As the environment for the medical equipment industry continues to change, so do the obstacles and challenges manufacturers face. In order to stay on top of these many changes, companies must develop the right strategies to ensure that their marketing and sales operations are reaching target audiences. By providing quality products complete with the most relevant information through the proper medium, medical equipment manufacturers have an increased chance at reaching new demographics.
1. Conduct Market Research
Prior to attempting to market your medical devices you must first learn which markets are in need. A market research study will help you in pinpointing which geographical locations would best benefit from the devices you have to offer. When conducting a market research study, you should be sure to consider the following:
- Which geographical locations have the most medical facilities?
- Which locations are competitors marketing to?
- Which locations have large populations that could benefit from this product?
These three questions allow you to get a better understanding of which demographics you should be targeting. It helps you to save time and money by focusing on target areas that will ideally be interested in investing in your merchandise, allowing you to become a dominate force within that particular market.
2. Educate Your Audience
As you’re marketing your products to medical professionals that can get great use from them, you want to make sure that your products are easy to comprehend and use. By focusing your efforts on the decision makers and providing avenues for them to get educated on your product, you open up the window of opportunity for increased sales. Some ways you might consider educating your audience would include:
- Translation – Depending on which markets you want to break into you may need translation services. Ensuring that your audience can comprehend what the device is and how it is used is vital to increasing your chances of a sale. For example, investing in translation services to translate medical equipment manuals ensures that your target audience understands how the device is to be used.
- Demos – Better than reading materials is often a hands on experience. Offering demonstrations in a neutral location is an efficient way to demonstrate the many benefits of features your device has to offer. If you’re trying to reach a geographical area that is inconvenient to travel to, creating digital tutorials is another way to further educate your target audience.
3. Independent Distributors
Another way to bring your medical device to new markets would be to consider independent distributors. Medical distributors tend to advertise several medical products for sale. As most decision makers (i.e. doctors, dentists, and hospitals) would prefer to deal with as few suppliers as possible, they often rely on local distributors to meet their medical supply needs. In working with independent distributors, you have an increased chance at breaking into the new market. Since they’ve already done the legwork of building a relationship with doctors and medical facilities, it makes it easier for them to sale your devices. Another benefit to considering this approach is that many independent distributors have already covered the marketing costs as they come complete with their own sales and marketing department.
Expanding your reach to a new demographic requires a wealth of information. You must first learn about the market you’re trying to reach and then find ways to improve their understanding of your medical devices and the benefits it would bring to their practice.
By incorporating the marketing strategies described above, you should have a much easier time in pinpointing the most lucrative areas to market to as well as the best methods for increasing user comprehension and trust.
