From design-for-manufacturing initiatives, value engineering analysis, and Lean production processes, professionals at medtech organizations are rolling up their sleeves and implementing strategies that will add more value for their customers with less cost.
While it’s commonplace to apply these approaches to engineering and production processes, it’s just as important for medical device manufacturers to streamline their approach to marketing.
By understanding the principles of marketing on a “shoestring,” medical device companies can gain a competitive advantage while maximizing their return on investment. The following strategies are designed to stretch any marketing budget and help medical device manufacturers put their best face forward.
Expose Expertise
In the world of business-to-business sales, it now takes between eight and 12 contacts (via email, direct mail, phone, voicemail, etc.) to reach a decision maker. And that’s just to get your foot in the door.
Before even talking to a member of the sales team, prospective customers want to conveniently access—online and offline—solutions to their challenges, information on what other companies are doing to solve similar problems, and ideas for accomplishing their objectives.
And who is more capable of providing that information than the experts within your medical device company. Consider using all of your team members including your engineers, the regulatory and quality assurance team, machine floor, assembly, sales and customer service associates, and anyone else within your organization who plays a part in helping provide quality products and services to your customers.
By leveraging their knowledge and experience, you can implement powerful online strategies that demonstrate the thought leadership within your company. For example, if your prospects and customers are interested in accelerating speed to market, consider commissioning your engineering team to contribute their insights on a series of blog posts on your company blog about efficient prototyping, design for manufacturing, or Lean production processes. Don’t have a company blog? It might be time to consider it.
You also may consider creating a video series for your website (that are repurposed on YouTube) about your company’s design and manufacturing processes. Interview team members from your engineering, manufacturing, regulatory affairs and quality assurance departments. Spotlight your company’s unique prototyping process or machine floor layout. The videos do not have to be professionally produced. Using a grassroots approach to deliver your video messaging can be equally effective and save you money. The important thing is to deliver value and lessons learned by your team that showcase your company’s expertise.
Offering meaningful, customer-focused information offline is just as important as offering it online. Consider contributing to industry publications such as Medical Product Outsourcing. They too want fresh, interesting content for their readership. Research industry publications that reach your target audience and work with their editorial team to offer contributing articles that would add value to their readers.
In addition, most industry events offer opportunities for companies to share their knowledge and expertise by participating in panel discussions, breakout session presentations, or keynote speeches. Investigate those opportunities and then work with the subject matter experts within your company to contribute some presentation ideas to the event organizers.
Featuring your team members in your online and offline marketing efforts displays their expertise while showcasing the depth and range of your organization. It also helps educate your prospects in a personalized way, which is important when trying to develop a trusted relationship with them.
Maximize Metrics
Too often, the information provided within a medical device company’s marketing resources address what the company thinks is important to convey. However, that information doesn’t necessarily address the needs, concerns, and interests of their target audience. Oftentimes this is due to a lack of knowledge about what their prospects truly care about.
Fortunately, in today’s technologically advanced digital marketing world, a basic evaluation of marketing metrics can help you determine whether or not your messaging is relevant and effective. In his insightful ebook, “A Field Guide to the Four Types of Content Marketing,” analytics expert Jay Baer explains that “Too often, content marketers tell themselves that they can’t accurately measure their results, or a tactic isn’t measurable, or that they don’t feel comfortable measuring the content.”
The reality is that measuring content—especially the digital content on your website, blog, email, etc.—has never been easier to track.
Consider the engagement marketing tool, Constant Contact. Constant Contact helps companies of any size efficiently and cost-effectively distribute their email, social media and event marketing communications.
For example, if you send out an email to 15,000 contacts via Constant Contact, they will send you a report detailing the following:
- The number of contacts the email/newsletter/etc. was sent to;
- The number of emails that “bounced” (were undeliverable due to an incorrect email address, full mailbox, etc.);
- The number of email recipients who actually opened the email;
- The number of email recipients who “clicked through” or opened up a link within your email; and
- The number of email recipients who shared your email socially (via LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, etc.).
Metrics also can help you segment your contacts so that you can target different prospect groups. For example, an existing customer might be more inclined to learn about a new service that you offer if it will enhance a product they previously purchased from you. Whereas a new contact that you just met at a trade show is likely to be more interested in receiving emails that demonstrate that you understand their needs and how to solve their problems.
