ROI Focus: Maximizing Value for Your Company

The first crucial aspect to evaluate when selecting a marketing agency is their focus on return on investment (ROI). While many agencies excel in creative design and other aspects of execution, very few understand what you, as a business leader, truly want. You want measurable growth in revenue from the investment you are making.

Does your agency have access to your CRM? Are they tying marketing campaigns to measurable results? Do they use information from the sales team to continuously improve campaigns?. An ROI-focused agency will work closely with you to generate quantifiable outcomes that contribute to your company’s growth and success.

Strategic Thinking and Tactical Execution: Aligning Vision and Results

A successful marketing agency must possess the ability to comprehend the strategic vision of your company and translate it into effective tactical execution. They should demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of your industry, market dynamics, and desired outcomes.

Look for agencies that present a coherent plan outlining how they intend to execute marketing strategies aligned with your objectives. An agency that excels in tying strategy and tactics together will deliver measurable results while adapting to market shifts and proactively recommending adjustments to optimize your marketing campaigns.

Continuous Learning and Adaptability: Staying Ahead of the Curve

In the ever-evolving landscape of marketing, adaptability and continuous learning are essential. Your chosen agency should exhibit a willingness to stay updated on the latest trends, technologies, and best practices in the healthcare and life sciences sectors.

Look for agencies that demonstrate a commitment to learning, adapting, and reporting their findings back to you. A forward-thinking agency will not only navigate the complexities of healthcare and life sciences but also provide you with valuable insights to make informed strategic decisions for your business.

Industry Expertise: Understanding the Unique Challenges

Healthcare is unique. The medical device and life sciences industries possess distinctive characteristics and complexities that demand specialized knowledge and expertise. When evaluating marketing agencies, consider their experience and understanding of the healthcare landscape.

Do they have multiple clients in the industry? Are they familiar with the intricacies of healthcare systems, such as group purchasing organizations (GPOs), integrated delivery networks (IDNs), and value analysis committees? An agency well-versed in healthcare-specific nuances will save you time and frustration, as they grasp the intricacies of your target market and can effectively communicate your value proposition to key decision-makers.

Selecting the right marketing agency for your medical device company is a critical decision that can significantly impact your business’s growth and success. By prioritizing ROI focus, strategic thinking, continuous learning, and industry expertise, you can find a marketing agency that aligns with your goals and understands the unique challenges of the healthcare and life sciences sectors.

To get started, take a look at how these five factors may be impacting your company’s ability to meet its growth goals:

1. Lack of visibility

If there’s one thing your marketing strategy needs more of, it’s data. With new CRM capabilities, sales and marketing teams in every industry gain unprecedented access to the nuts and bolts of their pipeline activity. These platforms deliver a complete set of data about which prospect is engaging with which campaign on which platform. Without an in-depth understanding of what drives your overall marketing and sales performance, you set your team up for failure. If you don’t already use a CRM and Marketing Automation platform (or don’t use them properly), focus your efforts on strengthening visibility into your sales process. You can’t manage what you can’t measure, so be sure you can measure the sales/marketing process.

2. Poor Sales/Marketing Alignment

If stagnant growth is an issue,chances are high that you’ve seen a decline in pipeline performance at critical stages in the sales/marketing journey. A shrinking pipeline calls for front-to-back troubleshooting from a united sales and marketing front. What must come next is a discussion about sales-marketing integration to make sure everyone stays on the same page about both short- and long-term objectives.

3. Not capturing demand

Put simply, capturing demand means bringing leads in the door. Are your marketing efforts robust and/or effective enough to capitalize on prospect interest? If not, your sales team won’t have enough opportunities to close the business necessary to drive growth. This boils down to an issue of prospect communication. If they’re searching for the right solution to a problem their organization is facing, your team has to make it abundantly clear that your product or service is exactly what the prospect needs to succeed.

4. Not creating demand

The other side of the demand equation puts the onus on marketing to generate interest. If your attention is only focused on capturing demand, then your pipeline will run dry — and quickly. Before you can capture demand, you have to create it. How much time is your team allocating to developing white papers, case studies, testimonials, and other demand-building content? These pieces are mission-critical to positioning your sales team for swift conversions. By getting ahead of the game and broadcasting the right content in the early-stage marketing funnel, you can organically grow demand and give your sales reps the tools they need for fruitful conversations.

