The Evolution of Personalized Marketing

Traditionally, healthcare marketing relied on demographic targeting, which involved grouping patients based on common characteristics such as age, gender, and location. Demographic targeting was a popular approach because it was relatively simple and cost-effective, but it lacked the precision and personalization that today’s patients demand.

With the ability to offer a hyper-focused, omnichannel experience, individualized targeting is emerging as the preferred approach in healthcare marketing. 

Why Switch from Demographic Targeting to Individualized Targeting

By leveraging consumer data, technology, and analytics, healthcare marketers can craft unique messages and content for the specific types of patients most likely to convert. These personalized messages appeal to the exact needs of each individual, building trust and credibility from the start.

The use of technology, such as artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), has enabled healthcare marketers to gather and analyze vast amounts of data, making individualized targeting a reality.

The Impact of AI and Machine Learning

AI and ML algorithms can analyze consumer behavior, preferences, and demographics to deliver the highly relevant messages and experiences needed for conversion.

For example, AI-powered chatbots on a provider’s website can offer patients instant access to personalized information and support, while ML algorithms can help healthcare marketers predict shifts in consumer behavior, making it possible to deliver the right messages at the right time.

Experience Personalization at Scale

One of the key benefits of AI and ML in healthcare marketing is the ability to personalize at scale. In the past, personalization was a time-consuming and manual process, but today, AI and ML algorithms can process vast amounts of data in a matter of seconds. 

However, privacy regulations, such as GDPR in Europe and HIPAA in the US, have added additional complexities to the equation. Healthcare marketers need to be mindful of privacy concerns while implementing personalization strategies.

Emerging Trends in Personalized Marketing

The healthcare industry is rapidly changing, and personalization is no exception. Conversational interfaces, such as the chatbots discussed above, are becoming more prevalent, allowing patients to get relevant information on their health and set appointments in a natural, conversation-like manner. 

Additionally, patient-generated data from wearables and health-tracking apps allows marketers to gather even more information about their target audience.

Conversational Interfaces

Chatbots can be programmed to provide personalized responses based on the user’s past interactions and other existing data. For example, if a user has previously asked a chatbot to find information about a specific condition, the chatbot can use AI and ML algorithms to provide more personalized results in future conversations with the same user. 

One of the key benefits of conversational interfaces is their 24/7 availability, which allows patients to access information and support whenever they need it. This not only enhances the overall patient experience but is critical for building trust and loyalty.

Patient-generated Data

The rise of wearables and health-tracking apps has made it possible for marketers to target audiences using data generated by those devices. Messaging can be tailored based on health metrics, lifestyle, behaviors, and more.

Additionally, patient-generated data can be used to identify potential patients who are most likely to benefit from a healthcare provider’s services. This can be especially useful for marketing campaigns that focus on condition or symptom-specific treatments.

Marketing Personalization for an HCP Audience

While account-based marketing is a great tool for B2C marketing (targeting patients), it is equally effective for B2B marketing, which targets healthcare provider (HCP) audiences. With the ability to target specific titles, departments, and affiliations, HCP personalization can help cut through the clutter and deliver the most relevant messages to the right people.

Personalize Your Healthcare Marketing Strategy with Levo Health

Levo Health is a full-service healthcare marketing agency with powerful targeting solutions. Our team can create personalized, highly targeted campaigns tailored to the needs of your audience. We offer advanced segmentation and targeting tools, as well as automated workflow technology, so you can deliver customized messages to enhance your healthcare marketing strategy. Contact us today to learn more.

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One of the most pivotal aspects of doing business in the healthcare industry is targeting and engaging healthcare providers (HCPs). HCPs are essential for driving growth and success, so understanding how to reach them through digital channels is crucial. Although healthcare providers are now more accessible than ever (thanks to the internet), they are also more inundated with information. Therefore, it proves difficult for healthcare organizations to stand out and communicate their message in such a noisy digital landscape. Consequently, having a concise digital engagement strategy is paramount to outperforming the competition.

Expanding on the Digital Landscape

According to 2021 data, nearly 70% of healthcare providers are digital natives. Digital natives are those born or raised during the age of digital technology. This is important to note because when a healthcare provider has had positive personal experiences with social, mobile, and digital technologies, they’re more likely to expect business interactions to go the same way. As a result, healthcare providers want to be able to find the information they need in the most efficient way possible.

Although the switch to consumerization has been in full swing for quite some time for most industries, the healthcare industry has been slower to adapt. In a world where the digital realm is commonplace, digital native healthcare providers are still subjected to the regressive practice of interacting with businesses face-to-face.

