Introduction

The healthcare industry globally has been turning tables through 2020 till date. Still, healthcare marketers find it challenging to keep up the pace and stay innovative while positioning a brand. This blog highlights the difference between a B2B and B2C Healthcare marketing strategy and grabs the essence for a befitting B2B healthcare marketing mix plan.

What is Healthcare Marketing?

Healthcare marketing refers to the tools and strategies used to increase brand-awareness of one’s healthcare-related products or services. Attracting consumers and developing brand loyalty is the main aim here. In the case of B2B healthcare marketing, they are the decision makers at various leading hospitals, healthcare centers and medical facilities. While in B2C it is the individual patients.

Brochures, website optimization, email marketing programs, healthcare marketing employ a wide variety of strategies with the end goal of bringing the respective consumers into the sales funnel and keeping them engaged.

heathcare marketing defination

Why should we do Healthcare Marketing to a B2B Audience?

It is very important to do healthcare marketing to a B2B audience as without this delivering message to the intended audience cannot take place. Any product/service endeavor is futile without promoting it thoroughly to the ideal buyers. Healthcare is no exception. Even the greatest healthcare innovation with the best bunch of researchers, doctors, sponsors need thorough marketing efforts to reach every nuke and corner of the planet.

Difference between a B2B and B2C healthcare marketing plan

B2B vs B2C

A B2B healthcare marketing mix plan in action

Just like any other marketing mix, B2B healthcare marketing also has 4 Ps: viz- Product, Price, Place and Promotion. Walking through the following points, let us try to understand the positioning of the above marketing mix.
1. A data-driven approach with B2B healthcare marketing – In healthcare marketing, responsive B2B healthcare mailing list plays a significant role. The database is crucial for the successful reach of deliverable messages. In today’s competitive world, manufacturers of healthcare products and service providers should channelize every workable medium available out there. This is a proven way to gain the maximum out of their marketing spend.

One such channel is Account Based Marketing approach in which the marketers engage with only targets possessing decision-making authorities, thus saving out on the time & resources. This is a unique method to bring the sales & marketing teams to work harmoniously with each other rather than wasting efforts in competing behind unyielding leads. Also, this serves a great deal in reducing the sales-pipeline and closing faster deals.

2. Deliver personalized content with umbrella branding approach – It has become indispensable to succeed in B2B healthcare marketing without addressing the pain-points of the customer. Every promotional activity must be curated, keeping in view of the growing customer-centric nature of B2B healthcare marketing. The touchpoints of customer access must be expanded at any cost in order to loop-in every interested lead. By adopting such practices, not only do they create a profitable clientele, but also facilitate higher sales-revenue and ROI. To drive such successful lead-generation campaigns, it is important to have a step-by-step plan.
Quick tip- B2B buying pattern encourages virtual sales, expects delivery of more personalized content and alternative payment methods as per their convenience leaving behind the traditional ones like bank transfers etc.
3. Do not underestimate the importance of social media marketing and advertising – Leverage the content assets like blogs, e-books, and newsletters. In today’s world, a dormant website without any social media posts or activities is much more likely to be forgotten by the end-users. It has become almost mandatory to keep on updating social media profiles and feed the curiosity of potential leads with timely information and keep them engaged. Also, it highlights the requirements of gaining followers. A social media profile without an increasing number of followers serves no purpose with any amount of effort put in. Social proof has become indispensable equally in a B2B and B2C scenario.
social media marketing
4. Healthcare community events and partnerships – Staying at the forefront with Online Reputation Management or ORM, has become a regular domain for any B2B healthcare marketer in virtual space. It has the power of making or breaking a business, let alone healthcare marketing. An organization of any scale, whether B2B or B2C, cannot afford to lose out on a single lead just because of a negative comment. A single such occurrence in the SERP is enough to spread like a forest fire and spoil the reputation of the business.
5. Measure Remote Patient Monitoring and Experiences – It is not only sufficient to have a great array of Remote Patient Monitoring products and services but equally important is to monitor the experience and record the feedback for improvement. Patients do use remote medical services in facilities like offices, airports, and other public places. Such recordings are sent to a physician for necessary evaluation. Such a support system increases the effectiveness of treatment and safety protocols. B2B healthcare marketing needs to continuously measure and analyze such recordings to facilitate a smooth interaction between the patients and physicians, a trait not so common in B2C.
6. Keep a track of patient engagement – Both B2B and B2C marketing have patient interaction at their core. The research & development at the former requires upgraded inputs. Decision-makers in B2B (doctors, physicians, surgeons, CFO, CMO) act on a data-driven approach, rather than an emotion-based decision like B2C. To collaborate with healthcare professionals and understand patient engagement requires a different lens altogether including marketing intelligence, domain expertise, and advanced data analytics.
patient engagement
7. Brand-positioning adhering contemporary, trends like digital & tech-savvy practices – Thanks to the ongoing pandemic, marketers are bound to capture every channel that generates higher revenue through the virtual mode. Starting from the digital fight of keyword optimized content to CTA enabled landing pages, search engine optimization has become the mother of desired organic rankings.

Standing in 2022, one cannot survive in this e-jungle without owning the tools of social media. The power of higher rankings in SERPs is incomparable to any channel of promotion. Who wants to get lost in the pages of organic promotion? A deep digital audit followed by keyword research and competitor analysis stands as the roots of a digital marketing footprint.

Did you know – North America is leading the global digital health market while the US is expected to expedite this figure even far more than the global average in 2021-2025. Source

Conclusion

The pandemic of Covid-19 has kept every industry on its toes for the last couple of years. A general opinion resonates supporting the healthcare industry as a whole, things were not so easy for B2B healthcare marketers. The challenges include a sudden wave of digitalization, increasing demands of personalized services, consumer convenience, and many more uphill tasks. Amidst the above challenges, it is a wise move to hire an industry expert for the requirements of medical database. It not only spares the sales and marketing teams to focus on their core jobs but also enables them to bank on their expertise gathered over the years in the planning, strategizing, and executing of brand-promotional efforts.