How to market a medical device like a pro

Let’s keep this introduction short and sweet and get right to it. Here are 5 awesome techniques to help you market a medical device like a pro.

Online Marketing

The medical device industry has fallen behind most other businesses in the digital world. For example, if you wanted to read a blog post about how to hire a marketing agency, there are hundreds. However, compare that to a medical device company and you’ll find that there isn’t that much information published apart from the odd press release.

This is mainly because many healthcare executives feel under pressure about releasing content that may threaten their credibility. They would rather keep their website looking nice and functional rather than waiting a few weeks for valuable content to be approved.

In the modern world, customers are now expecting all websites to give them what they are looking for.

So, there is an opportunity for medical device companies to get ahead of the competition and go all-out on online marketing.

There are many ways you can go about this, such as starting a blog of your own, creating videos on YouTube or even releasing a podcast talking about a hot topic in the news and relating back to your own medical device.

Analytics

Analytics are important for marketing medical devices because, according to ComboApp, they show you how your audience behaves and interacts with a specific marketing campaign. The insights are key to improving customer experience and developing long-lasting relationships. In terms of medical devices, the main goal is to monitor sales and conversions.

Analytics tools create visually-friendly outputs based on the data collected that enable executives and marketers to make data-driven decisions, including charts, graphs and tables.

The most popular tool is Google Analytics; this article by Digital Authority Partners shows that 77% of all businesses that use an analytics tool use Google Analytics. It’s free and easy to use.

Use it to track sales performance, set goals for your medical device sales and integrate data reporting features. This GA is one of the best to use if you are just starting out or you don’t have a large analytics budget.

For medical device companies with a larger analytics budget, there are many other tools that can help you meet your own business goals.

For example, analytics can be used to monitor how customers interact with medical device software undergoing A/B testing. If it contains a button that takes them to your sales page, track the click-through rates are affected by a change in placement, placeholder text, size or color.

Corporate Branding

Instead of focusing your medical company marketing campaigns around your product, switch it to promote your brand. There are a few benefits for doing so.

Firstly, great corporate branding is vital for launching a new product. When large, well-known companies launch a new product, there are some features that don’t need explaining because the branding has been built on delivering these features year after year.

The same goes for medical device companies. Every time you launch a new product, customers will already know what you’re about because you have built a strong, corporate brand.

Also, branding helps you enter new product areas easier.

Previous success in markets where you have built a strong brand increases the chances that you will be known in the new one, creating opportunities for influencers and opinion leaders to grant you access with manufacturers, distributors and wholesalers as required.

So, how do you build the brand?

Strong corporate brands are built on the company’s purpose. This is the reason why the company was built which inspires others to take action alongside it.

Make sure that it is easy to understand and it resonates with everyone inside and outside the business, including executives and journalists.

The company should also provide evidence that it is making efforts to achieve the purpose to ensure that customers don’t lose faith and trust in the brand.

Last but not least, your executives should actively promote your healthcare product and device. For example, Simon Stertzer is the chairman of the board for a company called Biocardia which sells devices and treatment protocols for cardiovascular conditions. He often gives interviews and goes on podcasts  in an effort to promote his company. That’s exactly how you build a brand!

Sales And Marketing Work Together

Sales and marketing are not totally separate entities. This is something that a lot of medical device and healthcare marketing campaigns get wrong.

In fact, sales and marketing teams should be working together to reach the same objective. While this sounds simple enough, the two teams are often separated from each other, creating a sub-optimal funnel to sell products and create relationships.

If you haven’t got one already, you need to invest in a CRM system to share customer interactions. This includes every time that they download a white paper, read a blog post or shares something on social media associated with your organization.

From here, reps from either the marketing or sales team can see where that customer is in relation to the sales funnel and nurture them accordingly.

But, just as importantly, don’t overlook your customer service teams. In fact, they play just as big of a role in turning visitors into sales. After all, they will be spending much more time with your customers than your sales team! Customer service will discuss problems, understand pain points and help resolve other issues the visitor may be facing.

While their title may not indicate it, they are one of the most powerful sales tools your company can have.

So, in terms of an actionable tip, you could give your customer service team to chance to upsell or cross-sell other medical device products or, at the very least, provide leads to the sales team and get a bonus if the sale completes.

Of course, this may mean that your customer service team may need to go through branding and sales training but it could certainly be worth the time invested if it means growing the bottom line.

Conclusion

Following these five strategies will help you market your medical device like a pro. Use online marketing and analytics to track sales performance, develop your company’s brand and ensure that the sales and marketing teams are working together for optimal performance. Alternatively, you can work with a healthcare marketing firm (here’s a great list!) that can help you decide how you can best market your healthcare medical device like a pro.