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What You Need to Know About Marketing and Inflation

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When you think of inflation, you probably cringe a little, especially if you work in the marketing industry. However, marketing and inflation are not necessarily adversaries. 

They can work together to help you and your team develop campaigns that add value when consumer purchasing power seems limited. Brace yourself, but there are more marketing opportunities during an inflationary period. 

You may be asking yourself how that is possible. It’s fairly straightforward. Let’s look at inflation in marketing and how it impacts business both positively and negatively. Take a moment to review the steps to combat the adverse effects on your business.

Key Takeaways:

  • While consumers purchase fewer goods during inflationary periods, savvy marketers launch campaigns that drive value on items considered a want versus a need.
  • Inflation impacts consumer buying power, advertising costs, and how consumers prioritize spending on necessities and low-cost nonessentials.
  • To combat the negative effects of inflation, you must understand inflation and how that changes purchasing behaviors and establish a unique value position for your brand.
  • Whether you primarily run digital marketing campaigns or publish printed ads, opt for audience targeting, known as retargeting. Use insights to send valuable ads to target markets.

What Is Inflation in Marketing? 

Inflation is one of the immediate economic marketing factors impacting customers’ buying power. It represents how prices increase on goods and services and consumers’ purchasing ability. 

Also, tax rates on real capital gains increases. That shrinks the dollar’s purchasing power, making consumers purchase fewer goods. Prices go up, and profits and revenue go down. Until stability returns, the economy slows. 

It also affects the stock market. However, volumes of articles could (and have been) written about that subject. 

While it does impact marketing and inflation, let’s not get bogged down in the wealth of information this article could cover on stock market fluctuations (the video below can sum some of that up for you if you’re interested).

Impact of Inflation on Marketing and Advertising Costs    

When you think of consumer buying power, you probably think of the end customer, but what about your company’s purchasing power? Or that of your competition? 

Advertising costs are increasing along with the price of goods. While consumer price inflation has gone up 7.9%, currently, industry experts expect media buying costs in the U.S. to rise to 5.4% throughout the rest of 2022.  

Television media has been hit the hardest with a nearly 15% increase to do demand issues. With the rise of streaming services, TV ads are less valuable than in years before streaming services. 

Interestingly, while inflation increased costs for TV and digital marketing channels, print ads for magazines and newspapers have been the least impacted by this inflationary period.

Line graph of the advertising cost inflation by medium 

Image Source

Impact of Inflation on Consumer Buying Decisions    

During an inflationary period, consumers must now choose what goods and services are necessary and how they prioritize them. They sacrifice things they want or luxury items they need by either wait to buy or purchasing the downgraded version. 

They focus more on the essentials and do less impulse buying. Here are the most significant ways inflation impacts consumer buying decisions: 

  • Only 23% of consumers in the U.S. say they are unaffected by inflation
  • Approximately 90% of Americans do worry about inflation
  • Around 80% have or plan to reduce essential spending on products throughout the rest of the year 
  • Absence of a stimulus drastically changing discretionary spending
  • Less than one-fourth of the population has not changed their buying habits

3 Steps to Combat the Inflation Effect on Marketing  

When there is an economic downturn, brands generally deprioritize advertising spending and often cut marketing budgets. However, experts strongly urge against this, touting that it is not a profitable strategy. 

During the Great Recession of 2008 – the last time there was an economic downturn resulting in an inflationary period – the brands that remained successful never stopped advertising. 

Even though the cost of advertising had risen, they could combat the inflation effect on advertising costs with marketing. Here’s how:

1. Understand Changing Purchase Behaviors  

Evaluating changing consumer buying patterns requires insights available only with automation tools that enable your teams to determine the best strategies. For example, a CRM (customer relationship management) platform can help you track vital metrics on customer purchasing behavior. 

These insights will help you glean data so they can develop the most relevant marketing strategies based on changing purchasing behavior. 

