Pivoting Your Medical Device Marketing Plan in 2020

Pivoting your medical device marketing

(Originally published on July 7, 2020) This time last year you were likely thinking about your 2020 medical device marketing plan. And irrespective of how insightful your strategic planning was, you most likely didn’t predict how this year would unfold – and how much it might cost you in terms of your marketing goals and sales objectives.

And 2020 was a shock to us too! Just in February we sent out a med device product launch timeline to our email list, which was built on the assumption that reps would be in the field and the year would be full of live in-person event initiatives, like trade shows and other in-person meetings.

But now of course, everything has changed. And with the way COVID cases are on the rise again, it doesn’t look like we’re going to be going ‘back to normal’ anytime soon. 

Med device marketers have been forced to improvise their marketing activities and are scrambling to make up the revenue lost. Since we are a med device marketing agency, we understand the challenges that you’re facing and we discussed some of those specific challenges here.

But we realize, that we also have to change.

That is why we have updated our launch timeline with new virtual marketing tactics. And we shortened it, condensing a typical 12 month plan into 12 weeks because we know you don’t have any time left to lose!

THE NEW NORMAL

Virtual events and selling will be here to stay.

More people will continue working from their homes, and in-person meetings with clinicians could be hard to come by, even once elective surgeries on back on schedule. What this all adds up to is that digital marketing & virtual events must be mastered by med device marketers, and pronto!

Over the next few weeks we will be diving deep into digital marketing skillsets. We will give you the skinny on email marketing and marketing automation, virtual events, video and social media marketing.

All of these tactics must be in your tool belt, but good news, they apply to existing products as well as launches.

 

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All About Email for Medical Device Marketers

Email for medical device marketing

Here at The Matchstick Group, digital marketing seems to be all we talk about these days. And, for good reason! With live events and meetings on hold, it’s time for the Medical Device world to master digital marketing. Check back here or subscribe to our email list to stay up to date with our tips and tricks.

In our last post, we gave an an updated Med Device launch timeline that replaces in-person activities with digital.

Today, we’re turning our attention to email. Why? Well, when it comes to marketing in a digital World, email has to sit at the center of your strategy.

Why is that? Well there are some very compelling reasons, including:

  1. It’s the channel that you own and have the most control over.
  2. Email is ubiquitous: almost everyone has it.
  3. Most people prefer to hear from businesses via email vs. other channels.1
  4. On ROI, email outperforms most other channels, ranging from $38 to up to $70 for every dollar spent.2
  5. It also scores high for effectiveness, just after personal referrals and thought leadership.
  6. Email is a proven revenue driver.4
  7. It gives you the most control.
  8. 99% of people check their email daily.5
  9. Even simple emails can be highly effective.6
  10. It’s low in cost.

In a sense, your other digital marketing tactics, from blogging to social media posts to webinars, are like streams that all flow to your database. Email allows you to communicate with the contacts in your database in a way that gives you many levers of control, the ability to personalize, and which, statistically, gives you the greatest chance of making a sale or moving a relationship onto the next step.7

So, what should be the broad goals of your email strategy? Generally speaking, email allows you to accomplish the following:

  • Strengthen Relationships with Your Audience
  • Build Your Brand
  • Generate New Leads

Let’s have a look at each of these objectives one by one.

Strengthen Relationships

Relationships are all about give and take. Great sales people know this and they are masters at finding out what their clients want and need and delivering that to them in the process of building the relationship up to the sale.

In the digital marketing world  relationships are generally built by offering  valuable content to your prospects. This might take the form of a blog series, a webinar, a podcast, a tool or an ebook. Whatever it is, this content should solve an actual problem for the prospect, be well thought out and delivered in an attractive package that is easy to consume.

The fact is that the idea of reciprocity is built into the human psyche and if you truly are delivering value to your prospects and leads, they will eventually want to return the favor.8

Build Your Brand

Every contact you have with your audience is a chance to build your brand and email is no different. From the subject lines you choose, to the images you put in the email, to your greeting. The small details of your email can reflect what you want your potential customers to think of your brand. Use care and attention to details so you can communicate on every level.

See your email channel as a chance to build your brand voice in the mind of your prospects. Let them get to know your company and the “why” behind your offerings by telling compelling stories that tie in with your products and your company. Medical devices by their very nature save lives everyday, so your brands and your company has a powerful story to tell. 

Generate New Leads

At the end of the day, marketers are often tasked with delivering fresh leads for the Sales team to close. And with a new focus on digital marketing, leads qualified by marketing are of an even higher priority.

Since a B2B sales cycle tends to be longer than a B2C sales cycle, and B2B customers need a higher level of education and justification for the purchase, it is ideal to use email for lead nurturing so you can lead your prospects through the Buyers Journey before handing them off to the Sales team.

This is especially true when it comes to Medical Devices! Your buyers want and need education about your products. Case studies are a great way to showcase how your product can solve their unique problems.

The Importance of Mobile

One final tip – physicians, clinicians and other medical professionals are often on the go and are likely to be reading your emails on a mobile device. Therefore, be sure to optimize all your email for mobile. What does this mean exactly?

Here are some things to keep in mind when designing emails for mobile:

  • Use big, easily readable buttons and text.
  • Edit generously to get your message across with the minimum amount content.
  • Break text into more paragraphs than you normally would.
  • lnclude the ability to send an email to the right contact, and click-to-call features where appropriate.
  • Provide quick and easy access to your product information.
  • Consider offering an app.

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1. According to the HealthLink Dimensions survey, over 68 percent of respondents prefer to be contacted through email, while only 11 percent want information via direct mail or in-person visits. 

2. https://www.emailmonday.com/dma-national-client-email-report-2015/

3. TBA

4,5. https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/email-marketing-stats

6. https://www.impactbnd.com/blog/images-vs.-no-images-in-marketing-emails-newsletters

7. https://dma.org.uk/uploads/misc/5a7c1de1ca4d7-marketer-email-tracking-report-2018_v2-final_5a7c1de1ca425.pdf

8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reciprocity_(social_psychology)