In 2017, a survey of healthcare providers found that roughly 60% of their B2B engagement came from a field rep. Dichotomously, only 8% of engagement came from a combination of face-to-face, email, and virtual meeting interactions. With businesses placing such emphasis on face-to-face interactions, they may be spreading themselves too thin.

Prioritizing Digital Channels for Effective HCP Engagement

Rather than take a single-channel approach, businesses should be looking to use a blended approach to digital engagement. Having a multichannel digital strategy will bring the divide between a company’s value and the HCP’s expectations that much closer.

In order to improve and strengthen HCP interactions and drive conversions, you’ll want to amass accurate and timely information surrounding each individual that takes into account past interactions. In doing so, you’ll be able to build an individualized customer journey and establish more concrete relationships.

While the push for digital engagement may seem like the only way to pursue digitally native healthcare providers, it’s important to recognize that these providers still crave some degree of human interaction. Instead of doing away with face-to-face interaction altogether, try to use them in tandem with digital engagement. This will help in:

• Educating the customer when they are ready to learn
• Increasing customer satisfaction
• Extending overall reach
• Driving sales growth
• Boosting resource efficiency

An In-Depth Look at Digital Channels

Recently, a two-year study was conducted by a global life sciences company to measure the impact of digital HCP channels in an emerging growth market. This case study included three distinct segments: reps who engage with healthcare providers using face-to-face interactions, reps who engage with HCPs using a digital-only approach, and reps who use both digital and face-to-face interactions.

As it turns out, the company’s reps that incorporated a blended approach of digital and face-to-face interactions outperformed the combined sales growth of the other two segments by 3%. Additionally, the study found that using digital engagement strategies lowered the cost of interactions and improved cost efficiency for the hybrid reps by 80%. A few of the most effective digital HCP engagement channels include:

Rep Email

Using emails to extend the outreach of your HCP interactions may be both cost-effective and powerful, but make sure that your emails are relevant, targeted, and offer valuable content. Otherwise, you may run the risk of healthcare providers unsubscribing or, worse, flagging your emails as spam. In fact, 66% of providers want to receive relevant emails from reps, and 35% of emails sent from field reps are opened by healthcare providers, compared to a 3% open rate for corporate emails. That being said, you probably want to start using emails in your HCP outreach strategy to:

• Schedule face-to-face calls
• Send materials
• Offer new product information
• Extend invitations to online or offline events

When using email in your digital outreach strategy, having an accurate list of addresses is vital. This makes your sourcing strategy a high priority when trying to increase HCP engagement. To ensure that you have the most up-to-date HCP contact information, it is a good idea to quality-check existing databases. This will allow you to assess each database and see where the gaps are.

Managing and understanding HCP preferences are also necessary when it comes to email engagement. This requires you and your target HCPs to be on the same page in regard to how information will be stored and managed. Understanding HCP preferences may allow you to send more targeted and relevant emails that are more likely to be opened and acted on.

Remote Engagement

Remote engagements and meetings may help complement current face-to-face relationships by overcoming geographic barriers, providing more scheduling flexibility, and allowing for more effective conversations. The average duration of engagement in a face-to-face meeting is six minutes compared to 14 minutes in remote meetings. This provides an additional 133% of engagement time to address HCP needs.

Virtual Events

Virtual events have become more and more commonplace. Businesses can take advantage of this by hosting digital HCP events such as educational webinars or virtual trade shows. These types of events may help you reach a larger audience and can be more cost-effective than traditional, in-person events. In-person programs cost 3.5 times more per person than virtual events. Now that virtual events have gained popularity and momentum, it is time to make the switch.

Tips for Developing a Well-coordinated Digital Strategy

For many companies, a successful digital engagement won’t happen overnight but rather be the result of a slow and steady build. Creating an effective digital HCP engagement strategy requires careful planning and execution. The rate at which each of these healthcare businesses is able to digitize their HCP engagement will likely differ. There are several common internal barriers that need to be overcome for a business to excel successfully in digital HCP engagement. They include:

• Prioritizing digital methods of engagement
• Having a lack of communication between channels and departments
• Insufficient consumer data
• Having trouble creating, integrating, and distributing content

Once these barriers have been addressed, your business is on the path toward building successful bonds with HCPs in the digital arena. Having an active executive sponsorship is the number one factor when it comes to achieving HCP engagement in the digital age. Furthermore, before embarking on a digital HCP engagement strategy, it is imperative to set clear performance goals and have means of measuring whether they are being met. Doing so will help ensure that HCP engagement is a priority for your business and not an afterthought. Other factors that have been found to contribute to successful HCP engagement in the digital age include:

• Implementing a data management plan
• Understanding the customer journey
• Creating content that is HCP-centric
• Ensuring content is delivered through the appropriate channels

It is crucial to note that having a successful digital engagement program requires businesses to stay up to date on the latest technologies. HCPs are constantly overloaded with content, and companies who can find new and innovative ways to break through the noise will come out on top. Digital HCP engagement is not a one size fits all solution, but with careful planning and execution, your business can develop a strategy that is tailored to its specific needs.