5. Lack of product-market fit

Sometimes, the problem is as simple as the wrong fit. Have you done enough audience research to confidently say that your target market cares about your product or service? This issue is the hardest to diagnose, as it tends to be the underlying cause of many other factors working to inhibit growth. Certain indicators, like low content engagement and diminishing pipeline activity, point to poor product-market fit. This means your team is either trying to sell to the wrong audience or you haven’t fleshed out your value propositions enough to effectively generate and capture demand.

Measurability: Unlocking the Power of Unbranded SEO:

There are two types of keywords that visitors may use to get to your website: Branded and Unbranded. Branded keywords typically include your company’s name and are relevant for those already familiar with your brand. These leads are generally coming to your site because they have learned about the company through some other source and are using a search engine to find you. Many SEO firms like to take credit for Branded searches, which isn’t appropriate. A leader really should focus on Unbranded keywords. These are searches where someone is typing in a phrase that represents what your business does, as opposed to its name.

To measure the impact of unbranded SEO, utilize tools like SEMrush or ahrefs to identify the keywords that are driving organic traffic to your website. By analyzing this data, you can determine if your SEO efforts are effectively attracting new visitors who may not have discovered your company otherwise. Measurability is the first crucial step in evaluating the success of your SEO strategy.

Progression: Be A Little Better Each Day

SEO is a long-term game that requires patience, but it should yield noticeable progress over time. As a medical device company, your ultimate goal is to generate high-quality leads and convert them into loyal customers. To gauge the effectiveness of your SEO strategy, ask yourself:

• Are we observing a steady flow of prospects engaging with our website?
• Are we witnessing an upward trend in lead generation and conversions?
• Does our SEO expert have a well-defined plan in place to drive progress?

Productivity: Delivering ROI

For medical device companies, ensuring that your SEO efforts are productive is paramount. Are leads generated on your website taking calls with the sales team and ultimately converting into customers? One of our clients, a large revenue cycle management firm, experiences remarkable success through SEO because of their focus on identifying which keywords are most likely to deliver qualified prospects and then tracking them through their CRM to feed results back to the marketing team.

To maximize productivity, it is vital to:

• Ensure your website ranks prominently in search engine results for relevant keywords.
• Track the deals and conversions resulting from your SEO efforts using tools like HubSpot or your CRM system.
• Routinely assess whether your SEO activities are generating a satisfactory return on investment (ROI) by comparing leads to “Closed Won” customers.

If you’re seeking expert guidance or a comprehensive diagnostic of your SEO efforts, we invite you to reach out to our team. Let us help you achieve your growth goals and elevate your medical device company’s online presence in the competitive marketplace. Contact us at scott@jairusmarketing.com today for tailored solutions and industry-leading insights.

Find Your Product-Market Fit:

The first step on the journey to commercial success is to ensure you have achieved product-market fit. It’s essential to identify your target audience, understand their needs, and communicate your value proposition effectively. All too often, companies struggle to scale because they haven’t taken the time to answer fundamental questions about their audience and how to engage them. Mapping the buying process and why prospects can’t live without your offering is crucial to growth.

Establish Pipeline Visibility:

To effectively manage and optimize your commercial efforts, it is essential to have visibility into your pipeline. Utilize tools like Salesforce or HubSpot to gain insights into prospect interactions with your marketing initiatives. Simply having the platforms is not enough. Marketers and sellers need to update the system to ensure that the entire commercial organization can learn, shift, and focus to maximize revenue growth. Traditional CRMs, like Salesforce, have given way to broader systems like HubSpot for providing visibility into prospects’ activity prior to and outside of engaging with a sales professional. Whether it’s analyzing website traffic, social media engagement, or email campaign performance, having objective data allows you to make informed decisions and drive positive change in the pipeline.

Equip Your Sales Team:

To close deals successfully, your sales team needs the right tools and resources. Provide them with sales collateral, calculators, project plans, and other materials that support the sales process. It’s important to remember that your buyers include not only clinical professionals but also financial and operational stakeholders. Many of these personas may be outside of the typical comfort zone of a company’s sales team and they may traditionally not be easy to access. Investing in market research to better understand their motivations and concerns is a worthwhile investment and often frees up deals that are “stuck” for some unknown reason. Empower your sales team to cater to the needs of all buyers throughout the purchasing journey.

