You can have the best technology in the world but still have a marketing fail if your messaging is off. So here are the most common reasons why health IT marketing falls flat – and what you can do about it.
Too Complicated
It is easy for healthcare tech vendors to try to convey every detail of their technology in their marketing. The problem with this is that they are not usually communicating with other tech people. Sure, the CTO or IT team will be involved in the purchase but they are rarely the decision-maker or even the champion. So keep the complexities to a specifications sheet intended for the tech folk. For everyone else, skip the jargon and hit the highlights.
Too Vague
When health IT marketing gets vague, it’s usually because the company has fallen victim to using corporate-speak. Instead of communicating simply and clearly, they lean heavily on words like “solution” and “efficiency” without ever explaining exactly what their technology does. Your marketing has this problem if your message could just as easily apply to a dozen other solutions. So replace the buzzwords with the simple, straightforward language you would use when talking to someone about your product.
Not Targeted
As a health IT vendor, it’s true that you have to navigate a group of people before getting a sale. But that doesn’t mean your marketing should be talking to all of them at once. It’s a good idea to have blog posts and sales sheets that address the particular needs of each person on the road to the sale. But your overall marketing needs to focus on the decision-maker. So put them front and center when writing your copy. Address their concerns, address their interests – and leave the others until farther along the customer journey.
No Differentiator
The thing about saying you have a great platform is that your competitors say the same thing about themselves, too. You need to show why someone should choose you over them – and that means you need a differentiator. It can’t be that you’re HIPAA -compliant or use AWS because that’s true for everyone in your field. It needs to be the way you do business or a unique feature of your platform – something that stands out. So figure out what makes you unique – and then make sure you include that information in your marketing.
No Reassurances
For a health system to bring on a new platform of any kind is a big risk. They are going to have to switch from what they are currently using, which could cause all kinds of technical frustrations. Even if they are switching from paper, it is still going to be a big learning curve. On top of that, if it doesn’t work well in the end, they are on the hook for having selected you as their vendor. So your marketing needs to allay those fears, and the best way to do that is by mentioning them in your case studies and testimonials. It can be tempting to focus your case studies and testimonials on what a great job you did but they will make more of an impact if you first take the time to say what your customer was worried about. Once you’ve mentioned that, you can then show what an awesome job you did – and it will be that much more believable to your prospects.
Health IT Marketing
Take a glance at your messaging and see what changes you need. These marketing mistakes are common in the health IT world but, luckily, they are an easy fix.
Photo by Pim Chu on Unsplash.