Build Your HCP Digital Engagement Strategy with Levo Health

Now that you understand how important it is to have an HCP digital engagement strategy, you may be wondering where to start. The process can be daunting, but you don’t have to do it alone. Levo Health is a full-service healthcare marketing agency that specializes in developing digital HCP engagement plans that are tailored to each individual business. If you are ready to take your HCP engagement strategy to the next level, contact us today and see how we can help exceed your goals.

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Bringing Your Medical Device to the Market

The first step to understanding medical device marketing is to learn how the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) classifies medical devices. They have regulatory controls and marketing pathways you have to follow based on the risk of your device and its overall safety and effectiveness.

How the FDA Classifies Medical Devices

The FDA classifies medical devices into one of three classes based on their risks and regulatory controls: 

• Class I: requires general controls with and without exemptions and poses the lowest risk. They are not obligated to submit data or information to the FDA. 
• Class II: requires general controls and special controls with and without exemptions and poses a moderate risk. They are cleared via a 510(k).
• Class III: requires general controls and poses the highest risk. They need a premarket approval application.

It’s important to note that the European Union (EU) and other countries have different classification systems for medical devices. 

FDA Premarket Requirements 

Although bringing your medical device to the market may seem complex, the FDA has broken it down into four simple steps to ensure your device gets approval:

1. Determine how the FDA has classified your device and understand its applicable regulatory controls. 
2. Select and prepare the correct premarket submission. 
3. Send your premarket submission to the FDA and interact with the FDA staff during its review. 
4. Comply with applicable regulatory controls, including establishment registration and device listing.

Marketing Your Medical Device 

You might not have to wait until the end of the premarket process to begin your marketing efforts for your medical device. Instead, you can use this time to develop your marketing strategies and start generating interest for your product. Here are a few steps to initiate your medical device marketing campaign: 

1. Determine Your Target Patient Audience 

Identifying your target audience is the most crucial step in your marketing campaign. By determining your audience, you can focus your marketing efforts on who is most likely to need, benefit and ask their provider about your product.

For example, if your medical device is a pacemaker, your target audience will likely be older patients with a history of cardiovascular problems. In contrast, your target audience will be very different if your medical device is an asthma inhaler. 

2. Understand the Problem Your Ideal Patient Faces 

When marketing your medical device, it’s vital to consider the problem your ideal patient faces and how your medical device can address that problem. For instance, if you developed a prosthetic device, consider these factors: 

• Is your patient looking for a device that will improve their quality of life and ability to function on a daily basis?
• Is your patient hoping to address more of a cosmetic concern?
• Is there a current device on the market that may cause complications, and does your product correct those issues?

Distinguishing the specific problem your ideal patients are facing will play a major role in the effectiveness of your marketing campaign.

3. Develop Your Marketing Strategy 

The next step is to develop a targeted marketing strategy to reach your ideal patient audience. Marketing strategies may include product placement and advertising on traditional and digital channels, such as television, print media, radio, and social media. When building these strategies, it’s critical to consider the different stages of the patient journey: 

1. Awareness and research: where the patient may have just been diagnosed with a condition requiring your medical device. 
2. Consultation and decision-making: where the patient is speaking with their doctor and exploring different options. 
3. Treatment and follow-up: where the patient has already chosen your medical device to help their condition. 
4. Ongoing care and support: where the patient needs ongoing care to stay healthy, manage their condition and live with their new medical device.

Your marketing strategy should adapt and evolve with your audience as they flow through their patient journey. 

Get Eyes On Your Medical Device with Levo Health

If you have recently developed a medical device and are interested in learning more about medical device marketing, contact Levo Health. Levo Health is a healthcare marketing agency that can help you optimize your marketing strategies. Working with physicians, medical practices, surgery centers, and hospitals all over the country, we can help you reach your ideal patient audience. Contact us online or call (813) 235-0830 to get started today. 

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