Also, consider what other purchasing behaviors corporations are making. Even if you don’t sell B2B, knowing how other businesses cater to buying patterns of the consumers and improve operations will give you a competitive edge essential in a downed economy. 

As you can see, digital transformation and automation are how CEOs invest their corporate spending to ensure a strong financial future.

Bar graph of the purchasing behaviors of CEOs during inflation 

Image Source

2. Establish Your Brand’s Unique Value Position 

Distinguishing your brand from competitors shows consumers why they should choose your brand’s product or services over any other. If possible, offer something at distinct ends of the price spectrum. If your brand can’t compete on pricing, you can make further adjustments to meet customer demands, like launching loyalty or rewards programs, running promotions, and offering bundles. 

3. Opt for Audience Targeting Ads (for print and digital media)  

 When consumer purchasing power is down, lead targeting should be your brand’s priority. Reach customers you know are ready to buy using targeting ads via social media or another media channel. 

Whether you primarily run digital marketing campaigns or publish printed ads, opt for audience targeting, known as retargeting. 

Use insights to send valuable ads to target markets using demographical data, purchasing habits, and tracking search patterns. It’s effective for both print and digital ads.

Working Together to Develop Strategies for Marketing and Inflation

Even though inflation is at an all-time high, people still spend money. Working with us at Share Moving Media can help get your organization through this economic downturn.  

We can help you develop strategies that will help you combat inflation and encourage customers to choose your brand above the competition.

Contact us today at Share Moving Media to boost your visibility online and off during the current inflationary period. 

Why You Should Invest in Marketing During Recessions

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Recessions tend to be synonymous with budget cuts. However, your healthcare marketing is one area that you shouldn’t cut. Marketing during recessions affords unique opportunities to keep your business healthy despite the economic upheaval. Then you can come out the other side stronger than when the recession began.

Explore opportunities for marketing during a recession and how these opportunities can benefit your company.

Key Takeaways:

  • Sales depend on a solid marketing strategy, even during a recession.
  • Recessions afford new opportunities for gaining customers as customers often switch brands during financial uncertainty.
  • Use agile marketing techniques and invest in approaches with the greatest return to ensure every dollar is well-spent.

How Does a Recession Affect Marketing?

When times get rough, and budgets get tight, healthcare businesses want to focus all available resources on practices that yield direct financial return while reducing spending significantly in all other areas. Unfortunately, many healthcare businesses don’t see marketing as one of those areas with a high return.

Ironically, sales investments often remain within the budget. However, there are no sales without marketing, as marketing makes up most of the B2B healthcare buyer’s journey. Customers agree with this funnel, as 80% say they don’t want a sales agent to contact them until at least 80% of the way through the sales process.

What’s happening in the first three-quarters of the journey? These are the marketing stages where a business introduces itself to potential clients, turns them into leads, then slowly builds trust and presents its products.

The sales team doesn’t see those leads until the leads have nearly made up their mind to purchase a product. However, when businesses cut marketing, they also cut sales, as the sales team won’t see even a fraction of the leads when sales work with marketing.

The new sales and marketing funnel

Image from SuperOffice

Is Marketing Important During a Recession?

Not only should healthcare businesses avoid cutting resources from the marketing team, but companies should invest MORE into marketing in a recession. Here are five reasons why:

1. Avoid Losing Market Share

Keeping your healthcare marketing practices strong also holds your place in the market, so you don’t lose ground with your audience. This strategy comes down to one idea. You need to spend money to make money. So when you start cutting marketing, you’re also cutting your sales because they’re directly connected.

However, a strong presence will keep your sales steady so your business sails more comfortably through the recession and isn’t hit as hard as those that made extreme budget cuts in marketing. Then, when the recession is over (as all recessions will be one day), your business will not have lost ground, so you can pick up where you were versus having to make up for lost market share and clients.

2. Increase Your Brand Awareness

With so many healthcare businesses cutting back during a recession, those that still stand firm stand out with increased brand awareness. Your ads will be more visible, your content will rank higher, and your brand voice will be more apparent because there isn’t as much competing noise.