Measuring how your target audience engages with your marketing communications is vital to your business success. Metrics, when used strategically, can help you not only cost-effectively nurture your prospects toward a buying decision, but also strengthen the relationship with your existing customers.
Tactical Trade Shows
To maximize effectiveness and contain costs, medical device companies need to carefully evaluate their trade show options. When you consider the overall cost of exhibiting at a trade show (travel, food, hotels, booth fee, setup, raffle items, etc.) it’s no mystery why these events consume a significant portion of your marketing budget.
However, the return on investment can be substantial if you plan accordingly and start “working” the trade show well before the actual event begins.
With this in mind, it’s important to be selective about the trade shows you attend. Just because there’s a medical device trade show scheduled and you happen to make medical devices doesn’t mean that you should have a booth there. Target trade shows that best reflect your company’s capabilities and objectives. Before committing to exhibiting at certain trade shows, get your team together and have a frank conversation about the pros and cons of attending each one.
In addition, it’s essential to get everyone on the same page about what the goals are for each event. Are your goals to get leads? Educate the industry about your company and products? Strengthen your brand? Court strategic partners? Develop relationships with existing clients?
Your goals determine your strategy, so it’s important to focus on one or two goals for each trade show event. You may want to do all of these things, but you’ll actually be less effective if you try to do too many things at once. Prioritize and then work with your team (i.e. those who will be attending the trade show with you) to determine who will focus on what goal.
If your goal is to showcase a new device and attract buyers, make sure that an engineer and a sales rep from your company are in attendance and are prepared to discuss the features and benefits it can offer to customers. If your goal is to generate leads, then assign your most sociable and engaging team members with promoting your raffle item (e.g., free iPad) and getting business cards. Different goals require different strategies.
Before the Tradeshow
Let’s say you and your team have determined that it would be wise to have a booth at an upcoming tradeshow in May. Start promoting your attendance in April.
Create an email campaign (two to four emails) that promote your booth and align with your goals. For example, if your goal is lead generation, your emails should promote your booth number and that you’ll be raffling off a free iPad.
If your goal is to get a new client, email a few targeted prospects and invite them to lunch or dinner. Be sure to follow your targeted emails up with phone calls.
And don’t forget social media. Most trade show coordinators will promote their event in a LinkedIn group. Join in the discussions and announce your attendance there. This also is a great way to learn who else is attending and make connections with them.
Twitter also is another excellent way to promote your trade show booth before, during, and even after the event.
After the Tradeshow
Tradeshows are catalysts for establishing in-person relationships and putting your best face forward. But that can mean very little if there’s no follow-up after the show. Post-tradeshow strategies also are critical to maximizing your overall tradeshow cost and return on investment.
If you gathered business cards or contact information while at the show, add them to your master database. Then, send out an email thanking everyone who participated in the raffle and let them know who won. But don’t leave it at that. Continue the interaction by offering them something else of value. Invite them to a webinar that your company is hosting, or encourage them to download your latest white paper.
Those who do register for your webinar or download your white paper are moving themselves further into your sales funnel and evolving into a more qualified lead. They are essentially saying, “Yes, your webinar/white paper/case study topic is relevant to me.” This will also help you refine your messaging in other marketing resources.
It’s also essential to hold a post-cnference recap with your team to evaluate how the trade show went. Were goals met? What worked? What didn’t? What can you do better next time? Answers to these questions will help you improve your future trade show involvement, maximize your overall effort, and eliminate wasteful activities.
Maximum Marketing, Minimum Cost
How medical device companies market and sell their products and services is changing. But adapting to that change doesn’t have to equate to spending more money. The technology and resources that exist today enable any-sized company to market more effectively with less cost. And doing more with less is the new reality for medical device companies that want to stay competitive and offer the most value.
Tricia Rodewald is director of Marketing & Strategic Alliances, Johanna Casas is customer service manager and Jen Sandoval is account representative for Pro-Dex Inc., a publicly traded Irvine, Calif.-based company that develops and manufactures powered surgical devices for world-class medical device OEMs.