HealthTech PR: Exploring the Benefits of Public Relations for HealthTech and MedTech

When it comes to medtech, PR can help to create positive public perception by highlighting the potential benefits of the technology and the ways it can improve patient outcomes. It can encourage people, organizations, and facilities to embrace technology while promoting better patient services. The great thing about PR is that it operates with a long-term goal as it ensures that the brand's reputation is nurtured and maintained over time. Consumers take their time to trust a company. In terms of long-term reputation management, PR is a highly effective tool.

Your story's ‘who,’ ‘why,’ and ‘where’ could be attractive to many. PR specializes in sharing a brand's innovative and unique product qualities, helping it receive more media attention. If you communicate your ‘why,’ you can repeatedly draw on it throughout campaigns to reinforce your key message. This generates momentum, which is hard to do without the why.

PR creates brand narratives on its own. A storyline is essential to PR. Stories give you something to share and help promote you in a crowded industry. The story can strengthen your brand and stick in people’s minds.

There's no escaping jargon in a technical industry. When presenting information to reporters and the general public in the health technology industry, it is best practice to communicate your overarching value proposition as clearly as possible without using acronyms or words that the general public won’t understand. Building your company story will be much easier when you have nailed down your messaging.

PR can create positive public perception. By communicating the potential benefits and risks of healthtech, PR can help create an informed public that can better make decisions about their health. By highlighting the potential benefits of MedTech and addressing potential risks, PR can help to create a positive public perception of the technology.

Many people see their health and those around them as a primary concern. For this reason, you must demonstrate to your audience that you are trustworthy. When demonstrating credibility, robust evidence such as medical studies, regulatory approval, publications in the right outlets, and successful funding can show this. PR can help communicate all these. Healthcare companies also have to work hard to gain credibility and build trust in the face of rapid advances in science and technology. As the space becomes more competitive, new players enter the market, and existing players expand their offerings. PR then becomes a vital way to communicate your credibility and differentiate yourselves.

Medtech PR can earn you market recognition, drive new business, raise funds, establish thought leadership, and influence key decision-makers, whether it is regulators, investors, clinicians, patients, or the general public. Public relations can build relationships with the media and specific journalists and publications relevant to your target audience. This can help you get regular coverage over the competition. Gaining an endorsement from a regulatory body or relevant outlet goes a long way to giving you credibility in the eyes of the public. Often, they create more consumer value than paid advertising because they endorse your expertise and leadership.

Marketing a product that does not meet customer expectations wastes time and money. Everything revolves around your product. First, invest in your product before you do any promotion. Get customer feedback, refine your product, and launch your product softly. A poor product will let you down no matter how good your PR campaign is. You can learn from your customers by connecting with existing patient communities for B2C digital health tech companies. A B2B company may need to communicate with multiple levels of the healthcare hierarchy. Depending on your product, you may need to speak with department heads, doctors, or board members.

Ensuring the PR strategy is tailored to the company's specific needs is essential. Before sharing your brand's story, you must work out your messaging and branding. The brand's message is an integral part of the PR plan. The message should reflect who you are, your history, and your company culture. In other words, your unique selling points. You should think about the content you want to market. A solid marketing strategy increases web traffic and conversions, generating more leads.

Consider your prospective customers. Does your target audience watch TV, read newspapers, or listen to podcasts? There is a greater dependence on mobile devices, laptops, and tablets than ever before. To implement an effective medtech PR strategy, it is crucial to reach out to would-be buyers on the digital channels they frequently use. You need to leverage digital elements such as Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Pay-Per-Click (PPC), and social media to achieve this. When building a healthtech PR strategy, the key is to develop a comprehensive plan that covers all aspects of the process.

There are a few key steps to consider when creating your healthtech PR strategy. First, you must understand your target audiences and craft messages that resonate with them. This means gathering data, researching trends, and developing content that resonates. Are you looking to reach doctors, nurses, or patients? Identify your target audience. Knowing your audience will help you better tailor your message and choose the proper channels.

Your technology's impact should be strongly emphasized in the content and marketing campaign. Despite the particulars of your medtech, its broad appeal reaches many industries. It is essential to think beyond medical tech journalists to include lifestyle and mainstream publications.

