" />In 2024, the UK digital health market is projected to reach a total of £835 million in funding. Despite difficult economic conditions, there continues to be significant investment and interest in the sector.
Those bidding for the investment will have to distinguish themselves from others in the industry, as well as ensure their business is on track with the development and delivery of its product or service.
However, effective healthtech marketing is not solely about promoting products or services — it is about educating healthcare providers and patients on the benefits of tech innovations.
Where to start with a marketing strategy?
Tailored marketing strategies can boost the adoption of health technologies highlighting their viability and market fit. A sound strategy also ensures your message reaches the right audience, and positions your business as a leader in this highly competitive field. We discussed the importance of marketing for healthtech businesses in our recent blog.
Key messages that resonate
When refreshing your healthtech marketing strategy, it’s vital to craft key messages that resonate with your audience. These messages should emphasise the innovation and tangible benefits of your technology, such as improving patient outcomes, enhancing efficiency, and reducing healthcare costs. An added focus on real-world applications and success stories also helps build trust and credibility with the audience.
Selecting target audiences
Target audiences can include healthcare providers, hospital administrators, tech innovators, and patients, depending on if your business is marketing to a consumer audience of business-to-business audience. Additionally, your audience could include investors if you are fundraising, and government bodies if you are targeting adoption of the innovation by the NHS.
Choosing communications channels
Effective communication channels will vary based on your audience. LinkedIn and industry blogs are ideal for engaging with professionals and decision-makers, while webinars and conferences are useful for showcasing expertise and fostering partnerships.
For reaching a broader audience, social media platforms like X (formerly Twitter), Instagram and TikTok, can help engage patients and influencers, while email marketing and targeted ads ensure focused, direct communication with your key stakeholders.
Types of marketing strategies for healthtech companies
To create a robust marketing strategy for a healthtech company aiming to thrive there are a number of approaches to consider. The below is not a to-do list, but rather a variety of methods that can be implemented into a wider marketing strategy to increase brand awareness, engagement, and credibility.
Marketers need to be selective and ensure that suitable marketing strategies are applied based on the product or service they’re promoting and their business objectives.
Commission original research for campaigns
Research can help healthtech businesses identify a problem or gap in the market that their product or service alleviates. It gives it greater context. Original research also means you have new and proprietary insights. For example, research commissioned by Skills For Care found that 70% of female care workers experiencing menopause symptoms feel unsupported at work. Perhaps your business provides a healthtech service that could help fix this problem.
Commissioning original research can also demonstrate authority in the industry. Findings can be newsworthy and used throughout other content and channels. They can be presented at industry events, discussed at roundtables, and referred to by others researching the same topic.
Ensure you partner with a credible research organisation and work with them to ensure the survey questions will provide the best outcomes to tell your story, and that they can provide a sample group is representative of the national population.
Produce thought leadership content
Developing informative and relevant content that addresses the challenges faced by your audience will position your company as a thought leader in the healthtech space. This could include blog posts, reports, whitepapers, webinars, and case studies that demonstrate the business’ knowledge of the industry, as well as gaining trust by sharing insights and advice for your target audience.
The content can be created for owned channels, such as the company website, or paid and earned channels in media publications. Consider researching media publications in the healthtech space to identify suitable publications that will target your key audience.
For example, Coordinate My Care, an NHS clinical service that shares information between healthcare providers, executed a thought-leadership campaign that culminated in a broadcast interview about its work on Channel 4 News.
The content included a byline article attributed to a palliative care consultant explaining how many patients struggle to have their care wishes respected, which is distressing and expensive for families. It explored an independent evaluation that estimated the NHS could save nearly a billion pounds a year, if every patient predicted to die within a year had a care plan in place and stayed out of hospital. This finding linked back to how Coordinate My Care’s services could be supported.
For thought leadership to be successful, healthtech marketers must identify a tension or gap in the market that the company can ease, or provide solutions to, and put the expert in the business.
Leverage social media
Social media is vast and ever-expanding. It isn’t right for everyone and every business, however, it can be home to communities that you can leverage. After identifying your audience you’ll have a better idea of which platforms are suitable for you and where your audience is active.
