28 Jun 23 | 10:34:48
It can be quite a confusing strategy to wrap your head around because it involves so much and is quite a radical change from traditional marketing strategies. As it’s one of the fastest-growing and most in-demand marketing skills, it’s important not to get left behind, so we’re here to share our knowledge.
We’re regularly asked what content marketing is so we have created this article to provide an overview of what is meant by content marketing, why it’s becoming so popular, what it includes and how you can get started.
The term content marketing covers a broad range of activities which we’ll discuss later in the article, but they differ from other marketing activities because they are not directly promotional. Sometimes, your company, products or services won’t be mentioned at all.
Instead, this strategy aims to engage users through topics that they’re interested in and by answering their questions. Content marketing should provide information, entertainment, and educational value to consumers.
Understandably, you might not initially see the value of this type of marketing, but it actually offers lots of benefits.
One of the most significant benefits of content marketing is that it’s extremely effective for building trust with your audience, which is vital to earning sales over time. After all, who is going to buy from a company they don’t trust?
Content marketing builds trust in several ways:
By creating sharable, unbiased and valuable content you demonstrate a genuine desire to help and educate your audience. When people find your content informative, useful, or entertaining, they begin to trust your brand as a reliable source of information.
Consistently producing high-quality content showcases your knowledge and expertise in your industry or niche. When you consistently provide valuable insights, tips, or solutions to common problems, you position yourself as a knowledge leader in the mind of your audience.
Content marketing allows you to express your brand’s personality and values. Being transparent about your processes, sharing behind-the-scenes glimpses, and showcasing real customer stories or testimonials help build authenticity which also fosters trust among your audience.
Content marketing encourages engagement and interaction with your audience. Responding to comments, addressing questions, and fostering conversations through your content humanises your brand and shows that you genuinely care about your audience. This interaction helps establish personal connections over time.
Regularly producing and sharing valuable content demonstrates your commitment and reliability. When your audience sees that you consistently deliver valuable content, they expect reliable information and insights from you.
Content marketing can incorporate social proof elements such as customer testimonials, case studies, or user-generated content. When potential customers see that others have had positive experiences with your brand or products, it reinforces trust and confidence in your offerings.
Compelling content that resonates with the target audience encourages social sharing and word-of-mouth marketing, leading to broader brand visibility and exposure.
Search engines prioritise valuable and relevant content when determining search rankings. Producing high-quality content helps improve a website’s visibility in search results, attracting organic traffic and potential customers.
If you would like to learn more about SEO (Search Engine Optimisation), we’ve produced an SEO guide with everything you need to know.
Some forms of content marketing encourage active participation and engagement from the audience, fostering a sense of community and loyalty. For example, starting discussions on a social media community, or polls in webinars.
By providing opportunities for interaction, businesses can build stronger relationships with their customers, and understand them better.
Content marketing encompasses a huge range of activities. Any published material you create that answer’s your audience’s questions and engages in the topics that interest them, without the intention of it being directly promotional, falls under content marketing. Here’s a list of the different types of content you can use in your content marketing strategies:
These are informative and engaging forms of content published on websites, covering a wide range of topics related to the business’s industry or niche.
We’ve published an article on coming up with high-quality content ideas, to help you get started.
This is visual content such as product demonstrations, tutorials, interviews, and live events, offering a dynamic and interactive experience for the audience.
These include eye-catching graphics, charts, and images used to present complex information in a visually appealing and easily understandable manner.
As you’d expect, short and engaging posts on social media platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn, are perfect for generating engagement and shareability.
Larger pieces of content might include in-depth and authoritative resources that provide valuable insights, research findings, and industry knowledge, typically used to capture leads and establish expertise.
Think about a patient who might benefit from your device. They’re not likely to be searching for your device, they’re more likely to be searching the topics around it, such as symptoms, health issues, tips for coping etc. They are looking for answers to their questions about their fears, issues and concerns. Producing this content will get you in front of them and allow you to earn their trust so that they have a more open mind when learning about your device/s.
You might not think that content marketing is likely to work with healthcare professionals, but that isn’t necessarily true. Sure, traditionally HCP learning about new medical devices has been about sales teams going into hospitals or attending congresses, but don’t doctors also search online? They might not be searching for new devices to adopt (or do they?), but they’re certainly interested in the latest insights and updates in their field. They’re probably interested in hearing from their peers.
This is why content marketing is so effective in nearly every industry because it’s completely focused on your customer, their wants and needs and the questions they’re asking. Everybody, no matter what industry they’re in, has wants, needs and questions.
Again, this all needs to be completely focused on your customer and what they want to see and engage with.
Blog posts could educate healthcare professionals, patients, and industry stakeholders about the latest advancements, best practices, and regulatory updates in the medical device field. For example, an article titled “5 Innovations Revolutionizing Medical Devices” or “The latest studies on XYZ”
You could showcase success stories and real-life examples of how medical devices have positively impacted patient outcomes or improved healthcare processes.
Highlight specific devices, their features, and the benefits they offer. For instance, a case study titled “How XYZ Medical Device Improved Surgical Accuracy and Patient Recovery Time.”
Informative videos demonstrating how to use specific medical devices correctly and effectively could be another form of content marketing.
These videos can serve as valuable training resources for healthcare professionals or educational materials for patients. Examples include videos showcasing the proper use of implantable devices, robotic surgical systems, or monitoring equipment.
Conduct interviews with industry experts, medical professionals, or thought leaders to discuss topics related to medical devices. These interviews can be published as articles, podcasts, or webinar recordings. Topics could include discussions on emerging technologies, patient safety, or the future of medical devices.
Develop visually appealing infographics that explain the functionality and benefits of different medical devices. Illustrate how devices work, their key features, and how they address specific medical conditions. For instance, an infographic titled “How Implantable Cardiac Devices Support Heart Health.”
We don’t expect you to be a content marketing expert after reading this article, but hopefully, this has given you a good overview of what it is, why it matters and how to do it.
If you’d like to learn more, here are some articles we’ve published that dive deeper into different areas of content marketing.
Alternatively, you can visit our services pages or can speak to our team to find out more about working with us.
Podymos is a healthcare marketing agency, specialising in downstream Medical Device marketing.
We’re more expensive than non-specialised agencies and freelance teams because we only work in the Medical Device space so we have specialist knowledge and experience that other agencies may not be able to offer you.
If you want high-quality, compliant campaigns that help achieve your business goals, we’d love to hear from you. Simply leave us your contact details below and we’ll get back to you very soon for a no-obligation chat.
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