3. Stay Ahead of Your Competitors

If your healthcare manufacturing brand grows silent because of budgeting cuts, your competitors might see that as an opportunity to take over your audience. While your business isn’t publishing regular ads and posting on social media, your competition might still be. Therefore, clients who still need your services might switch brands because the competition will seem more appealing and reliable.

However, you can turn the tables by being the healthcare brand that comes in when all the competition grows silent and attracts more of the audience to your company through consistent marketing through the recession.

4. Retain Loyal Customers

Your loyal B2B customers will help keep your business afloat through the recession. Now is not the time to cut back on loyalty programs and incentives because companies rely on loyal customers’ continued support. A crucial 65% of sales come from loyal customers. In addition, acquiring new customers is five times as expensive as retaining loyal customers.

Focusing on customer retention is the best use of marketing funds, as increasing customer retention by just 5% can lead to a 95% increase in profits.

 a little loyalty goes a long way

Image from FinancesOnline

5. Find New Customer Opportunities

In a recession, there are plenty of opportunities to connect with new B2B clients, especially when so many competitors are reducing budgets in crucial areas like marketing. Your healthcare marketing team can capitalize on those budget cuts and win over those B2B clients.

In addition, customer behaviors are changing along with needs. As a result, the old way of attracting customers may no longer work. 

However, a new marketing strategy will focus on customers’ unique needs and offer a recession-specific marketing message for financially-strapped clients. This updated message will appeal to B2B customers in their current stage of business uncertainty better than your pre-recession value proposition and marketing message. Updating your message will create new opportunities to reach B2B customers you might not have with your old marketing message.

For example, during the financial crisis in 2020, as COVID negatively impacted many customers and businesses, 45% of customers changed their preferences. In addition, 75% of people changed their purchase behaviors.

Statistics show buyers don’t stick with what they’re comfortable with during times of financial difficulty. Instead, those are the times customers often consider other brands. Lower prices and better value are two primary reasons a customer might switch brands during times of uncertainty.

Don’t Market Less–Market Differently

How can you recession-proof your healthcare marketing?

Use these key strategies to ensure your marketing investments carry you through recessions and your business continues to grow in times of financial uncertainty:

  • Keep your marketing strategies agile, adjusting to the changing times
  • Focus on marketing strategies with a clear ROI
  • Track the return of marketing strategies to make sure all investments lead to a return
  • Invest in loyal customers to retain their business through the recession
  • Focus on building relationships with new customers using strategies like account-based marketing
  • Understand changing customer needs, pain points, trends, and buying behaviors
  • Find ways to streamline marketing processes using automation and other tools to cut costs
  • Monitor the competition to identify new opportunities
  • Avoid any drastic changes where you don’t have a guaranteed return
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qN15ilAaOqU

Make Every Marketing Investment Count

Share Moving Media helps marketers make smarter financial investments by offering marketing opportunities connecting them directly to their target audience. By investing in targeted marketing through industry publications, you know your audience sees your message every time, so every dollar is well spent.

Contact us to learn more about our marketing opportunities for healthcare manufacturers.

How to Effectively Use Direct Mail to Reach Your Audience in 2023

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Print advertising is far from dead. Postcards, flyers, letters, and magazines still regularly come through the mail. These marketing pieces are powerful mediums for reaching and influencing customers and sales prospects.

Learn why you should use direct mail to reach your audience in 2023 and five strategies to ensure you maximize your return.

Key Takeaways:

  • Direct mail reaches an audience more efficiently in a digitally oversaturated age
  • Direct mail has a higher open and response rate than digital mail
  • Personalize your direct mail to a specific niche audience to maximize your return

Is Direct Mail Still Effective in 2023?

When was the last time you checked your mail? According to the U.S. Postal Service, 98% of people check the mail daily. It doesn’t matter if you’re expecting an important letter or not. You still regularly check your mail as part of a daily routine.

