Inbound Medical Device Marketing
To Increase Sales
One of the most efficient marketing strategies for DME companies is inbound marketing. 79% of companies with blogs say that there is a positive return on investment. 82% of marketers who provide blogging report a positive ROI.
Learn how to find new customers, increase brand awareness, and drive sales every day through inbound medical device marketing.
Table of Contents
- Introduction
- The Problem with Outbound Marketing
- How Inbound Medical Device Marketing Increases Brand Awareness
- What is Inbound Medical Device Marketing?
- How Inbound Medical Device Marketing Increases Brand Preference
- Lead Generation with Inbound Medical Device Marketing
- The Benefits of Inbound Medical Device Marketing
Table of Contents
- Introduction
- The Problem with Outbound Marketing
- How Inbound Medical Device Marketing Increases Brand Awareness
- What is Inbound Medical Device Marketing?
- How Inbound Medical Device Marketing Increases Brand Preference
- Lead Generation with Inbound Medical Device Marketing
- The Benefits of Inbound Medical Device Marketing
Introduction
Choosing the right marketing strategy for a brand is as important as the products and services it offers. Due to the high amount of marketing strategies, it is easy to lose count of the most effective ones for a durable medical equipment (DME) company.
One of the most efficient marketing strategies for DME companies is inbound marketing. According to statistics gathered by Invesp, 79% of companies with blogs say that there is a positive return on investment (ROI) for inbound marketing. Similarly, 82% of marketers who provide blogging report a positive ROI for their inbound marketing.1
Inbound marketing works irrespective of what type of business uses it. Although different businesses may adopt strategies unique to their industry, the overall approach focuses on the target customer.
- Companies with blogs get a positive ROI 79%
- Marketers who provide blogging report a positive ROI 82%
The Problem with Outbound Marketing
Outbound marketing is the more traditional form of marketing such as trade shows, seminars, cold calling, billboards, flyers, and posters.
“I call these methods’ outbound marketing’ because marketers push his or her message out far and wide hoping that it resonates with that needle in the haystack.”2
– Brian Halligan
Before the advent of the Internet, outbound marketing was the most common way to popularise a product and increase sales. However, the effect of digital technology on marketing has created a revolution and made outbound marketing the less favorable option. Walking into a hospital in 2020 to share posters of durable medical equipment is not as likely to guarantee sales as it would have around the 1980s. Outbound marketing is becoming less effective for reasons such as:
- That there is an excess of billboards and posters, meaning potential customers won’t trust a buying decision because of a billboard.
- It is much easier for customers to look up information on products, so outbound marketing strategies like seminars become stressful and unnecessary.
- Outbound marketing does not make an active attempt to connect with the customer.
What is Inbound Medical Device Marketing?
Inbound medical device marketing involves putting a medical device brand in positions where target customers like hospitals, doctors, and private nurses can find the product. The central objective of inbound medical device marketing is to provide consumers with valuable content which promotes trust and directs a consumer to buy that brand’s durable medical equipment.
Inbound marketing is a customer-centric approach. While not actively pursuing the customer, inbound medical device marketing leaves a trail of crumbs that are undoubtedly attractive to the target market. Inbound marketing campaigns involve the whole digital marketing package – social media marketing, content marketing, email marketing, and search engine optimization.
How Inbound Medical Device Marketing Increases Brand Awareness
Inbound marketing strategies heavily rely on the Internet. Whether it‘s social media, emails, or blog posts, inbound marketing uses the digital world to achieve its marketing goals.
Several tasks must be kept up with to increase brand awareness in inbound medical device marketing.
Creating Content Regularly
The significance of content marketing can never really be overstated, especially concerning modern marketing strategies. Consistent content production is a key step in reaching marketing targets. Being consistent with the content reminds your audience that the brand has credibility and can be trusted. The more the audience engages with the content, the more they become aware of this content source and the brand.
Interactive and Engaging Content
Statistics report that people spend an average of 463 minutes every day consuming media content.3 Audiences do not consume content that does not engage them. As an example, in the early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic, an inbound medical device marketing strategy should be more interested in creating content surrounding medical devices needed to stop the spread of the virus. Because such content is needed around that point in time, it becomes easier to engage with content consumers.
463
minutes consuming media content
463 Minutes
consuming media content
Social Media
Social media posts remain a great way to increase brand awareness. With social media, posting relatable content and using current social trends keeps audiences engaged while also attracting new customers. Gaining engagement and views on social media posts will increase overall brand awareness.
Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)
Optimizing the content created for search engines is just as crucial as creating the content itself. Taking into consideration the most searched keywords and how easily scannable content is will move a page further up on the search engine results page (SERP), thereby increasing the number of consumers who view the site.
How Inbound Medical Device Marketing Increases Brand Preference
Brand preference is all about reaching the hearts and minds of customers, meaning the more preferred a brand is, the higher the sales go. Getting to the stage where the target audience prefers a brand is only possible when the brand worth has been proved. There are tried and trusted ways to use inbound marketing strategies to elevate brand preference.
