What We’ve Got Here is a ‘Failure to Market(ing)’

From the high-tech toilet seat that captures health data ‘while you go,’ to the longevity platform that promises to help us live happily and healthily to ages 100+, there is no shortage of great ideas and innovations in healthcare.

Every month I speak to 100s of health innovators who are building some pretty cool stuff -- whether it’s clients, video podcast guests from the Health Innovator’s show, or members of our Health Innovator’s Brain Trust community,

I LOVE the thunder-clap of innovation happening in healthcare!

Yet, I find myself asking, do we need more innovation? Or, do we need more adoption and engagement with the solutions that already exist?

According to Tracxn, there are over 33,000 health tech startups in the U.S. alone.

Unfortunately, most of these startups will fail — whether it’s in the first year or 10 years.

There are a lot of reasons why a start up might fail. I believe one of the top reasons many of these fantastic solutions end up in the zombie graveyard has to do with a lack of marketing or effective marketing.

Too many healthcare leaders assume that marketing can wait; and that’s the root cause of many failures.

While innovation is important, adoption and engagement are equally critical for improving outcomes and driving progress in the field.

And, it’s the practice of marketing that drives adoption and engagement.

We don’t need more innovations. We need more adoption and engagement.

Can we agree that marketing is a critical part of the digital health revolution?

The mere existence of your innovation will not generate demand.

In a recent article, John Nosta said it well, “Unfortunately, [marketing] is the part that gets funded after the science and technology—with a budget that is more defined by ‘what’s left over’ than ‘what’s needed’.”

Before we can solve our adoption and engagement challenges, we need to address the marketing gap in healthcare businesses.

Let’s conduct a little experiment. Think about a few of your favorite health tech companies. Go to their ‘About Us’ or ‘Meet the Team’ page.

You probably see the CEO, CFO, CIO, CMO (chief medical officer), CTO, and maybe even a chief privacy and regulatory officer … but do you see their marketing leader?

Can you find the marketing team?

More often than not, every other business function has been made a priority except marketing.

And this, my friends, is what drew me into healthcare. It’s why I started Legacy DNA in 2010 as a healthcare marketing agency.

Back then, there was a gigantic chasm between the marketing practices of businesses in healthcare compared to businesses in every other vertical.

As an industry, we’ve made some progress, but boy do we still have a loooong way to go if we want to drive adoption, keep users engaged, and truly transform healthcare.

My mission is to help healthcare leaders fill the gap between invention, adoption, and engagement.

Real problems, real results.

Let me give you three examples of how me and the Legacy DNA team helped our clients solve their adoption and engagement problem through savvy marketing.

Example 1: SMS Text Messaging

Problem: One of our clients needed to find a way to scale their business without having to hire more people. Plus, they needed to make it easy for patients to take specific actions that drove recurring revenue for the business.

Solution: We leveraged technology and automation to scale their business. We created a digital patient journey that engaged patients via SMS/texting. SMS and text messaging allowed our client to reach patients ‘where they are,’ This solution ensured patients were able to conveniently refill their prescriptions with greater ease and regularity. Patients loved the convenience of self-service tools while our client was able to generate greater ROI.

Results: Patient engagement was boosted by 90% and a 40% conversion rate! 📈

💡Remember that you’re not just marketing to potential customers, but also marketing to current customers.

🎯The first lesson: keep it sticky with patients by creating more value!

Example 2: Digital Advertising

Problem: The traditional model of sales reps knocking on physician doors, begging for referrals to access more patients was hindered by the pandemic. Medical offices were closed or they were limiting reps in the office.

Solution: We reimagined how a pharmacy might acquire new patients and turned to digital marketing channels. We developed a direct-to-consumer digital advertising program.

Results: We proved that consumerization is real and that patients are ready and willing to exercise their choice in their provider of care. Getting a patient to tell their doctor which pharmacy they want to use can be just as valuable as courting a nurse. In fact, digital marketing has a lower customer acquisition cost (CAC). We generated nearly $1M in gro$$ profits in the first year.

💡Remember, a crisis is the perfect time to innovate.

🎯The second lesson: Direct-to-consumer can be a viable business model.

Example 3: Bringing Patients into the Product Ideation Process

If you’ve been reading this newsletter or have seen my LinkedIn page, you know I talk about co-creation a lot. I just can’t help it! From all my research and experience, I believe co-creation is one of the most important strategies for commercial success.

Problem: Technology investment decisions were being made based on what the organization wanted instead of what the consumer needed. This led to low adoption and meager engagement rates.

Solution: Instead of developing a product roadmap, investing millions of dollars in a solution and then asking users what they thought about the product, we brought patients into the ideation process. We listened. We identified the job they were trying to get done. We heard how different patients had different needs based on context. We gave patients an equal seat at the R&D table. We valued their voice more than our internal teams. We asked them to help prioritize what we should build first. We collaborated on the UI/UX. They became raving fans because they were a part of the product development process. They helped us launch the product and win our first customers.

Results: We helped our client build something with demand before it was even launched. We helped them validate problem-solution fit and product-market fit from the beginning.

💡Remember, co-creation isn’t easy other healthcare companies are doing it. Here’s The Value of Co-creation in Healthcare that lays out how some healthcare leaders are practicing co-creation techniques to address challenges in healthcare.

🎯The third lesson: Stop building stuff that nobody wants and give patients a seat at the table.

Marketing is a WORTHY investment.

Marketing is a necessary part of innovation.

Marketing plays an important role in helping companies promote their services, educate patients, and build trust and loyalty with their customers.

But too many healthcare companies are sales-first organizations who undervalue the impact of marketing.

And, innovation is only as good as its engagement.

What you need is an experienced marketing team who can help you connect to your customers more easily, drive adoption of your product or service, and accelerate the growth of your business.

Grow smarter and faster, now!

I know it can be rough out there as an innovator. But I also know that Legacy DNA can help you get similar breakthrough results for your business.

So let’s ditch the failure and get the marketing party started! 🥳

Contact me today to schedule a call so I can learn how I can help you get that BIG MONEY, BABY and to help you leave your mark on the world.