A couple holds hands across adjacent bathtubs.
A man dances, free from the scourge of plaque psoriasis.
A woman sings about the pill that reduces her A1C levels.
Today, we’re all familiar with pharmaceutical commercials. But it’s worth noting that when the words “ask your doctor about … ” first appeared at the end of a TV spot 40 years ago, it represented a radical change in advertising.
Before then, marketing drugs directly to consumers was a fringe idea. Now, it’s a $2 billion business. Health-related DTC campaigns work because they raise awareness of products while also motivating patients. When people take the initiative to ask for a medical product, they’re far more likely to get it and stay on it.
Given pharma’s proven DTC success, you’d think other healthcare companies have followed suit with their own DTC marketing efforts, right? Yes, but slowly. What we just did sped it up.
Addressing the Entire Patient Experience
Effective DTC campaigns require a sky-high level of research, detail and sophistication across the entire patient experience. People need to see and hear about the product everywhere so it lodges in their brains. They need to know exactly what to do at every point. And they can’t get bogged down by a website that doesn’t load, a customer service rep who doesn’t answer the phone or delays when scheduling a critical consultation.
Making this happen means executing a comprehensive and seamless DTC strategy. It’s easier said than done. Many small to mid-sized companies assume they can’t afford to do it, because who other than Big Pharma can pay for a national media campaign, build the infrastructure to handle patient inquiries, identify qualified candidates and connect patients with medical professionals who are educated on their product?
Answer: More companies than you might think. And we’ve already proven it.
Driving Patient Conversion at Both Ends of the Funnel
When Axonics wanted to find patients for its bladder and bowel dysfunction solutions, Media Bridge launched a revolutionary DTC media strategy that has grown alongside the company. Already a publicly traded company, we helped Axonics grow to the point of being acquired by Boston Scientific.
The key to our success with Axonics and others has been our ability to address both ends of the sales funnel through a vital strategic partnership. Media Bridge works at the top of the sales funnel to build awareness and generate patient leads through paid social and traditional media. We then collaborate with Axonics’ paid search partners to develop and place digital media to keep prospective patients moving through the funnel. This is when Salelytics takes over to nurture the consumer relationship, keeping them engaged and converting them into satisfied patients and passionate ambassadors.
This one-two punch has improved the lives of thousands of patients while also saving companies the time and cost of building massive internal capabilities. In short, together, we’ve created a multiplier effect that’s the envy of medical brands everywhere.
And now, we’re giving companies of all sizes access to this game-changing approach.
Helping More People
If you’re a marketer who thinks a full-funnel, patient journey-centric campaign is out of reach for your company, it’s time to reconsider. Media Bridge recently formalized our partnership with Salelytics to make high-level DTC campaigns even more accessible and affordable. That means healthcare companies of virtually any size can now achieve:
- more precise patient targeting
- more detailed customer journey mapping
- more efficient and effective media buys
- greater flexibility to improve campaigns in real-time
- reliable data to aid future marketing and sales initiatives
- incremental revenue through higher conversion rates
- more inspiring testimonies about patients whose lives have been changed or saved
The stakes have never been higher. Consumers will only continue to seek more consistent, simpler buying experiences, especially when it comes to their health. If you don’t embrace an integrated DTC framework that meets their needs, you risk seeing diminishing consumer interest, lower-quality leads, lack of measurability, greater patient dropout and wasted marketing dollars.
Bottom Line
Healthcare, medtech and medical device companies of all sizes need to emulate the patient-centric marketing the pharma industry has used for decades. Our partnership with Salelytics gives these companies access to a seamless, proven, full-funnel DTC approach today that would take years to build themselves internally.
Learn how Media Bridge + Salelytics can help your business grow with a complete DTC program. Click to request a meeting.