yet there has been a significant number of pharmacies in England closing.

A loss of 752 pharmacies in England between 2021 and the end of 2024 has only added pressure to pharmacies that face medication shortages, underfunding, and staffing issues.

While large-scale multiple pharmacies tend to dominate, the independent sector fails to “make use of the opportunities for retail marketing. Respondents fail to embrace the opportunities marketing and retail branding might offer on the retail side fully, to the detriment of overall business success.”

 

Why you need to market your pharmacy

While marketing strategies won’t solve every problem for pharmacists, it is a way pharmacists can take control of the business and increase sales.

 

Long-term success

Nearly 80% of pharmacies in England are not sustainable in the short term, according to the economic analysis of community pharmacies in England.

It also stated, around 47% of pharmacies were not profitable in 2024, and increasing numbers of pharmacies are defaulting on Direct Debit payments for stock.

An increase in demand and various other pressures have led to community pharmacies facing considerable financial challenges.

By marketing your pharmacy, you can stand out from competitors, attract more patients, and ensure your pharmacy is sustainable.

 

Online competitors

Online pharmacies can offer patients more flexibility with searches for “remote healthcare” up by 450% in the last five years.

They may also be able to offer lower prices without the physical presence (and costs) of a store, which has led to community pharmacies losing out to online competitors. Marketing can help to attract consumers who use online competitors by focusing on the strengths of community pharmacists, such as personalised care.

 

 

Consumer behaviours

Consumers’ shopping attitudes have changed, and they are more demanding. They expect to be able to purchase things quicker than ever before and to have multiple payment options. This means the service needs to be at a higher standard than ever before, or consumers will go elsewhere.

 

Benefits of marketing your pharmacy

Marketing may be an investment of time, money or both, but there are many benefits.

 

Improves perception of your pharmacy

By promoting your pharmacy it helps build a good reputation to gain more patients.

Pharmacists who communicated electronically about information related to drug therapy once a month or more were viewed more positively than those who didn’t.

 

More patients

Marketing your pharmacy helps to make patients aware of your services and why they should choose you over a competitor.

Pharmacies that promoted their 24/7h prescription collection services found that patients using online competitors came back to them.

 

 

Flexibility

Marketing your pharmacy can help you become more profitable, which gives you more flexibility.

Being able to adjust hours and allow staff to have more flexible schedules can not only improve customer satisfaction but also help with staffing issues.

 

Before you market your pharmacy

It can be easy to be reactive and market as you go, but there are steps you should take first to focus your efforts.

 

Understand your pharmacy audience

Before spending any money or time on marketing, it’s important to understand your audience. You may already have a good understanding of your patients because of speaking to them regularly.

However, do a bit of research and find out who your main patient type is and what challenges they need solved by their community pharmacy.

When you know your audience, you can better market to them by knowing what services they want.

 

 

Create goals

Create realistic goals to help you stay on track and give you something to work towards. If you want more sales through your marketing efforts, state how many sales you want and by when.

 

Choose the right marketing channels for your pharmacy

You don’t have to be on every social media platform or try to do every type of marketing. Try one or two and see if they are successful. Otherwise, you will spread yourself too thinly, and the quality of content or marketing will be poor and a waste of time.

 

Monitor your pharmacy marketing strategies

It’s important to benchmark where you stand now to be able to review if your marketing activities have been successful.

Some things to monitor and track include sales, visits to your website or social media platforms, uptake for your services or prescription collections.

 

 

Marketing strategies for your pharmacy

There are lots of avenues for you to use to market your pharmacy. Think carefully about what channels are best for your pharmacy, taking into consideration what channels your ideal audience uses.

 

Social media

A lot of people get their information on social media and that’s no different when it comes to health information.

Around 86% of internet users engage in one or more social media activities for health information. This could be online support groups, watching videos, or visiting a social network site.

Using social media to market your community pharmacy means reaching a bigger audience and creating a relationship with your audience.

Over 60% of pharmacies use social media for professional purposes, although primarily it is to connect with other pharmacists. More pharmacists need to use it to connect with their audience to promote their service and build trust.

 

 

Email

Creating an email list is a great way to keep patients informed about the latest information. This could be the latest health news, opening hours, seasonal services, and even educational content to empower your patients.

This can help reduce calls or enquiries about opening hours and other repetitive calls that can be reduced or prevented completely.

 

Direct mail

Undertaking a direct mail campaign can be a good way to make your local community aware of what you offer.

Sending leaflets to the surrounding area can help increase your brand awareness.

 

Website

Having a website helps to reach a wider audience and provides information to your audience.

By giving information through blogs, you show your authority and that you care about your patients’ health. When people trust you, they are more willing to choose you over a competitor.

Your website can also include online services such as prescription collection or online booking services.

This helps to save you time from undertaking this manually and provides patients with more convenience.

 

How Edia can help your pharmacy

To continue to attract patients, it’s important to provide up-to-date services. Pharmacy automation can help with tasks such as prescription collection. This not only allows patients to collect prescriptions at a time that suits them, but it helps you stand out from competitors.

 

If you’ve any questions about our pharmacy automation machines, please get in touch.