Your recipients are also checking their mail every day. So, if you send a letter, you know they will at least see it. In addition, there’s a good chance they’ll do more than just see the letter. They will open it, glance over it, and if it captures the recipient’s attention, they’ll read everything in the letter. Even after the recipient finishes reading the letter, there’s a chance it will remain on the kitchen counter or fridge for a few days or weeks, where others might see it.

Why Is Direct Mail So Effective?

Are you still unsure if direct mail marketing is right for you? Here are three benefits of adding a direct mail approach to your 2023 content marketing strategy:

Stand Out in a Digital Age

Direct mail is a business’s chance to stand out in a society that’s drowning in digital interactions.

The average person sees between 4,000 and 10,000 digital ads a day. In addition, the average person receives between 100-120 emails a day. However, the average person only receives two pieces of direct mail a day.

So, direct mail would provide the greatest visibility to reach your target audience.

Make a Memorable Impression

Print materials are more memorable than digital materials. A study comparing students who read the information on computer screens versus textbooks showed that those with textbooks absorbed more information.

Multiple factors influenced that result. For example, digital devices like smartphones and computers offer several distractions when a person goes to read an email or other correspondence. However, print materials have fewer distractions. In addition, paper is easier on the eye than a digital screen, allowing the reader to focus more comfortably.

Influence Decisions

Mail advertisements influence consumer purchase decisions. For example, recipients that receive an ad will spend 28% more at a business than someone that does not. In addition, 60% of consumers that receive a magazine or catalog will also visit that company’s website.

Mail usually remains in a person’s house for 17 days, which prolongs all household members’ exposure to the mail and increases the chance of others seeing the mail.

5 Tips to Effectively Use Direct Mail to Reach Customers

With 2023 fast approaching, now is the time to start planning next year’s marketing strategies and how print can fit into your upcoming campaigns.

1. Make the Mail Compelling

While the direct mail medium does improve the chances of recipients opening your mail, you still have a responsibility to catch their attention. Otherwise, they’ll toss it aside once they glance over the letter, flyer, or magazine.

A compelling piece will capture the audience’s attention and provide valuable information. If the information is helpful enough, the recipient will save the mail and might even display the mail to consult later.

Use images, easy-to-read text, and quality content to create a memorable experience. To ensure your recipient enjoys the effort you put into the content, work with a quality publisher or printer to print and mail your ad.

2. Make Your Message Personal

Direct mail is already a highly personal form of contact, according to 70% of consumers. Because of this greater connection, 90% of consumers are more likely to open direct mail. However, you can boost your mail’s open rate by 135% simply by adding a name to the direct mail.

In addition to adding a name, you can also personalize the content’s message. Take time to research your audience, understand their pain points, and know their needs. Then, you can create content specific to that audience that truly resonates with them.

Direct mail statistics

Image from CopyGeneral

3. Track Direct Mail Responses

Tracking direct mail allows you to see who your mail is reaching, the average response rate, and what types of mail yield the best results. Some ways to track the performance of your direct mail campaign include:

  • Offering a unique trackable coupon code
  • Adding a QR code to the mail
  • Providing a link to a free download just for mail recipients

QR codes are growing in popularity as it allows users to connect to a website, content, or digital product page directly from a physical item like direct mail.

Growing popularity of QR codes

Image from BusinessInsider

Once the direct mail recipients respond to the digital incentive, you can capture that lead and input them into your digital campaigns. For example, you can add a recipient that used a coupon code to an email list offering related deals.

4. Target the Recipients

The average ROI of direct mail is 29%, higher than paid search and online display ads. You can boost your return by targeting your recipients rather than sending out mass-produced mail ads to a broad audience.

For example, you might only send out flyers to customers that already purchased from your brand in the past to encourage repeat purchases.

Another highly effective way of targeting recipients is by advertising in niche magazines. For instance, Repertoire Magazine reaches an audience of 8,000 medical professionals with a possible need for your products and services. Therefore, investing in an ad in that publication can guarantee that more of your target audience will see the ad.

