Last year, I stopped being the marketing manager for a healthcare IT supplier, and moved over to the agency side. Attending health IT exhibitions in this new role turned out to be an eye-opening experience.
For the first time, I was attending shows as a delegate, and what I soon realised was that the majority of company messages, stands, handouts and even case studies left me clueless as to what a supplier actually does.
All are leaders (surely this isn’t possible?), and all are innovative. All are driving efficiency and productivity, giving access to patient information, and acting as enablers for accountable (I mean integrated) care. How are our audiences supposed to identify a supplier that will help them?
Branding and messaging are key challenges for any company. They come right at the top of the familiar sales funnel (or the more modern sales bow-tie); the process of attracting and nurturing leads and converting them into sales (and then repeat customers and brand ambassadors).
So how did so many healthcare tech companies get to where they are now? Speaking as that former marketing manager, I think one reason is the changing nature of the healthcare IT market.
For example, a company has developed a much-needed solution for a segment of users in healthcare. It does a very specific job for those users, and so marketing messages can be precise.
However, market sounding exercises have shown that the technology could solve multiple problems. Business owners then want to explain their solution in broader terms, which can mean their messages become very generic.
The temptation is to try and spice up these messages with ‘exciting’ words – but we have stopped telling people what we do specifically and we have stopped writing copy which talks to our audience.
To successfully market and promote products and services to the NHS today, we need to tell people what we do and talk to them in ways they understand. If we are going to capture their awareness and interest, and so draw them into the sales funnel, we need to show clearly how we understand and can solve their problems.
If you haven’t spent the time to create this, with your audience in mind, you are likely to struggle to see the results of your marketing and sales efforts in your pipeline. Highland Marketing is often asked to advise on messaging: and we always encourage companies to run messaging workshops before they embark on a programme of PR or marketing work.
But here are a few things to bear in mind:
In short, my advice now is: be specific; avoid generic descriptive jargon; and tell your target audience what you can do for them. The next challenge in the funnel is to raise awareness of that. Which is the subject of my next blog…
Branding and messaging help with the top of the sales funnel. The next step is raising awareness. Keep an eye on our blog for more tips on how PR, messaging and communications can help with sales funnel challenges. And, in the meantime, if you want to contact me then email Beckym@highland-marketing.com
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