Capture and Create Demand:

Lead generation is often a primary focus for businesses, but it’s essential to have the previous three components in place before pursuing leads. Generating opportunities is critical to commercial success, but converting those leads into revenue is the ultimate goal. A team should focus on both capturing demand through demo requests or other “bottom of funnel” calls-to-action and creating demand through marketing activities such as white papers, testimonials, and case studies. By expanding your reach and engaging potential customers earlier in their buying journey, you can ensure a sustainable pipeline of opportunities.

To further explore these strategies or discuss your specific business opportunities, reach out to Scott Alexander, CEO of Jairus Marketing, at Scott@jairusmarketing.com. Take the next step toward achieving hypergrowth and elevating your medical device company’s success in the competitive marketplace.

Remember, with the right strategies and a comprehensive commercial plan, you can propel your business to new heights. Get ready to soar!

If you find your business facing stagnant sales growth, there are a few diagnostic questions you can ask to get to the root of the problem. Gather your sales and marketing teams in one place and dive into these five questions:

1. Is this a temporary or permanent issue?

The first parameter to discuss is the timeline of the problem. Has your long history of successful pipeline development suddenly been disrupted by a sharp drop-off in prospect interest? If so, think about what changes you can make to your messaging or targeting to more closely align with audience pain points. But, if getting new opportunities has always been a challenge or it has been a sustained period of down revenue, it may be time to start from scratch with a fresh perspective.

2. How do you define an “empty” pipeline?

What does your team consider to be an empty pipeline? Is it a slow trickle of new opportunities, or none at all? This is a critical distinction to make, as the implications are fundamentally different for each scenario. If prospect interest is still there, your next steps should focus on strategy shifts to amplify your current efforts and turn more heads. But if the faucet has completely shut off, turn your attention to product-market fit — are you broadcasting the right message to the right people or do you need a major pivot?

3. Are you relying on one source of truth?

Can you identify exactly when prospects lose interest during the sales process? If not, you may lack visibility into your pipeline. Without a clear understanding of where your prospects are and who is — and isn’t — moving forward, you’ll only ever see one side of the story. The new era of marketing is hyper-focused on data-driven decisions. That’s why we strongly encourage all companies, but especially those in the medtech space, to use a CRM solution. With these platforms, you won’t just see your conversion rates. You’ll gain a holistic view of your pipeline to evaluate which strategies drive the greatest revenue-driving impact.

4. Are prospects engaging with your content?

Your pipeline relies on more than just sales conversations to move prospects toward the finish line. Content marketing is a central piece of the commercial puzzle that gives your team the boost it needs to generate and convert leads. If your prospects are actively engaging with your content but aren’t taking the next step, you may be dealing with a long sales cycle or your offering may not be a high enough priority. In this case, your campaigns should convince your audience that their current product or service doesn’t fully meet their needs. On the other hand, if content engagement is at or near zero, once again consider product-market fit. Spend some time determining who your ideal customer is, what their greatest pain points are, and which of your value propositions will resonate the most with their needs.

5. How are you building demand?

If all of your marketing efforts are geared toward capturing demand, while ignoring demand creation, your growth will be tied to the speed at which people are entering the market — and your pipeline will suffer as a result. If you present a solution without clearly outlining the problem, your lead gen efforts will inevitably fall flat. Generating ready-to-buy leads should always be a goal in your marketing campaign, but it’s important to also educate future prospects on why they should be dissatisfied with their current product or service. This brings more people into the market and ultimately creates a more robust pipeline.

Not sure how to revive your pipeline? Using these five questions, Jairus can work with your team to craft a tailored marketing plan to help you get back on track. Our expert medtech marketing team will identify the bottlenecks in your pipeline and launch data-driven campaigns proven to fuel buying behavior. Want to learn more? Let’s talk.

Setting the Stage: Understanding the FDA Approval Process

Before diving into the mistakes to avoid, it is crucial to grasp the timeline and nuances of the FDA clearance/approval process. The duration of FDA approval can vary based on factors such as the complexity of the device, submission type (e.g., 510(k), PMA), and the availability of clinical data. On average, the FDA aims to review and provide a response on 510(k) submissions within 90 days, while Premarket Approval (PMA) applications typically take around 180 days or longer for review. That said, their initial response is rarely full clearance or approval. Often, there are rounds of questions that start from that first response. Typically the opportunity to commercialize takes many months longer than companies initially forecast. It’s important to stay updated with the most recent statistics and guidelines from reputable sources such as the FDA’s official website.