5. Take Your Time

Direct mail is a long-term campaign. While email recipients often read, respond, and delete all within a day or two, direct mail can continue working for weeks or months as recipients hold onto mail or new consumers pick up a magazine and see the ad.

Measure the results of your direct mail campaign over a quarter or year to see the total value of the investment. In addition, you can continue adding power to the medium by sending multiple direct mail ads in several formats to build up brand exposure and increase your return.

Add Direct Mail to Your 2023 Marketing Strategy

As planning is underway for next year’s marketing strategies, consider adding direct mail to your marketing lineup as an effective way to reach your target audience. Share Moving Media can help you reach that audience with our publications in the healthcare distribution niche.

Contact us to learn more about our direct mail marketing opportunities.

Supply Chain Delays: 4 Things Supply Chain Leaders Don’t Want to Hear from Suppliers

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As a reputable supplier, you must have your own reliable suppliers to deliver dependable, consistent equipment or devices. While supply chain disruptions impact all sectors, healthcare supply shortages can mean the difference between health and ailment (or worse).

One prime example is the personal protection equipment (PPE) shortage the world experienced during the dawn of the COVID-19 outbreak. While not all supply chain delays are as severe as this, conversations between supply chain leaders and suppliers are necessary to combat future issues.

Key Takeaways:

  • Past trade policies, inventory protocols, and labor shortages took a volatile supply chain and created havoc at the dawn of the pandemic.
  • Open communication is necessary moving forward as you navigate the supply chain disruption. Pay close attention to certain matters – it’s going to be the things you don’t want to hear. 
  • Whether you’re the supply chain leader or you are looking for ideas on how to navigate conversations with supply chain leaders, ask questions to spark a discussion.

What is Causing Supply Chain Delays?

We hear a lot today about supply chain delays. With all the issues people face obtaining common (and not-so-common) goods, something is clearly wrong. 

Let’s consider what could be wrong. For one thing, the trade policies in America over the past 30 years were all about efficiency to reduce costs. It was the “get only what you need” mentality. 

Unfortunately, that meant operating on thin margins regarding supplies, backstock, and overstock. What stakeholders thought would keep costs low created havoc when the world faced a pandemic that made obtaining necessary materials to build supplies impossible. 

During the pandemic, any inventory onsite wasn’t available for new orders, and new supplies weren’t due to come in any time soon. While a lack of materials is a significant reason for supply chain delays, several factors make it difficult to navigate supply chain disruptions today. 

According to logistics experts, causes of supply chain delays include:

  • Shortage of shipping containers
  • Rising the price of raw material
  • Dependency on China and other foreign trade
  • Suez Canal blockade
  • Labor shortages
Bar graph of the top supply chain delays in 2020 

Image Source

Navigating Supply Chain Delays: 4 Things Suppliers Shouldn’t Say  

Before covering what things supply chain leaders want to hear (and should be saying), let’s check out the top four things you don’t want to hear from suppliers.

“We’re having workforce issues”  

Suppliers and subcontractors must be able to support your requirements, and they cannot do that if they are one of the many suppliers that face labor shortages. Forbes published the results of a U.S. Chamber survey, and 90% of the chamber of commerce leaders agree that labor shortages limit economic growth and create further supply chain delays.

“We don’t have enough inventory”  

Or, worse yet, “We’re having issues with our suppliers.” 

Inventory issues and a supplier’s ability to deliver the materials you need to make your products are a few other significant issues related to supply chain delays. Not all of these supply problems are labor related.

Many suppliers frequently reduce inventory levels, either because of supply chain delays or because they’re attempting to decrease cash tied up in merchandise. 

Comprehending your supplier’s inventory concerns and changes provides visibility into crucial elements of their production schedules and associated risks.

“What safety program?” 

While you are highly unlikely to hear this directly from a supplier, the fact is that you might experience this with a supplier. They may not tell you they don’t have an effective safety program, but you will discover there’s a problem when you experience your first supply chain delay with them. 

