Let’s start with my favorite scenario: You are a small company with limited sales. You have a groundbreaking product improving healthcare, but you have no traction because you lack a marketing presence, and most of your 1099 sales reps suck (no offense, 1099s).
I am not here to talk about the 1099s, so let’s tackle your lack of a marketing presence. I would guess you convinced yourself that you can’t really do marketing because:
- You don’t have the budget to do marketing the “right way.”
- You don’t have a team to do marketing the “right way.”
- You can’t be creative in the medical device space because healthcare is serious stuff, and we need to show old people walking on a trail holding hands or a 360-degree 3D animation of our product.
So, you don’t have a marketing presence because of the excuses listed above. You’ve convinced yourself that the only way to get your product out there is through trade shows and relying on your 1099 reps leveraging existing relationships with key contacts at local hospitals.
Let’s boost your confidence first: You’re not entirely off base—relying on trade shows and 1099 reps’ networks has a historical track record of success. Now, for the reality check: It’s will take much longer than you anticipate. Why? Math! Compared to a well-executed digital marketing campaign, those reps and trade shows offer significantly fewer opportunities for meaningful interactions with potential customers.
So let’s cut the crap and actually figure out how you can conquer the three fears listed above and put out a solid digital marketing campaign.
You don’t have the budget to do marketing the “right way”
You’re likely thinking, “What’s the point?” given the hefty marketing budgets of big companies, often in the six to seven figures for a single product line. But I am telling you that you can achieve a lot with just $1k a month by implementing a digital marketing funnel, utilizing LinkedIn, creating educational organic content, running sales and nurture email campaigns, and optionally, deploying targeted ads on LinkedIn.
Now, it doesn’t happen overnight, and you will have to dedicate time to actually build this out, but here is how you get started:
– Create a messaging and product positioning framework and stick to it.
– Build a digital sales funnel.
– Implement and adjust.
This is not an insurmountable task, and if you’re unsure where to begin, I suggest starting with these two books:
Building a Storybrand by Donald Miller
Marketing Made Simple by Donald Miller
And if you are wondering what $1000 bucks a month can get you.
- Graphic Designer – Design Pickle – $649 per month
- Zoho CRM and Marketing Platform – $99 per month
- Elementor WordPress Website – $20 per month
- Two Blogs with writers from Fiverr – $200 per month
Look I just saved you $32 that you can use for those targeted ads if you want to get crazy.
You don’t have a team to do marketing the “right way”
I understand your perspective. However, you’re mistaken (as was I initially). The concept of executing all tasks listed above can be daunting, and it’s the primary reason people cite for not engaging in marketing efforts. Not having a team means you need to do everything yourself, which means your already-packed schedule just got worse. So you have two simple options to get out of this mess:
- Set 4-8 hours aside a week to read the books listed above, develop a messaging framework, build out a simple marketing funnel, implement and adjust, and then regularly post helpful (non-product spam) content to LinkedIn. Use the $1000 list above as a starting point.
- After reading the recommended books, establish a messaging framework, identify your marketing strengths, and enlist freelancers to assist with other tasks. This allows you to construct a marketing funnel and consistently share valuable (non-promotional) content on LinkedIn. Check out Fiverr for freelancers.
Neither option is better than the other, it all depends on your time and your skills.
P.S. if you don’t have time to read the books by Donald Miller here are three main take aways.
- You are not the hero the person using your product or service is. So focus on the problem you solve and position your product as the perfect solution to help the hero transform.
- Create a lead generator (downloadable pdf, video series, etc) that gets peoples emails so you can follow up like a sales lead or nurture in an email campaign (point number 3).
- Get yourself a CRM with automated email capabilities so you can nurture the lead along though sales email campaigns or nurture email campaigns.
You can’t be creative
When I tell you I HATE this excuse, I mean it. Why? Executives and lawyers at med device companies have crushed so many cool ideas that 99% of small med device companies just play it safe, terrified of upsetting regulators or being shunned by industry pals.
You can be different because you are small, agile, and likely not a lawyer, plus you need to be creative to stand out with your lack of budget. So how do you come up with creative ideas? I suggest starting with a whiteboard, writing down anything that comes to mind, and if all else fails, you borrow ideas from other industries and apply them to yours.
Honestly, it’s hard for me to tell you exactly what to do to be creative because it’s different for everyone, but borrowing from other industries is a good place to start. If it works in another industry, then it may work in yours; you just need tweak it a little and make sure you don’t break any laws.
Now stop making excuses. Get out there and start marketing your product because if you are banking on waiting until you have a larger budget and a team, you are going to be waiting for a long time. If you’re unsure where to begin, schedule a 15-minute meeting with me for some free advice and guidance to get you on the right track. Click here to book your slot.
