Marketing medical equipment and supplies faces several challenges. Perhaps the greatest challenge in 2018 is to transform your traditional marketing strategies to embrace opportunities offered by the digital age.
These two recent articles, Six Digital Marketing Trends To Watch In 2018 and 5 digital marketing trends that will shape your 2018 speak to this topic.
Here are five digital marketing trends that we believe have the potential to unlock your hidden sales potential and generate increased revenue.
1. Mobile Marketing Is Imperative
Mobile devices have become an essential medium for digital marketing. No one goes anywhere without their phone, and even the most casual observer can't help but notice the time people spend on their mobiles.
This fascination creates a tremendous digital marketing opportunity through the delivery of content designed for mobile devices. It illustrates the need to optimize web pages for mobile viewing, as well as the creation of mobile applications that showcase medical products in a way that reaches busy medical professionals.
The days of searching the internet only on a desktop computer are gone.
2. Integrating with Social Messaging Apps
Social messaging applications are increasingly used to share product information and marketers need content for platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Such content can be used to present the latest product developments and advances through various forms of short and concise messaging that creates customer awareness.
It can also generate brand awareness and loyalty through social outreach programs that benefit communities.
By providing links to your website, you will be able to enhance customer interest and facilitate follow through for more information or a presentation.
3. Marketing Automation and Chatbots
A chatbot is an automated computer program that communicates with text and speech. Using artificial intelligence (AI) and what is known as natural language processing, chatbots understand human speech, interpret requests and reply faster than call center operators can.
Chatbot platforms are continually improving and many leading organizations are using them. Juniper Research predicts that by 2022, chatbots will achieve a 93 percent messaging success in healthcare and banking interactions. Apart from their use in call centers, chatbots may be great for interactive marketing.
4. Creating Multimedia Content
Video is a wonderful way to visually present and motivate a concept. It's reported that 80 percent of consumers prefer watching a product video to reading a product description. Also, that many lose interest if product pages don't include video. What's particularly interesting is that mobile devices are the most popular platform for viewing these short videos. Facebook believes that video will ultimately become the dominant medium on their platform.
These trends indicate that successful medical device marketing strategies must include video content on webpages as well as in social media.
5. Search Engine Marketing
If prospective clients can't find you on Google, your marketing is as good as dead. Search engine optimization (SEO) is vitally important as is understanding how Google ranks webpages including:
- Product and service reviews: Google ranks pages according to customer reviews on their platform, Facebook, and other platforms. Provide an opportunity for customers to review your services and products; make sure it's a seamless experience.
- Page speed: Google penalizes pages that are slow to load.
- Mobile experience: Google prioritizes the mobile experience in their rankings.
These five trends demonstrate the importance of embracing digital marketing as a core part of your organization's marketing thrust. While it's unlikely chatbots will replace your sales representatives anytime soon, they should be as much a part of your digital marketing strategy as your human capital. Additionally, it's imperative your strategy recognizes the importance of social media, SEO and the shift toward mobile devices as the preferred internet portal.