Suppliers should be able to cite specific safety standards and guidelines they follow. They should list all compliance they must follow and ones they voluntarily abide by. Safety protocols should be posted clearly for staff to see, and training on safety policies should be consistent and often. 

Chances are, you won’t see that much behind the scenes of how your supplier conducts business. However, if your supplier struggles with delivering products due to safety code violations, employee injuries, or governing agency shutdowns, it’s a good idea to look for another supplier.

Also, if safety protocols are scarce, you have to wonder if quality control protocols are equally as lax. These are not chances you want to take, especially when working with devices and equipment related to patient care and treatment outcomes. 

“We have recently had a data breach” 

What cybersecurity measures and data governance does the organization take?

Bar graph of the healthcare data breaches in the U.S. over 12 months 

Image Source

According to the National Library of Medicine, 249.09 million patients were victims of healthcare data breaches between 2005 and 2019. You (and your suppliers) must ensure that your organization’s data is secure to avoid risks associated with these statistics. 

You’re probably wondering what data security has to do with supply chain delays. Understanding the chain of custody and information security and how those two relate to the supply chain are the keys to protecting intellectual property.

You can’t deliver to your clients if your systems are locked due to ransomware or encrypted by hackers using malware.

4 Questions Supply Chain Leaders Should Be Asking 

Whether you’re the supply chain leader or you are looking for ideas on how to navigate conversations with supply chain leaders, these questions are something these department heads should be asking. Use them to spark a discussion on how to manage supply chain delays.  

  • What technology infrastructure should be in place to handle your international trade and logistical operations?
  • What factors hurt your ability to react to market dynamics? 
  • What should you change now? How can you adapt technological advancements to handle supply chain delays in the future?
  • What sustainability strategies can you take to reduce supply chain disruptions?

Let Your Supply Partner Know Your Supply Chain Delay Protocols  

People can handle bad news. What they cannot handle is little to no information about what’s going on with the supplies they ordered. If you’re a supplier struggling to meet the demands of your clients, you can’t pretend it isn’t an issue. 

Address the supply chain disruption with thoughtful content that keeps your clients well-informed on the status of their orders, product alternatives (if available), and when relief may be on the way. 

At Share Moving Media, we specialize in creating content that lets clients know exactly where you stand during supply chain delays. Contact us today for more information.

5 Content Topics for Medical Suppliers to Blog About Today

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Most B2B marketers see positive ROI from their blogs and 126% higher lead growth than those that don’t blog. However, maintaining a regular blog with relevant content is a significant undertaking as it requires hundreds of quality topic ideas to fill your content calendar each year. Learn what content topics for medical suppliers are most effective for your blog with some examples of successful medical blogs.

Key Takeaways:

  • Blogging increases website traffic by incorporating search terms that your clients use to find authority answers online.
  • Blog posts use a variety of content formats, including video, images, and e-books.
  • Blog content should be for every stage of the buyer’s journey, including attracting, convincing, and converting.
  • Case studies and research are the two most effective content types for B2B blogs.
  • Thought leadership topics build trust with your clients.

Why Should Medical Suppliers Blog More?

Medical supplier blogs are an organic way to drive traffic to your website. Because the content you create remains online forever, your blog posts build on each other to develop a strategy that leads your buyers through all stages of the buyer’s journey.

For this to occur, you must use blogging topics for medical suppliers from every sales funnel stage. For example, your top-of-the-funnel content draws new visitors to your blog. The middle-of-the-funnel content convinces your clients that you are a trustworthy source of information and products through thought leadership and research. Then, your end-of-the-funnel content converts those leads into loyal customers.

When you invest in building an influential blog, you can increase your website traffic by 55%.

Blogging increases website traffic by 55%

Image from Neal Schaffer

What Formats Can Medical Suppliers Use in Their Blog?

