Medical Device Marketing – 12 Digital Strategies for Success

The manner in which medical devices are marketed often matters just as much as that device’s nuanced functionality and benefits. 

Market your medical devices with the proper digital marketing strategies and you will generate important inroads with your target clients in the most efficient manner possible.  Do not be intimidated by this endeavor. 

Our helpful guide to medical device marketing facilitates this daunting challenge, turning what might seem like an insurmountable task into one that can be accomplished with a heightened focus and the proper resources.

Digital Marketing for Medical Device Manufacturers 

The days of relying on pamphlets placed in doctors’ offices and traditional outbound ads on print materials, TV and radio are giving way to digital strategies.  Though some conventional outbound marketing techniques still work, digital marketing has become that much more important with our rapid transition to the high-tech era.  Examples of digital marketing for medical device manufacturers include:

• Website marketing
• Content marketing
• Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
• Search Engine Marketing / PPC
• Social Media Marketing
• Video marketing
• Email marketing
• Marketing Automation
• Display ads
• Remarketing
• Print Advertising
• Trade Shows

1. Website Marketing

Create a persuasive website that touts the merits of your medical device in an artful manner and it will only be a matter of time until your sales spike.  Nowadays, people flock to the web for just about everything. Some people really will visit the websites of medical device manufacturers and sellers for learning purposes. 

If your website does not look polished and professional, you will lose sales.

Furthermore, the website should be easy to navigate with a straightforward user experience design.  

As an example, we recently launched a website for a medical device manufacturer known as Poly-Med.  Take a look at the Poly-Med website and you will find it is polished, to the point, and visually striking yet not overpowering in any regard.  The subtleties of the website have been tended to in a manner meant to tout the company’s virtues yet the site does not feel like an overt sales push.  This site makes it easy for visitors to find exactly what they are looking for without extensive delay.

Even if your polished website merely plants a seed of sorts in visitors’ heads that increases the likelihood of future purchases, it will be well worth the time and investment.  It’s the first step of your digital marketing strategy for medical devices.

Website marketing tips

When in doubt, opt for simplicity over complexity in the context of your company website. 

The website should be as clean and simple as possible. Include the history of your company, your product offerings, blog, links to social media and contact information so interested parties can reach out to you with ease. The blog is particularly important as it provides a platform to put your expertise on display. Just be sure to update the blog with fresh content every once in a while. Otherwise, visitors might assume you are no longer in business or simply unwilling to make the effort to update your blog with helpful or otherwise-informative content.  

Above all, the website should be designed for use on mobile phones and other mobile computing devices.  This way, when people use their mobile devices to check out your website, they will be able to view all of the pages exactly as you would like them to appear. 

According to Statista, more than half of all web traffic in the world stems from mobile phones as opposed to traditional computers A top-notch website design optimized for mobile devices ensures those who use traditional computers can access your online content just as easily as those who surf the web on a comparably small device.

2. Content Marketing

Content marketing has quickly emerged as a valuable digital marketing tool for medical device businesses as well as other companies.  The content you post to your website, blog, social media and other components of your online footprint matters a great deal. The content you publish to the web should be helpful, educational, solve problems and be optimized for search engines. 

Infuse your online content with relevant keywords and key phrases your target demographic is likely to search for – and your website will shoot up the search engine rankings, making it that much easier for those on the prowl for medical devices to find and learn about your offering. 

Ideally, your content marketing for medical devices will prove shareable by going viral. Provide helpful or at least somewhat entertaining or informative online material and you will dramatically increase the odds of it being shared, hopefully with thousands if not tens of thousands of people or more.

3. Search Engine Optimization / Local Search

As noted above, the online content you create should be optimized for search engines. 

Use the right keywords and key phrases at the appropriate saturation rates and it will be that much easier to connect with those who truly need your value offering.  Everything from your homepage to your blog posts should include these essential keywords and key phrases. Keep grinding away with your quest to boost local SEO and your website just might make it to the first page or two of Google search engine results.

4. Search Engine Marketing / PPC

Search engine marketing, also known as SEM for short, is centered on paid traffic while SEO is all about organic traffic. 

Pay per click advertising (PPC) is similar to SEM. PPC ads help your site show up on search engines thanks to ads that are billed by the click.  SEM starts with an analysis of the competition to help you understand what is already out there on the web and how your company can differentiate itself from the pack.  It is even possible to use PPC ad targeting with geographical data.

Furthermore, adhering to a keyword list in these ads will help you make the intended impact in a highly-focused manner without busting your budget.

5. Social Media Marketing 

Though it might seem a bit odd to market medical devices on social media platforms, it is not only justifiable but quite logical. 

