When you think of healthcare brands on social media, maybe a few thoughts come to mind. Showing off awards and making sure everyone knows they are philanthropist who are inclusive to all. This is amazing. Thank you for all that you do, but let’s talk about your products for a second.
As we know, medical devices are a necessity and live in a competitive world. Social media is a must for marketing plans. A patient may be more likely to choose whatever their doctor says, but when doing research on which brand or device type, users will go to each product’s website and social channels.
In other words: If you’re a medical device manufacturer, the benefits to developing a strong social-oriented marketing strategy are pretty apparent. Here are what some of the top brands are doing to ensure their devices and products are reputable and competitive within the medicine and healthcare industries.
Product & industry education
https://www.facebook.com/Medtronic/photos/a.670498672975580.1073741826.114866635205456/2043456909013076/?type=3&theater
While medical device marketing is somewhat of a brand-to-brand situation and not necessarily consumer-facing, social media is open to all. So while marketing any product takes a standard form and practice through social media, brands like Medtronic are taking the opportunity to educate audiences beyond its devices through telling stories surrounding the application of these devices. By illustrating its use of cath labs in Santiago, Chile, Medtronic can both highlight its products, while in turn fleshing out its use and application in the real world, by supporting underserved communities around the world.
Slice-of-life humanization
https://www.instagram.com/p/BScfihtjsSa/
Social media is a format inherently predisposed to showcasing the humanity behind any form of content creation. Medical device brands like GE can, and currently do, take this format to put a face on what many would consider to be sterile and otherwise lifeless, albeit critical, pieces of technology they are creating and marketing. Take the above post.
There is something be said surrounding posting an image of a GE product like a CT machine, highlighting its overall design and functionality. One could argue that an approach like this could come off as slightly dry. Instead, GE sourced an image from a CT engineer using a GE device on a young patient while taking an extra step to ensure the patient’s comfort by throwing together a l’il LEGO creation for him. This is a perfect example of issuing the product not as the subject of the content, but the object, allowing its presence to speak for itself.
Employee Testimonials
Not only did this #JNJ product designer undergo a double knee replacement—he helped design the implant. Learn how: https://t.co/n2ifUogLmg pic.twitter.com/L5iVuZ7aXQ
— Johnson & Johnson (@JNJNews) September 11, 2017
Products and devices within the medical and healthcare spaces can be argued to have a determined marketable shelf-life. One can wax poetic on the benefits of a new device, but to add an extra layer of perspective can only further flesh out the overall storytelling behind the device itself. In the above tweet, a Johnson & Johnson designer created the Attune Knee System implants that he himself would then use.
The linked story fleshes out designer Dan Rumple’s experience of suffering from chronic knee pain, and using his own innovations to both better himself and, in turn, help attest to the product’s value. If the implants are good enough for the man who designed them, then they’re good enough for anyone else, right? Publishing stories like Dan’s through a platform like social media help give brands like Johnson & Johnson a multidimensional identity, one where we can hear directly from not only those who benefit from the products being marketed, but by the team members themselves as well. Dan’s story is a triple-threat marketing slam dunk from a social media perspective.
Even in a field like medical devices, social media marketing has taught us that there are a near-endless number of ways to develop powerful and creative strategies. See anything we may have missed. Let us know on Twitter.