Showcasing Company Values
Business values are important in the current commercial atmosphere, as customers seek positive values like kindness, innovation, and customer satisfaction.
When adopting inbound marketing strategies, always make a conscious effort to remind customers of the values firmly ingrained in the company’s orientation. Marketing these values attracts not just customers but believers in the cause too.
Pushing Content to New and Current Customers
Being repetitive without being intrusive is very important with any inbound marketing strategy. The more that people stumble across valuable content, the more likely they are to start actively searching for it in the future.
Infographics and visual content are valuable content marketing tools for inbound medical device marketing where individual customers are concerned. A well drawn-out infographic makes it easier to think of a superior and dependable brand.
Lead Generation with Inbound Medical Device Marketing
A lead is “any person who indicates interest in a company’s product or service in some way, shape or form.”3Generating leads is bringing in strangers to show interest in your product or service. Lead generation does not stop at only attracting an audience; it continues to where leads are converted to customers. With inbound medical device marketing practices, generating leads is the next crucial step right after creating valuable content. Multiple steps must be taken to generate leads with inbound medical device marketing.
Define the Buyer‘s Persona
A buyer‘s persona is a description of what the ideal customer looks like for a brand. In defining the buyer‘s persona, you must ask questions such as:
- What is the ideal customer’s every day like?
- What are his/her interests?
- What problems do they need to be solved?
A good buyer persona profile helps a brand use its resources in the right direction. With the customer insights gained from defining a buyer persona, it becomes easier to develop content that can generate leads.
Creating a Content Strategy
There are several forms of content such as blog posts, infographics, videos, emails, and more. Choosing an unsuitable content form can negatively affect a brand’s marketing. That’s why a content strategy is imperative. According to research done by the Content Marketing Institute, 65% of the most successful content marketers have a documented strategy. 4
A good content strategy should be about the core business and the customer needs. Elements such as the preferred business model, the business values, and the buyer persona must all be properly defined in the creation of a content strategy.
Matching the Buyer’s Journey
The buyer’s journey is all the steps a buyer moves through before a final purchase/buying decision is made. The buyer’s journey is generally agreed to have four major phases – awareness, consideration, evaluation, and decision.
Inbound medical device marketing is centered around solving the problems of the buyer. Consequently, content or any other marketing tool must match the buyer’s journey. Content marketing should deliver useful information to buyers at every stage and align with the buyer’s journey.
Creating a Scalable Strategy for Inbound Medical Device Marketing
“A system that scales well will be able to maintain or even increase its level of performance or efficiency even as it is tested by larger and larger operational demands.“
– Investopedia.
Strategy plays an important role in marketing forms. A good marketing strategy must be expanded when the need arises. In other words, scalability is important for reasons such as:
- It is easier to measure results: As an example, a scalable strategy that involves social media will allow a brand to monitor progress each time they assess engagement levels on social media.
- Strategies can be adjusted quickly: Without a scalable strategy, it may take a lengthy period to switch marketing strategies.
- Work with the gig economy: Creating content may be too much of a burden for a company to carry on its own. By outsourcing content creation to freelancers, the labor can be divided and results can be achieved.
The Benefits of Inbound Medical Device Marketing
Increased Traffic
With content marketing and SEO, a brand’s message remains out there for customers to find when looking for services. An effective inbound marketing movement will attract more people to a brand’s website or social media account because of the value the business offers.
Lead Generation and Conversion
Research done by the Search Engine Watch reveals that 80% of local searches convert into actual customers. This reinforces the importance of using inbound marketing strategies and SEO to remain in a position to be found when a new customer comes looking.
- Local searches convert into actual customers 80%
High Return on Investment
As consistent research has shown, inbound marketing raises ROI more than outbound marketing. Inbound marketing increases traffic, lead generation, and overall sales while costing less than outbound marketing.
Approximately 80% of business decision-makers would rather seek information from content like articles versus an advertisement. Articles are easier to trust, especially when properly created.
Outbound marketing is good, but it is not good enough. Marketing medical devices or DME will prove a task too difficult if inbound marketing strategies are not applied. Inbound marketing strategies are a new way to market products and services because these strategies are effective.
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Resources
- https://www.invespcro.com/blog/how-effective-is-inbound-marketing/#:~:text=Globally%2C%2041%25%20of%20marketers%20confirm,ROI%20for%20their%20inbound%20marketing.&text=Inbound%20practices%20produce%2054%25%20more,6%25%20to%2012%25%20total.
- https://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/2989/inbound-marketing-vs-outbound-marketing.aspx
- https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwiqoZicyrntAhVq5OAKHX-9ArIQFjAOegQIHhAC&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.statista.com%2Fstatistics%2F433871%2Fdaily-social-media-usage-worldwide%2F&usg=AOvVaw1ovEmrH5zHzb8nZQLGKBFh
- https://contentmarketinginstitute.com/2019/09/questions-content-strategy/