The most engaging blog posts use a mixture of content formats. Here are some examples of unique medical blog ideas to include in your post:

  • Video and on-demand webinars
  • Infographics
  • Images
  • E-books
  • White papers
  • Surveys and interactive content

How to Find New Blog Topics for Your Medical Supplier Blog

A customer-centric blog will prioritize topics your B2B customers are most interested in reading about. There are several ways to find new blog topics:

  • Keyword research tool: Find the most searched keywords in your industry and incorporate them into blog topics for high ranking and more relevancy.
  • Related Google searches: Look at the questions people also ask section of Google search results for questions users are regularly searching.
  • Send out surveys: Ask your customers directly what they want to read.
  • Social listening: Look on social media, blog post comments, and other digital communities for what your customers are asking for advice on and what topics they are interested in exploring.

5 Content Topics for Medical Suppliers

Learn five of the best topics for a medical blog to get you started with filling out your content calendar with customer-centric topics:

1. Industry Trends

Industry trends are patterns within the medical industry that impact your clients, such as shifts in consumer behavior, manufacturing, price, and sales. Your clients like to keep up with industry trends to help them market more effectively and reach their customers with the best medical care.

For example, you can post industry trends through research your company completes. When you share industry research, consider posting it in a white paper or e-book format where your readers download the digital asset to access the study. By gating the content, you can collect the lead’s information to add to your sales pipeline for nurturing and conversion.

2. Case Studies

About 40% of B2B marketers say case studies are the most valuable content format, making it the second most valuable format under research reports. Case studies are another type of content that works well for middle-of-the-funnel buyers. It’s also effective as conversion copy.

Case studies explore a specific event, client, or product and its impact. For example, you can write a case study about a satisfied customer and how they used your medical supplies or equipment to improve their practice and patient outcomes. Leads will see this first-hand example of the reliability of your products, which will help build trust with them and increase their likelihood of choosing your supplies for their practice.

most valuable content for researching B2B purchases

Image from Marketing Charts

3. Business News

Transparency builds trust with your clients by keeping them updated on the latest news about your company and products. Posting regular news stories like changes in leadership, policies, and new product launches keeps your clients informed and builds a community of loyal customers.

For example, Johnson & Johnson has a section of its blog dedicated entirely to news updates where it posts awards, mentions in the media, new employees, budget updates, and clinical trial news.

4. Educational Content

Educational content will make up the bulk of your top-of-the-funnel content. However, much of the traffic that you’ll attract through your educational posts might not realize they need your supplies or products. Instead, they search for solutions to questions or more information on a new topic without an intent to purchase. You guide those users to your website by targeting those searches and leading them to your website through a blog post where you introduce your supplies.

For example, Cardinal Health uses its extensive blog to reach various medical practices and care workers with educational content. Cardinal Health writes about different equipment solutions, how-to articles on procedures that involve its supplies, and best practices for medical facilities.

5. Thought Leadership

Over half of B2B decision-makers spend over an hour weekly consuming thought leadership content. Thought leadership is content by experts in an industry that inspire or educate your audience with an authoritative voice.

The primary reasons decision-makers read thought leadership includes:

  • Stay updated on the latest thinking
  • Find inspiration for new ideas
  • Gain insights into future trends
  • Understand current trends
  • Discover new products

Some effective formats for thought leadership are interviews with experts and blog posts by authorities in the medical field (whether guest posts or posts from leaders within your company).

To improve the validity of your thought leadership content, publish it along with a biography of the author. The bio tells your readers the credentials of the author. It also helps Google identify the piece as an authority post, boosting your ranking in search results.

Thought leadership topics work well for the top and middle of the funnel as it attracts new clients, then build trust with current leads who are exploring their purchase options.

Learn More Industry Insights

Share Moving Media is a leader in healthcare publishing. If you need help creating regular blogs for your organization we can help.  Please contact Scott Adams at sadams@sharemovingmedia.com to learn about the different option we provide medical manufacturers just like you.

Contact us to learn more about our content marketing solutions.