Top 5 Lead Generation Ideas To Increase Your Medical Device Sales
Due to rapidly changing MedTech market dynamics, lead generation is one of the most important aspects of sales success. Learn about the top lead generation ideas that can help increase your medical device sales.
Innovation in the medical industry has come a long way since the invention of the first medical device - hypodermic syringes - in 1853. Over the past few years, the demand for new technologies to meet the changing needs of HCPs has been rising steadily, putting the MedTech industry on an exceptionally positive trajectory. But as more doctors use medical devices to enhance care quality, more companies enter the race, leading to increased competition in the marketplace.
To keep pace with the rapidly changing market dynamics, it's critical to understand that yesterday's outdated marketing methods no longer work with today's sophisticated audiences. Strategies that worked a few months ago to produce qualified leads may not be effective next year. Without a revamped lead generation strategy to attract and convert surgeons interested in your brand and technology, you will likely not see the desired results. But the good news is that through a renewed approach, you can succeed in capturing busy surgeons' attention, building a relationship, earning their trust, and turning them into customers.
What's the Difference Between Lead Generation vs. Demand Generation?
Before sharing the top lead generation ideas proven to attract surgeons and hospital executives, it is important to clarify the difference between lead generation and demand generation. Although digital marketers often use these terms interchangeably, it is critical to distinguish them.
Demand generation encompasses all activities geared to create awareness and demand for your technology. Demand gen helps you generate buzz and grow your audience by turning strangers into prospects.
On the other hand, lead generation is strategic content that MedTech marketers create to turn prospects into customers by guiding them through their purchasing journey. Ultimately, your goal is to gain a list of leads interested in your brand and medical technology. So, as you can see, demand and lead generation are closely interconnected, but their purpose is slightly different.
How To Tailor Your Content And Personalize Your Lead Gen Strategy
Since you are marketing to doctors, surgeons, academics, and hospital executives, start the lead generation process by creating compelling content tailored to their unique needs. Understand that HCPs are data and science-focused and committed to patient safety. Most doctors hate to be sold to; however, they appreciate being educated and enjoy learning about technological innovations that address their pain points.
Start by building out buyer personas - fictional representations of your ideal clients - to help internalize the type of customers you want to attract. Of course, depending on your medical device, you may have multiple ideal customers, making the creation of buyer personas even more important and slightly more convoluted.
Top Lead Generation Tactics For MedTech Marketers
Once you have developed your personas, dive into creating high-value content likely to interest doctors and medical professionals. Here are some of the best ways to capture doctors' attention and nurture them into loyal customers.
Gated Content
As its name suggests, gated content is only available to those who request access by filling out an online form and submitting their contact information. Don't think, however, that simply creating a landing page promoting your latest guide with an opt-in form will generate hundreds of leads for your company. Instead, you need content providing superior value that your ideal customers find helpful. For instance, putting together a compelling eBook filled with industry insights and science-backed data may perform exceptionally well.
Download: The Ultimate Guid to MedTech Marketing 2023
But eBooks are not the only form of gated content that surgeons may be interested in. White papers, guides, special reports, and helpful checklists are also popular. Reports work particularly well to attract analytical, data-minded, and research-focused professionals, such as doctors. You can either conduct research or curate data from various sources and compile the information into a captivating report.
You can choose one or more types of gated content to attract doctors to your site and encourage them to download your freebie with a compelling call-to-action (CTA).
Don't have time to write a white paper from scratch? Consider rewriting whitepapers by making them MedTech-specific and turning them into gated content requiring registration for download.
Email Marketing
Email marketing is still one of the most effective ways to generate quality leads. However, executing email marketing campaigns at a level needed to yield the ROI you want requires know-how and expertise. One of the keys to success is to craft your messages in a way that resonates with your target audience. Make sure your emails offer valuable information and contain a strong CTA. In addition, your subject lines must be short, relevant, actionable, and compelling enough to encourage a click.
Infographics
When evaluating various lead generation tactics, think beyond traditional copywriting. For instance, infographics are an informative and shareable method enabling you to communicate complex concepts and scientific information. This type of content works well on social media and is a fantastic tool to drive traffic to your site. Moreover, you can use them as a learning lead magnet to illustrate the principle idea behind your technology. Today's surgeons are time-strapped and, therefore, difficult to engage. Infographics offer a unique way to deliver your message in a format your customers appreciate.
Infographics are an informative and shareable.
Video Content
According to estimates, visuals communicate information 60,000 times faster than text. MedTech marketers selling to one of the busiest groups of professionals cannot ignore this impressive statistic. Doctors live a fast-paced life and are hungry for quick and easy visual content, which makes videos an appealing vehicle to convey brand messages.
But don’t take our word for it; look at the numbers instead. 2021 data shows the average engagement rate for short-form video content is 53.9%. People of all professions love to consume video content, and doctors are no exception. From training videos to explainer videos, surgeons are on the market for informative and valuable audiovisual content. Medical device animation videos are another example that can attract the right customer and leave your prospect with a lasting impression about your brand and technology.
Think about it. How much more likely is it for a busy surgeon or hospital CMO to take 2 minutes to watch a captioned video to learn about how your device can solve their unmet need than read a 1,500-word blog post?
Webinars
Similar to videos, doctors consider webinars high-value content. They respond well to webinar invitations for two primary reasons: they are easily accessible and digestible. From a MedTech marketer's perspective, webinars are preferable over videos because they have another component: urgency. Since live webinars only occur at specific times, they play on doctors' fear of missing out (FOMO).
Webinars are easily accessible and digestible.
What should I do next?
Take action right now. Decide which lead generation tools you want to incorporate into your strategy and create an implementation plan. As you begin the content creation process, keep in mind that your lead magnets should meet the following three criteria:
Add substantial value to your target audience
Solve an immediate problem
Relate to your brand or technology
Regardless of which lead generation tactic or combination of tactics you choose, put your content through a thorough vetting process, launch the campaign, measure results and tweak your strategy if needed.
Do you need support developing a Medtech-specific lead generation strategy? Schedule a Free Discovery Call with one of our marketing strategists!
