Digital advertising is a booming industry as more people head online to find solutions to their various problems. So, it comes to no surprise that digital advertising in healthcare is continuing to grow at a steady rate. In fact, research has shown that healthcare companies’ global advertising expenditure has grown by 3.6% and reached approximately $36 billion.
For medical product manufacturers, transitioning to digital advertising is critical in 2020, especially with the current pandemic slowing down more traditional advertising methods, which include attending large in-person conventions and sending sales individuals directly to IDNs or physicians to speak about new or upgraded products.
Sure, while current restrictions have made healthcare advertising difficult, for those who work in the healthcare advertising field, it is just another challenge in an ever-changing arena.
Digital Advertising in Healthcare: What Sets It Apart from “Traditional” Advertising
While digital advertising in healthcare looks a lot like digital advertising in any other industry, it’s actually considered one of the most challenging areas of marketing. This is especially true for those in charge of medical manufacturing ads, as they are under strict supervision and must abide by various rules and regulations set by the state, various licensing boards, and even the FDA.
So, while most ads are allowed a wide birth of creative freedoms, digital advertising in healthcare requires a little extra creativity.
3 Things Every Medical Manufacturing Ad Should Have
While medical manufacturing ads need to adhere to various rules and regulations, that doesn’t mean they can’t make use of the most successful aspects of any digital advertisement, including the three aspects outlined below:
1. A Storytelling Aspect
The goal of any good advertisement is to get the consumer interested in your product or service. To do this, you can’t merely throw facts and data at them, even if your primary audience is a team of medical professionals.
Storytelling is an essential element to any good medical manufacturing ad because it helps your audience put a face to the product you’re trying to sell them. For example, take the current COVID-19 pandemic. The topic of wearing a mask has been a hot one, and many brands are capitalizing on the “Wear a Mask” campaign.
This campaign has allowed millions of individuals to express WHY they choose to wear a mask during this pandemic, and it quite literally puts faces to the campaign. These stories put all the facts and figures to shame because they are more relatable to consumers than anything else. It’s these stories that will help influence the public on the mask-wearing debate because mask-wearing is transformed into an act of humanity.
2. An Educational Aspect
Now, that’s not to say the facts and figures don’t matter, but they need to be sprinkled in appropriately. That same campaign also works to educate the masses about different topics, including:
- COVID-19
- Why masks can be beneficial in fighting the pandemic
- Who the masks are really protecting and more
Many companies have taken their own twist on the “Wear a Mask” campaign and turned it into “ask why I wear a mask.” It not only helps to educate the public but helps include personal testimonials into the mix, which can play to a consumer’s emotional side as well.
This is the part of the ad that should include the facts and figures, and they should be coming from the mouths of those telling the story because it will have a more profound impact on the audience than say having Dr. Fauci talk about the data.
3. An Emotional Aspect
Studies have shown that 95% of purchasing decisions are not only subconscious but an emotional process. That’s why so many individuals turn to testimonials before they make their purchasing decisions. They want to be able to convince themselves that the purchase is:
- Worth spending the money on
- Will benefit them in some way/solve some sort of problem
Medical manufacturers would be wise to make a note of this because those testimonials are where the real magic happens. With 70% of consumers stating that they trust reviews and recommendations from strangers and another 88% stating that reviews influence their online purchasing decisions, adding this emotional aspect to your medical manufacturing ad can prove extremely beneficial.
Some key things to remember when including an emotional aspect to any ad include:
- Make it authentic to your audience. Play to their needs.
- Give value. Don’t simply list your features and “why they work.”
- Show, don’t tell. The human brain processes images 60,000x faster than text.
Digital Advertising in Healthcare Doesn’t Stop Here
The goal of any good digital advertisement is to capture the audience’s attention and influence them into taking action. This is no different for the healthcare industry, which is why so many of the digital advertising best practices can work for medical manufacturers.
Just remember, digital advertising in healthcare is only one step in the broader healthcare marketing strategy. So, when creating your medical manufacturing ads, keep the rest of your digital marketing strategy in mind.
Want to stay up to date on the latest healthcare marketing trends? Then make sure to subscribe to SMM’s Marketing Minute today!