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Anna Kuser 
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Share According to Forbes magazine, “despite global challenges and escalating consolidation, the medical device and technology market will eclipse $500 billion in sales by 2021”. To help you take advantage of this boom, continue reading to learn these new strategies for achieving competitive advantage in health care industry. While that’s great news that also means increasing competition for health and medical technology companies. As a result, companies have been forced to become more and more innovative in order to survive. However, you will not gain a competitive advantage by sticking to traditional sales strategies such as trade shows, seminars, print ads, telemarketing, billboards and press releases. Such strategies are not only interruptive but are also too generic and expensive. Research from Roper Public Affairs shows that 80% of business decision-makers said they prefer to get information via articles, not ads. 70% said content makes them feel closer to a company, and 60% said content provided by companies helps them make smarter buying decisions. An alternate approach has emerged recently called the ‘Inbound Methodology‘. This innovative new method involves attracting new prospects using relevant and educational content. The Earnest Agency reports that 81% of customers begin the purchasing process by looking for information online.
Consumers are being bombarded on a daily basis with tons of articles on almost every topic imaginable. To stand out in this competition, you need to create long-form content that will catch the attention of both your target audience and the search engines. Regularly posting content like lengthy blog posts will position you as an authority in your niche, drive more traffic to your site and enhance the search engine ranking of your site. You can even repurpose long-form content into email newsletters or premium content like eBooks. Fact: A research by Odork revealed that long-form content performs much better compared to short-form content.
Using the right keywords will enhance your search engine ranking and generate more traffic to your site. However, avoid the short, generic keywords since most of your competitors are already using them and may even already “own” these keywords. Instead, go for long-tail keywords which have less competition. For example, if you are selling medical scanning equipment in Portland, you could use the long-tail keyword ‘affordable medical scanning equipment in Portland‘. This long-tail keyword will help you attract a more targeted audience than the short keyword ‘medical scanning equipment‘.
Writing content for other sites will position you as an authority in the healthcare technology industry, attract traffic to your site and generate backlinks to your site. Carry out some research to find reputable healthcare technology sites that accept guest posts. Look specifically for sites that have a good domain authority (DA) and a significant level of engagement. Write killer posts that address subjects currently trending in your industry. Don’t forget to include a link to your company’s site in the author bio and be responsive when your readers leave comments on your posts.
Email is one of the most effective tools for nurturing your leads and converting them into buyers. According to a recent State of Marketing report by Salesforce, 80% of businesses say that emails contribute significantly to their overall revenue. You could ask your website visitors to submit their email addresses in return for a free eBook or report. Once you have a list of contacts, regularly send out emails containing educational content that would interest your leads. Make sure your emails are optimized for all electronic devices. Write compelling headlines to entice your prospects to open your emails. A proper email campaign will help you gain loyal followers and have a competitive edge.
When it comes to selling, social proof is very important, especially for prospects who aren’t familiar with your brand. One of the best ways of creating social proof is by leveraging user-generated content (UGC). According to a research by Bazaar Voice, 84% of consumers say that UGC influences their purchasing decisions. UGC turns your customers into advocates who vouch for your products and services. For instance, you could collect video reviews from your satisfied customers and post them on your product pages. Alternatively, you could run a photo contest where customers are required to post a photo of themselves using your product to enter. Such UGC will create increased brand awareness and attract more traffic to your site.
According to Tomoson, 51% of marketers say that influencer marketing enables them to attract better customers. Before reaching out to influencers, you need to establish your goals for influencer marketing. This could be increasing your social media presence, reaching new markets and increasing brand awareness. The next step is to look for influencers who can help attain your goals. Look for individuals who are well known in the healthtech industry and have a large following. They should also be people with a good reputation. Be sure to constantly measure, analyze and track your campaigns to see if your strategy is working. This is another part of the strategies for achieving competitive advantage in health care.
A call-to-action (CTA) is a button or text that is meant to compel your website visitors to take a desired action. When someone clicks on the CTA, they are taken to a landing page or a product page. Make sure your CTA is brief and that clearly outlines what your visitors will get. ‘Start a free trial‘, ‘Get our free eBook‘ and ‘Join our email list’ are some good examples of CTAs. Remember to include a relevant CTA at the end of every blog post or email.
Standing out in a highly saturated market seems like a huge task, but with the right strategies you can always gain a competitive advantage. Inbound Marketing and Sales will not only help you shine among other healthtech companies but also establish you as a leader in the healthcare technology industry over time. We’ve worked with countless CEOs and Directors to incorporate these Inbound techniques with their marketing and sales teams. Feel free to reserve a time to discuss strategies for achieving competitive advantage in health care now to get help evaluating your assets and gain free insights and suggestions to gain a competitive advantage in your end of the healthcare tech market!
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