The New Year is fast approaching and it’s the perfect time to reassess your healthcare marketing goals. Perhaps you dipped your toes into the world of inbound marketing in 2014 and now – with a few months of experience and some new knowledge under your belt – you’re ready to start refining your processes. One great place to start? Your social media accounts.
Medical sales professionals encounter objections and perceived obstacles from prospects on regular basis. While the occasional surprise objection may crop up, for the most part reps will hear the same few concerns voiced again and again. Marketing has an opportunity to address those objections before they’re raised, adding efficiency to the sales process and facilitating the way today's buyers make their purchasing decisions. A few of the key advantages of tackling common objections up front include:
After a sale is made the Rep typically rings the bell, high fives a colleague and then focuses on the next deal. What is often left on the table is the opportunity cost of maximizing that transaction and customer experience. Reaching out to the customer after the purchase is helpful to address the following:
When you set out to build a medical device marketing plan, you’re not really starting from scratch. Though you may not have thought about these strategies in terms of marketing, your sales team is already implementing an approach they’ve honed based on experience with your prospects and customers. Your first task in creating your new marketing plan is to gather the knowledge your sales representatives have acquired through years of contact with your market and determine how best to incorporate that information into your marketing plan.
How to Get Started With Healthcare Social Media It doesn’t matter if you’re a sole practitioner, part of a small clinic or managing a large group practice or hospital, medical and dental professionals and those in related specialties all need an effective social media presence.
Today we’re going to put the expression “learn from the best” to work. Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, MD has been named the number one hospital in the country for the 22nd time (21 of which occurred in a consecutive reign that ended just last year when they came in second). Now, obviously these rankings are based on performance and specialty strength, so let’s shine the spotlight on Johns Hopkins to see how their social media presence matches up to their medical reputation.
Last time we discussed social media, I handed out superlatives to a few of the more prevalent sites and discussed some best practices. Today, we’re going to shine our social media spotlight on one particular organization: Mayo Clinic. We’ll look at what they’re doing, how they’re doing it, and how well it’s working.
Inbound marketing success stories are everywhere, but sometimes the details are a little fuzzy. You’ve undoubtedly heard that inbound marketing leads are less expensive than traditional outbound marketing leads, and have a higher conversion rate. While those general statistics may help you decide to give inbound marketing a try, they don’t equip you to assess the progress of your inbound marketing efforts and determine whether and when adjustments are necessary. The information below will help you set expectations and map out a long-term inbound marketing plan.
Healthcare and Social Media This infographic from Masters of Health Administration illustrates some interesting data on how patients and health care providers are using social media.
There has been a massive shift in the way consumers reach buying decisions. The effectiveness of traditional marketing tactics like print ads, direct mail and television commercials has been hamstrung by technologies like DVRs. Consumers now decide when and how they will engage with your brand.
A new study suggests that 78% of salespeople using social media as a sales tool outsell their peers. That's an impactful statistic. I'd argue that an underperforming rep is not going to just jump on "social media" and turn his fortunes around. The best reps realize that social selling gives them another channel to stay top of mind for their prospects and existing customers and they choose to be active where their customers spend their time. This information begs two questions:
In a technical area like medical device marketing, content marketing can significantly ease the burden on your sales team. However, your sales team may not immediately embrace content marketing efforts. Maybe there are tensions between your marketing and sales teams, or maybe your veteran sales representatives are simply reluctant to let go of “the way we’ve always done it.”
