Medical device marketing. A paradigm shift.

By Bill Oxford

In these times there are fewer decision makers and those are hard to contact and becoming less interested in the lasted technology and more concerned about the state of the economy and the impact on employment.

Any interest they have in new products is for those that can provide immediate benefits to their company and practice – ones that add value with significant return on investment.

Below are thoughts generated concerning the challenges of establishing a successful demand generation program:

Old ways no longer work.
Medical device buyers are not receptive to traditional marketing methods and strategies of the past. Conversion rates are much less than in the past. Government regulations regarding physician interactions are become increasing restrictive.

Traditional marketing method continues to be the norm regardless of their effectiveness.
Medical device and pharmaceutical marketers are without the necessary data to implement successful marketing programs. The sales force is often not in sync with marketing and they continue to drive incentive-driven and product-centric promotions in hopes that they with achieve the somewhat successful response form the past.

New marketing tactics are viewed with suspicion.
Many medical device and pharmaceutical marketers see “new marketing” as simply online advertising and not convinced that there will be any significant response from buyers by using digital media.

In light of the current situation here are some recommendations for successful medical device marketing and pharmaceutical marketing.

Provide relevant research.
Sponsor a white paper or comprehensive research study on topics of interest to buyers. Involve them as participates and provide results for assisting in the study. Use an independent research company for the project to establish legitimacy.

Don’t sell. Help.
Buyers desire timely and useful research and insight. Providing such information conveys that you care about their success and survival. Engage your buyer and move them into the buying process rather than a sales process.

Market your content through emails and websites.
Forget telemarketing. Look to distribute your content through opt-in emails, in-house lists, and posting on targeted websites that enable downloading of desired research papers. At that point, follow up with phone calls, emails to convert the opt-in list to sales-ready leads. Emails and the Internet are now the preferred choice for business communications.

This method has advantages. Response metrics for specific channels becomes clear and allows for prudent decision-making regarding the expansion of the medical device marketing program.

Google AdSense
Consider creating a Google AdSense program. This is different from the organic searched achieved from an SEO program. It is the online sidebar ads that appear on pages, triggered by relevant keywords within the content of the page. What that means is your AdSense ad will be running next to an article about your specific medical device or drug and it will be effectively target the reader of the article.

Measuring effectiveness with Google AdSense.
The effectiveness of your AdSense program can be measured by data provided in the Google AdSense control panel. This includes Page Views and Click-Throughs. Other less measurable benefits is the impact of your company’s branding as your medical device or drug therapy appears along side relevant content.

Landing pages are critical.
Once prospects click-through on your ad, it is essential that a specific landing page be created to provide additional information and gather viewer information such as phone numbers and email addresses. Consider including professionally produced videos of your product and technology as this media has proven to extend on-page visit times and reduce bounce rates.

Rethink the selling process
Approach your buyers as a partner and not as a vendor. Provide relevant information that is useful and timely. Use digital Internet technology to broadcast your content and capture buyer’s data and viewing metrics. By using technology, a company’s brand can be enhanced, new tactics and strategies can be measured and sales conversion metrics can increase dramatically.