Mistake 1: Not Identifying the Target Audience Accurately

One of the crucial aspects of a successful medtech product launch is identifying the target audience to the level of granularity that is possible.. This is not always as easy as it seems at first glance. However, with all of the changes that have happened in healthcare over the past several years (like increases in physician employment by health systems, changes in purchasing patterns, new provider types, and the rapidly-evolving reimbursement landscape), the most interested buyers are not always who companies initially assume them to be. Pre-FDA market research plays a pivotal role in unveiling insights into potential customers’ interests, needs, and buying behaviors. By engaging with various prospective audiences, companies can test and evaluate engagement levels through a well-defined pre-FDA content strategy, focused on articulating the clinical issues that exist, disease state awareness, and other educational efforts.. This approach allows for refining messaging based on audience feedback and preferences.

Solution: Conduct Pre-FDA market research and develop a content strategy.

Mistake 2: Failing to Outline Product Value Propositions and Business Models

A lack of well-defined value propositions and business models ahead of the product launch can hinder marketing efforts, product adoption, and sales. Often, a firm’s initial marketing position is driven from discussions that happen inside the building, conversations with a select group of key opinion leaders, or through scant market research efforts.Proper testing of value propositions, pain points, and the path to purchase can be perceived as expensive or unnecessary.

That said, building upon the insights gained from identifying and testing target audiences is crucial to align value propositions with their specific needs and expectations.It allows for faster and deeper adoption once commercialization begins. It also allows for a company to add nuance to its marketing efforts. In some cases, different target audiences may require tailored value propositions or may have wildly different pain points addressed by the same solution. By clearly communicating the benefits and advantages of the offering, companies can effectively differentiate themselves in the market and attract the right customers.

Solution: Define value propositions and align them with the target audience.

Mistake 3: Neglecting to Build a Target Audience before FDA Approval

Although marketing of the product is prohibited before FDA approval, building relationships and establishing industry connections are activities that can be pursued prior to clearance/approval. Companies can leverage personalized email / social media outreach and other awareness-building strategies to establish relationships with key opinion leaders (KOLs) and other contacts. By fostering relationships and generating interest around the problem that the offering addresses, a strong foundation can be established before FDA approval. Additionally, connecting with key opinion leaders, industry influencers, and experts can amplify the reach and credibility of the upcoming product launch.

Solution: Engage in audience-building activities and establish industry connections.

Mistake 4: Not Building Awareness around the Problem Your Product Solves

Making product claims or direct promotion is not allowed pre-FDA approval. That said, raising awareness about the problem your medical device solves is permissible. For example, companies can engage in educational outreach to healthcare providers, raising awareness to the risks and consequences of delayed diagnosis or treatment or providing insights on the state of the art for certain conditions. By focusing on the problem and its impact, anticipation and interest can be generated. Post-FDA approval, companies can circle back to present the solution—a new medtech tool that addresses the problem and improves outcomes for both providers and patients.

Solution: Emphasize the problem without making product claims.

The Importance of Regulatory Compliance and Experienced Partners

Navigating the product launch process in the medtech industry requires careful consideration of FDA regulations and marketing limitations. By avoiding common mistakes and implementing strategic solutions, companies can maximize their pre-FDA market development efforts and lay the groundwork for a successful product launch. It is valuable to conduct thorough market research, define value propositions aligned with the target audience, build an audience of interested prospective customers, and raise awareness about the problem the product solves early in the life of a medical technology to expedite adoption once commercialization is permitted.

Partnering with a marketing team experienced in medtech product launches and regulatory compliance, such as Jairus Marketing, is invaluable. With expertise in navigating the complex landscape of FDA regulations, an experienced partner can ensure that marketing efforts align with the regulatory boundaries, minimizing the risk of overstepping boundaries while maximizing the potential for rapid adoption.

By recognizing the limitations and opportunities of pre-FDA marketing, companies can proactively plan and execute effective strategies for their commercial efforts. By avoiding common mistakes, conducting thorough market research, defining value propositions, building an audience, and raising awareness about the problem, companies can set the stage for a successful launch and maximize their chances of post-FDA approval success.

Just ask Jairus today to leverage our expertise in medtech product launches and regulatory compliance. Together, we can navigate the intricate landscape of FDA regulations and create a compelling marketing strategy for your medtech innovation.