Make connections with your target audience and others on the many different social media platforms and your sales figures will spike.  Even if you do not directly connect with everyone in need of your medical device, you will undoubtedly get your company name and value offering out there for everyone to see, including those who know or are related to individuals who need your medical device. 

Examples of such platforms include:

• Twitter
• Facebook
• LinkedIn

The manner in which you use social media platforms matters a great deal. 

It is a mistake to simply post to your social media pages and ignore the audience.  If anyone asks a question or sends a message, communicate with them to show your business cares.  If necessary, hire a part-time social media manager to maximize the value of these platforms.

Post informative, helpful and insightful content to social media and you will inspire your followers to share the content with others, helping to get your company name in front of as many potential customers as possible.

6. Video Marketing

Some people respond better to video than the printed word. 

Present your target clients with the appropriate blend of written content with video marketing content and you will maximize your sales.  The best videos are a minute or two in length as they get straight to the point, communicating the value offering in a clear and cogent manner.  If the video is any longer than a couple minutes, there is a good chance the viewer will either tune out the message or close the window before the video completes.  

The videos you create should be uploaded to your social media pages, website, blog and even your YouTube channel.  This way, when people search the web for your medical devices or your company, they will find helpful short videos that concisely explain the many benefits of your business’s unique medical devices.  Even if you embed the same video on your social media page and blog, it still makes sense to upload it to your YouTube channel in order to maximize viewership and make that many more connections with interested customers.

7. Email Marketing

When done properly, email marketing provides your customer base and possibly even some prospective customers with an informative email message sent at regular intervals.  Use email marketing as an opportunity to provide your target audience with helpful information, deals, advice or something else of value and they just might look forward to these messages. 

However, it is a mistake to send an email every single week.

Send an email to your email subscribers on a monthly or quarterly basis to keep them engaged with your company and you will keep potentially valuable customers in the fold across the long haul.  Just be sure to include an email subscription enrollment box/form in the call-to-action sections of your website, blog, and social media. This way, interested parties can add their email address to your email list with ease.

8. Marketing Automation 

Nowadays, there is no need to perform every aspect of medical device marketing in a manual manner.  Thanks to advances in technology, email marketing drip campaigns are now available. This approach involves the sending of message drips, commonly pre-written, to convert prospects into paying customers.  Email automation sends out messages at your desired schedule. Thus, you don’t have to create and manually dispatch every individual message.

CRM has emerged as another popular form of marketing automation.  CRM is an acronym for customer relationship management. This tech automates certain components of customer relationships management ranging from phone calls to lead nurturing, customer support and beyond.  If you find you have too many clients to manage, give CRM a try and you will wonder how you ever got by without it.

9. Display Ads

Display ads are advertising banners ranging from regular text to video, audio, images, flash elements and beyond.  Paid ads on social media platforms including the likes of YouTube along with the use of AdSense will stimulate traffic to your website, resulting in that many more sales as time progresses.

10. Remarketing 

Remarketing is a Google Ad service that has become quite popular in little time.  It serves as a second chance of sorts, allowing you to convert leads or website visitors that you missed out on in the first go ’round of online medical device marketing.  Such targeted ads bolster your company’s brand awareness, providing much-needed attention that is likely to result in conversions.

11. Print Advertising

Though digital marketing has quickly emerged as the go-to advertising method for countless businesses, print advertising is not dead.  The proper balance of digital ads with traditional print ads will help you maximize your reach, connecting with people both online and offline.  However, the publications in which your print ads are published matter a great deal. It does not make sense to advertise medical devices in magazines and other publications that cater to the younger crowd.  Find the journals, newspapers, magazines, and other print forms that your target audience most likely reads. Consequently, allocating a portion of your medical device marketing budget to print ads will be well justified.

12. Trade Shows

Showing up to a trade show or other industry event with your medical device might seem old-fashioned yet this approach just might work.  Try to find out the types of people who will attend the trade show or other industry events. Afterward, prepare the necessary materials and a short pitch.  If you can get your medical device in front of the right audience, it really will be that much easier to sell it. However, you must prepare a short presentation that details the merits and value of your specific offering.  Otherwise, your medical device marketing effort will be in vain. If necessary, bring along a proven sales professional to the trade show and other events to properly convey the merits of your medical device. 

Market Your Medical Device Properly 

Be creative with the digital marketing tools detailed above and it is only a matter of time until your medical device sells as planned.  However, patience is a virtue. It will take some time for your digital marketing methods to bear fruit. Be patient, continue to bolster your digital marketing strategies and you will connect with that many more people in need of your medical device.

Contact now Mediaboom to boost your medical device marketing.