Marketing is by no means an easy job. There are so many different mediums that you can use to spread your word, that coming up with a campaign is only half the job. Deciding what medium best suits your campaign is another. And it’s not the same regardless of who you’re marketing to.
Physicians are notoriously difficult to get hold of. You can’t really blame them though. Whereas lots of us do attend meetings during the day, a large part of our day will be spent working on something by ourselves where we would have the opportunity to answer a call and chat to someone. A physician’s job by default involves interacting with someone else the whole day, leaving little opportunity to answer that phone call from an unrecognised number. Receptionists will also be discouraged from putting through a call from a telemarketer.
Email, the perfect medium
This is where email marketing can come in handy. E-mails have a very low barrier-to-entry in terms of reaching the desired contact, a doctor in this case. There is no time demand on the recipient as the e-mail can be sent at any time, received at any time, and perused as it suits them.
Often cold-calling people will result in them hanging up before you even get a chance to tell them who you are or what you’re selling, but with an email this information is the first data they get from the interaction. E-mail marketing is in fact one of the few marketing channels with proven results.
On top of a general shift to digital communication, there is also a movement of reading emails on one’s phone or tablet instead of on a computer. In fact, over 60% of medical professionals read their mail on a mobile device. This is important when considering how to structure your email.
How to get their attention
As much as people say you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, people do. And nothing falls into this trap more than mails from people they don’t know. That one cursory glance your target is taking at your email as they skim through their inbox over lunch is the only opportunity you have to impress them.
Mails should be well formatted, with large titles so that one can quickly determine what the email is about. Images are a great way to attract attention and immediately purvey a sense of topic without requiring in-depth reading. Any links you place in the email to extra information must also be ensured to be mobile friendly. You want to make their access to information as encouraging as possible.
Targeting your campaign
As far as your actual marketing strategy goes, you need to get to know your doctors. Fortunately, there are companies which have already done a lot of this work for you. Are you interested in physicians? Have you got a great product for cardiologists or the next best thing for pharmacists? All the grunt work has been done and is available to you. Whether you’re wanting to market to a specific county or an entire state, the data is organised and easy to use.
And what should be in your e-mail? As with much media, the catchphrase “content is king” rings true. You are marketing a product, but that doesn’t mean you can’t or shouldn’t provide more than just information on that product. Often the best way to engage a potential customer is to offer them an article that may interest them. Once you have their attention you can either make direct references to your product within the article, or by means of more subtle methods. The article you link them to can be on your company’s website, which immediately advertises to them.
There are a number of ways to market to people, but physicians are keeping up with the times and a medical marketing list is the perfect entry point into a new method of reaching your audience. Regardless of who you want to reach, a list can be tailored to your needs.
