As leader of Carabiner’s Life Sciences practice, I enjoy working on strategic marketing campaigns for medical devices. Why? Not only are they cool technology, but every one of these devices really matter. They’re designed specifically to help improve treatments or to enhance the quality of patients’ lives. From wireless devices implanted directly into a patient’s pulmonary artery to help reduce heart failure mortality to innovative orthopedic devices that help people move and walk, I’ve taken part in some very exciting product rollouts since we started this specialty practice in 2011.
It doesn’t hurt that the medical device landscape is also huge. The United States remains the largest medical device market in the world, with a market size of around $156 billion. U.S. exports of medical devices exceeded $41 billion at the Department of Commerce’s last count in 2017.
It’s probably little surprise then that Carabiner has a growing number of medical device and other medtech clients. These innovative companies are definitely around us, right here in Atlanta and in nearby cities like Birmingham, Chattanooga, Nashville, and other places in the South. Indeed, the Southeast offers a thriving medtech community that is a subset of our vibrant technology company ecosystem.
To be sure, marketing medtech solutions—and medical devices in particular—can be more of a challenge than marketing other types of technology products and services, and for these reasons:
1. The path to reaching decision-makers typically isn’t a straight one. It’s more like a maze that requires identifying multiple audiences at multiple levels to get through it. Especially in larger medical systems, reaching the targets that will actually make the decision to use your device can be a convoluted process, one that requires going through hospital administrators and procurement specialists before ever reaching the actual user (i.e., the physician or surgeon). Marketers must do their homework to know each audience.
2. Device information can be complex and technical. It makes sense that most medical device manufacturers are founded by highly educated scientists and engineers. They have great ideas that need to be communicated, but unless they’re talking among themselves, few others will understand them. Many device companies are also new and venture funded, so they haven’t gotten to the stage yet where they have a marketing department in place (that’s where an outside resource like Carabiner comes in).
Once you’ve identified your audiences, the next challenge is how to impart technical information in the right vernacular to reach each of them. Each audience has different pain points and purchasing obstacles, and each requires a message set and value proposition that are relatable to them. It’s the marketer’s job to convert complex knowledge into something that’s clear, concise and compelling. In fact, when it comes to the medical device and medtech sector, it’s one of the most important things we do.
3. Early adopters are vital to marketing. If your device isn’t first of its kind but is instead a more effective version of an existing solution, you’ll have to make an especially strong marketing case. Think about it. If you’re a surgeon who’s been successfully using the same knee replacement device for the last two decades, it will take some convincing for him to leave his comfort zone. That’s why it’s key to find early adopters—physicians and surgeons who will make the effort to try something new because it might deliver a better outcome. Third-party testimonials and use studies are essential marketing tools.
4. There are a lot of rules. As marketers, when we communicate to audiences we also have to be vigilant in regard to what is acceptable under current rules and laws (think HIPAA and FDA regulations for clinical trials). There are also subtleties in how device marketing must be worded. New acronyms and new healthcare research bills are constantly being introduced. Device marketers have to keep up with it all.
Bottom line, when it comes to medical devices, never underestimate the time required to adopt a new process or technology. But when all that work finally does come to fruition, it’s rewarding to know that it is creating a common good. It’s amazing today what is being developed to improve our health and quality of life—it’s exciting times.
Donna Shelton leads Carabiner’s Life Sciences practice which specializes in integrated marketing and PR campaigns for healthcare services, healthcare IT, medical device manufacturers, and a range of other medtech innovators.