When you think of public relations, what tactics come to mind?
Most healthcare manufacturing marketers or execs might mention TV ads, billboards, press releases, and even dinners or charity events.
While these traditional methods are all valuable, digital PR is the only way healthcare manufacturers can set themselves up for long-term success.
You need a multi-prong, diversified PR strategy.
It’s really simple: Your audience spends time browsing virtual channels and consuming content, so you need to show up there too.
Why is Digital PR Mandatory for Healthcare Manufacturers?
On LinkedIn alone, you’ll find over:
- 7.2 million healthcare professionals
- 850 thousand doctors
- 188 thousand healthcare companies
- 2.3 million nursing professionals
The point is, your audience hangs out online. They read blogs and news articles, they talk about their day, they search for solutions to problems, they research new products and brands.
Digital PR gives healthcare manufacturers leverage.
Digital PR Adds Much-Needed Emotion to Healthcare Manufacturing
Syringe barrels, speculums, table covers, and other healthcare supplies aren’t exactly the warmest or most wholesome products as-is. Who says they can’t be though?
Healthcare products save lives, keep people safe, promote sanitation, and function as some of humankind’s greatest achievements. That’s pretty emotional if you ask me.
That’s why digital PR is essential for healthcare manufacturers.
Instead of simply running ads for your products or dropping off samples, digital PR lets you create an entire aesthetic around your brand. Eventually, people will associate the emotions expressed via your PR material anytime they hear your brand’s name or see a product.
Without Digital PR, You’re Letting Competitors Take the Digital Market Share
You might not have a digital PR presence in the healthcare manufacturing realm, but you should assume your competitors do. That means you’re letting your competition soak up the entire digital audience share.
Do some research into your competition’s online presence. What values and emotions do they want people to associate with their brand? What type of content do they produce? Where do they publish? And most importantly, how engaged is their audience?
Use the answers to set your digital PR strategy apart.
Buyers and Consumers Don’t Trust Brands
Everyone knows paid advertisements are just that: Brands paying for reach to sell products. No one likes ads and they don’t trust brands – not consumers or business buyers.
Maintaining an active digital PR strategy lets you engage your audience in a non-promotional way, encouraging trust and loyalty.
Nine out of ten consumers buy from brands they follow on social media. Furthermore, 61% say a brand’s engagement with its audience is the most important aspect – even before transparency.
Press Releases and Print Media Aren’t Enough to Build Connections
Niche journals, magazines, and publications are certainly an important part of any successful digital PR strategy – but they’re not enough.
People only spend so much time reading print material. However, most of us spend several hours online each day, especially with 71% of Americans still working from home as of December 2020.
Your task is to figure out which platforms and channels your audience segments use and insert your digital PR content there.
5 Tips to Win at Digital PR for Healthcare Manufacturers
Digital PR includes both macro and micro strategies to pull off a comprehensive “image.”
At the macro level, you have:
- Short- and long-term objectives
- Ideal platforms to reach your audience
- Your brand’s style guidelines to maintain a consistent voice and aesthetic
- Editorial guidelines to keep a stable opinion/stance in thought leadership
At the micro level, use the tips below to create your healthcare manufacturing digital PR strategy.
1. Sign Up for HARO to Boost Digital PR
Why wait (and hope) for relevant journalists in your niche to find your press releases? Why not just assign a member of your team to go to the journalists when they need quotes for topics in your niche?
That’s exactly how HARO works. Help a Reporter Out sends out automated emails three times each day for the lists you subscribe to – in your case, healthcare and business.
Someone on your team can browse the in-progress pieces and reach out to the individual journalists to provide quotes. Plus, it helps you build long-term rapport with journalists and writers in your niche – and access to their audience.
2. Partner with the Right Healthcare Influencers
Did you know half of your B2B buyers are millennials (or possibly even younger)?
No one takes an influencer’s word as ultimate truth, but millennials are more likely to trust an influencer’s opinion (compared to your marketing content) since they aren’t working directly for your company.
Research and choose influencers who have an engaged audience that mirrors your target market.
3. Rally Around a Relevant Cause
As a healthcare manufacturer, your brand’s image can either appear cold and aloof or warm and human. Any winning digital PR for healthcare manufacturers must highlight a relevant cause.
Look for a relevant cause (or causes) based on the products you sell so your target audience segments will connect with the goal. Go niche when you can: Awareness, prevention, and prompt treatment of heart attacks in women works much better than the general “women’s health.”
4. Host Q&As or AMAs for Digital PR
Video content gives you a chance to literally connect with your audience segments human-to-human. Choose someone friendly who embodies your brand’s aesthetic and values to host live Q&A videos, webinars, AMAs, tutorials, and anything else helpful.
5. Publish Thought Leadership Content
While content marketing helps you establish awareness, thought leadership helps build authority in your expertise.
Thought leadership puts names and faces to your brand’s knowledge, opinions, values, and visions for the future – all vital for effective digital PR. Pick the right digital outlets where your target audience segments will see it.
Healthcare Manufacturers Can’t Have Digital PR Without Content
Whatever strategy you build, you’ll need content at every touchpoint.
Social media videos, emotion-driven copy, nuanced thought leadership blogs, influencer content for sharing – content is the backbone of digital PR for healthcare manufacturers.
At Share Moving Media, we manage a wide range of highly targeted publications online and off where we help brands like yours reach thousands of professional readers in your niche. Find the right publication for your brand now!