Medical device and diagnostic companies develop some of the most technologically advanced products, but often their marketing tactics lag behind other high-tech industries. Despite the limitations of marketing in a highly regulated environment, there's an opportunity for medical device and diagnostic companies to stand out in their respective spaces with a solid digital marketing strategy.
Refocus Your Website
So many medical product websites are designed with the outdated philosophy that the main purpose of the site is to make branding statements, provide product feature / benefit information and corporate credentials. Rethink your website with the vision that it's a hub of communication. Begin by focusing on your target audience and what they want and need from your website, and then develop a design and content that is relevant, engaging and appropriate.
Optimize for Search Engines
There is only one good reason for Search Engine Optimization, that is, to make sure you're found when someone is looking for you or your product category. SEO sounds like a bunch of voodoo magic to many. With the ever changing algorithms search engines use, tactics that game the system are short lived. The simplest explanation of what you need to do is to provide a content-rich website that provides relevant answers to your target audience's searches.
Embrace Inbound Marketing
Why inbound marketing? Simply, because your potential customers are looking for information. If you become a trusted resource for your target audience, you have the opportunity to generate more leads. By employing inbound techniques and technologies effectively, you can increase the number and quality of leads your website generates and greatly reduce your average cost per lead compared to traditional lead generation methods.
Be Social
The biggest myth I hear medical marketers repeating is "my customers aren't on social media". This is a mathematical improbability given the numbers of users of social media. With over 300 million LinkedIn users, a billion plus Facebook users, over 240 million Twitter users, it's just not possible that "none of my customers use social media"! Here's an infographic from Leverage that nicely sums up the major social media sites.
There are physicians of all specialties using Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. Don't believe me? Do a people search on Twitter for "Pediatrician" or any other specialty that is important to you. The myth that your customers are not on social medial will be "busted"!
You need to develop a social media marketing strategy to enter into a conversation with your target customers. Consider your objectives, messages and develop your social media presence in a way that is consistent with you company's brand.
Have an Outbound Communication Plan
Email marketing is not dead. Nor are conferences, trade shows, print and digital advertising. Outbound marketing tactics are vital components in a well-rounded communication strategy for healthcare marketing. However, these tactics must now be part of an integrated plan where outbound communications are part of your overall digital marketing strategy. Outbound efforts should link back to your website or inbound platform so that their impact can be measured and monitored.
Be Consistent
Consistent doesn't mean you need to be repetitive or boring. But to get the maximum impact from a digital marketing plan you need to have a solid foundation. Well-defined brand, product positioning, buyer personae, and messages that are important to your audience are essential to being able to deploy consistent content across the various digital media and platforms.With all the change in the healthcare industry; changes to Medicare and reimbursement, increased competition from foriegn manufacturers, and other factors that continue to exert financial pressure on medical device and diganostic companies, proactive manufacturers are looking for ways to improve their marketing effectiveness. Understanding that one of the keys to success is to develop a dialogue with current and prospective customers, these proactive companies are embracing a comprehensive digital marketing strategy to increase sales and maintain customer loyalty.
Jacqueline Murray is a Marketing Strategist for DardenLentz, a B2B Marketing and Branding Agency focused on healthcare and technology. Jacqueline heads the firm's Ohio office, established to support the region's bioscience industry. She has held senior positions with global marketing responsibilities for both diagnostic and medical device companies.