Once these platforms have been identified, develop a profile for the business on each of these. Use these to share valuable content, engage in discussions, and respond to queries. Consider running targeted ads to increase visibility and reach as well.
The use of influencer marketing and content creators could also be part of your strategy. Healthcare influencers are becoming more apparent on TikTok and Instagram, but it’s important to ensure that any of those that you work with are qualified health professionals. The ASA shares guidance and rules on how influencers and key opinion leaders (KOL) can be used in the activity.
Leverage social media
Social media is vast and ever-expanding. It isn’t right for everyone and every business, however, it can be home to communities that you can leverage. After identifying your audience you’ll have a better idea of which platforms are suitable for you and where your audience is active.
Once these platforms have been identified, develop a profile for the business on each of these. Use these to share valuable content, engage in discussions, and respond to queries. Consider running targeted ads to increase visibility and reach as well.
The use of influencer marketing and content creators could also be part of your strategy. Healthcare influencers are becoming more apparent on TikTok and Instagram, but it’s important to ensure that any of those that you work with are qualified health professionals. The ASA shares guidance and rules on how influencers and key opinion leaders (KOL) can be used in the activity.
Utilise partnerships and collaborations
Collaborate with healthcare organisations and key opinion leaders in the industry. Partnerships can enhance credibility and provide access to a broader audience. Joint webinars, co-authored content, or research studies can be effective collaboration strategies.
Partnering with healthcare institutions, industry experts, and other tech companies can expand your reach and credibility. NHS England relies on numerous strategic partnerships at a local and national level.
You can also explore joint ventures and co-marketing opportunities that enhance brand visibility and share resources.
Develop community engagement initiatives
Engage with your community through health fairs, conferences, sponsorships, or educational workshops. Building a local presence and demonstrating your commitment to health improvement can foster trust and loyalty among potential users.
This can either be run by the business’ event and project team, or marketers can research and identify existing opportunities to participate in. For example, the Health Tech Conference UK, HETT and ABHI UK HealthTech Conference are run each year and invite industry leaders to sponsor, participate and network with others in the industry.
Share case studies and customer testimonials
Leverage success stories and testimonials from satisfied clients to build credibility and showcase the effectiveness of your solutions. Highlighting real-world outcomes can help potential customers visualise the benefits of your products or services.
Where the buying process can be lengthy and complex for healthtech products and services, case studies represent an opportunity to help prospects imagine a future transformed by your company’s solution and offer tangible proof points for its achievability.
bswift is a service that streamlines HR, benefits, and payroll processes for healthcare providers through its proprietary software, allowing efficient delivery of healthcare services. The company offers a multitude of services, but its complex offerings are given a human face in video case studies. The human connection engaged buyers in a short and sweet video that the target audience could relate to and empathise with.
Use Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)
Optimise your website and content for search engines to increase your visibility in organic search results. Implement keyword research to identify relevant terms to your business and phrases your target audience is searching for.
Ensure your content is optimised for search engines to increase visibility and attract organic traffic. However, try to not get stuck in the keyword trap. Forcing words on the page can make your content sound like it was written by artificial intelligence (AI). Write for humans first and search engines second.
Use data-driven decision-making
Finally, continuously analyse your marketing efforts using analytics tools to track performance metrics such as engagement rates, conversion rates, and customer feedback. Use this data to refine your strategy, optimise campaigns, and improve return on investment (ROI).
By adopting these strategies where appropriate, healthtech companies can effectively communicate their value proposition, engage with their audience, and drive customer acquisition in an ever-evolving healthcare landscape.
In conclusion
There is a need for agility and continuous evolution in healthtech marketing in order to stay competitive. Unfortunately, new innovations do not succeed solely on their ability to solve a problem. Their success is also attributable to how well their benefits are understood and how widely they are adopted. What’s more, there may be a similar solution on the market which is where effective marketing can distinguish a brand. Marketing strategy matters.
If you’re looking for marketing and communications advice for your healthtech business, get in touch with the Refresh team today to find out how we can help.
- Share this
