|
Pave-the-way marketing.
It’s generally not the best idea to wait until after FDA approval, or a month or so from full
product availability, before doing any marketing; you can’t just turn it on like a light switch.
Also, there are a number of marketing-type activities that can and should be ramped up
during the development/testing cycle; these may include: - Creating awareness with Large Pharma companies, which may be needed later as
either a marketing/distribution partner or an acquiror - Creating interest among physicians and beginning their educational process
- Starting a dialogue with patients who are seeking validation of their hope that
something will come along one day to help them - Creating buzz in the market around your technology. Building a brand takes time, so
the sooner you start, the sooner you’ll get there ...with hopefully a solid image from
Day 1.
Once again, the easiest and most efficient way to reach these target audiences is via your
website and associated online vehicles like email newsletters, webinars, podcasts, forums
and blogs. Attract Investment.
It may well go without saying, but without investment funds, none of these other things will
happen. You may be certain that VCs and other investors interested in your medical niche
will be using Google to research that niche frequently; and the companies whose sites pop
up and tell a convincing story will assuredly have a leg up in the funding derby. LEVERAGING THE WEB BEFORE GOING TO MARKET: A BRIEF HOW-TO
Clearly, it all starts with your website ...so of course you’re going to need one. But not just
any website; yours is going to need... - a design that’s consistent with your company and the brand(s) you eventually expect
to have - content for each of the target audiences identified above (investors, physicians,
potential collaborators, KOLs, prospective hires, large pharmas, etc.), with clear
navigation that helps each audience segment find “its” content without difficulty - a means of capturing contact information on the people and organizations that you’re
going to want to track and communicate with over time ...which generally means some
content (white papers, .pdfs, podcasts, etc.) set up as offers behind a simple
registration form - a means of segmenting and storing this information that also enables you to track all
contacts with each important individual ...which typically means a tight link to a
Customer Relationship Management system (CRM), such as salesforce.com
<< previous | next >>
|