You also need to consider which channels are best for your message and identify influencers who can help spread the word. You'll want to research the best platforms to reach your audience. This could include traditional outlets like newspapers and magazines or newer ones like social media and podcasts. Incorporate images and videos into your PR strategy instead of white papers. These kinds of assets will appeal to non-technical journalists who are more interested in the impact of your technology. Make a video walk-through that shows your tech in action, from production to implementation. Demonstrate the technology virtually. Your medtech startup will more likely be considered for publication if you do this.

You should create a timeline and set deadlines for each step in the process. Of course, it can be helpful to look at examples of successful health tech PR campaigns to get a better sense of what works and what doesn't.

You also need to consider how to measure success and track your progress. you should establish your goals. What do you want to achieve through your PR strategy? Do you want to increase brand awareness, drive sales, or build customer loyalty? Having clear targets will make it easier to measure the success of your efforts.

Remember data. Many journalists find too much data overwhelming, but the right amount can support your mission with your technology. Your PR strategy should involve data exposure. Data that demonstrates the desired impact of your technology clearly and concisely. It is important to remember that this data should always be manageable.

It can be tempting for medtech startups to focus on their technology and innovations. Despite the importance of the technology that got you there, its impact on healthcare should take precedence. Technology and its effects on healthcare should never be ignored, but how it is communicated should also be considered. To expand awareness, you should clearly show your audience how it affects their daily lives. Journalists are often presented with press releases that convey excitement over the technology without considering its impact. Journalists will share your excitement if you focus on the human impact of your product.

Medtech startups are especially interested in placing thought leadership articles and contributing to the content. In the medical field, you have a concrete knowledge base. Those skills can be translated to different verticals outside of medicine, speaking about the broad applications or innovations you are working on. There are also plenty of opportunities for commentary (being quoted in articles). You can leverage this to position your startup as an innovative technology company and a thought leader. You can position your founders as experts in their field through speaking opportunities, virtual conferences, and podcasts.

You can follow a few steps to reach out to journalists and ask them to cover your story.

Research: Identify the reporters or publications that cover stories similar to yours. Look for reporters with a track record of writing about the topic you're interested in. You can also use tools like Muck Rack or Cision to find reporters who cover specific beats or topics.

Personalize: Once you've identified the reporters you'd like to reach out to, take some time to personalize your outreach. Mention their past work or specific articles they've written that caught your attention. This will show that you've researched and are interested in their work.

Pitch your story: In your email, provide a brief overview of your story and explain why it would be of interest to their audience. Keep it concise and to the point, and include relevant topics or attachments.

Follow-up: If you don't hear back from the reporter, it's okay to follow up once or twice. However, be respectful of their time and don't inundate them with emails. Remember that reporters are often bombarded with emails and pitches, so it's essential to make your outreach as targeted and personalized as possible. Also, be prepared for the possibility that the reporter may not be interested in your story. In that case, don't be discouraged – try reaching out to other reporters or consider other ways to get your story out there, such as through social media or your website or blog.

The company used a combination of digital and traditional PR tactics, including press releases, videos, and social media campaigns, to reach the right audience and demonstrate the platform's value.

Another example is the PR campaign used by CaringBridge, a non-profit organization that provides free websites for people facing medical crises.

The organization used a combination of press releases, blog posts, and videos to reach potential donors and raise awareness of the organization’s mission.

Both of these campaigns were successful because they had clear goals and messages, used engaging and authentic storytelling, and aligned with the company's business goals. They also had a clear call to action that inspired people to take action.

Another example of a public relations campaign to educate people about the benefits of telemedicine and remote patient monitoring systems is the "Virtual Visits" campaign launched by the Cleveland Clinic in 2016. This campaign aimed to promote the use of telemedicine among patients and healthcare providers and included a series of videos featuring actual patients sharing their experiences with telemedicine.

Overall, the "Virtual Visits" campaign was successful because it had a clear goal and message and used various channels to reach a wide audience. The campaign was targeted at both patients and healthcare providers. It used engaging and authentic storytelling to showcase the benefits of telemedicine. The campaign used simple, easy-to-understand language to explain the benefits of telemedicine, such as convenience, accessibility, and the ability to receive care from anywhere: The campaign featured real patients sharing their experiences with telemedicine, which made the information more relatable and authentic. It also had a clear call to action that inspired people to take action.