It is evident that the healthcare industry is growing rapidly, making it attractive for investment in both B2B as well as C .

Healthcare is able to withstand market fluctuations and show phases of expansion or contraction like other sectors, and it can always be positioned against them to ensure stable growth and minimal loss, regardless of phase.

It’s no surprise that the sector is worth approximately $4.2 billion and is growing at a rate twice that of the rest. The average annual growth rate for the global economy is 3.6%.

Have you ever wondered what B2B can do for healthcare? How to make B2B marketing strategies that work in this sector?

This guide is for you if you already have.

Let’s get started!

What is B2B Healthcare Marketing?

First of all, B2B is a common abbreviation for the term “business-to-business”, which describes transactions between businesses, such as a manufacturer and a wholesaler, or a wholesaler and a retailer.

Healthcare marketing is the use of marketing strategies to draw consumers and guide them through their healthcare journey. It also includes keeping them connected with the system. It is the use of a group of digital and traditional channels to improve patient care, increase revenue, and create growth.

B2B marketing in healthcare promotes your products and services to hospitals, allied professionals, and practice managers who could be benefited from them.

Healthcare marketing programs: Challenges

Although all marketing programs have the same foundational pillars (buyer personas, Content and SEO), marketers in the B2B Healthcare space might face unique challenges.

Some examples include:

Challenge #1. Lengthy sales process

We are more likely to make purchases quickly as a consumer. We don’t have to meet for months and decide between Pepsi or Coke. This is not the case for B2B healthcare companies. Every purchase, whether it be hospital beds, dialysis equipment, stethoscopes for nurses’ uniforms is thoroughly researched and evaluated.

Experts believe that you will get a purchase order within 12 months if you are lucky. It can take up to 18 months for healthcare enterprise sales. You need to engage them at every stage of the buying process. You could use this infographic to increase brand awareness, newsletters during the consideration stage, or a whitepaper in the decision-making phase.

Challenge #2. Speed of the healthcare industry

It’s not surprising that almost everyone considers the pace of healthcare industry change “slow.” This is because people’s lives and health are at risk. Itamar Kandel is the President of TigerConnect at TigerText. This company specializes in clinical communications. He believes that healthcare is conservative because lives depend on it. Each piece of new technology must be bulletproof.

It is not unusual to market in the healthcare sector. According to some studies, healthcare marketing is 2 years behind the rest in terms of using and implementing content marketing.

Marketing of general and healthcare content

• 28% of general marketers send out print newsletters, compared to 42% for healthcare marketers.

• 72% of marketers prefer blogs to 58% of those in healthcare.

• 74% of general marketers set up LinkedIn accounts to distribute content, compared with 56% of healthcare marketers.

You can see that paper newsletters are more common in the healthcare sector with 43% of respondents, while general marketing uses 28%. General marketers prefer LinkedIn and blogs to distribute content. This is a much greater preference than their healthcare counterparts.

Joe Pulizzi, the founder of Content Marketing Institute, stated, “This makes sense. Healthcare is highly regulated, and fear is rampant.”

Challenge #3. HIPAA and other regulations

It was illegal to market it for hospitals and practices until the 1970s. The boards had to take a few years to decide if it was ethical.

HIPAA ( Health Insurance Accountability Act) was adopted in 1996. It included a privacy rule which established patient-information safeguards and applied to all organizations that handle healthcare or medical data. HIPAA compliance is a key concern for businesses that specialize in B2B Healthcare software. They require that all employees receive extensive training.

Companies can use Google AdWords remarketing tools in order to show ads to people who have visited their website or expressed interest in their products. Healthcare is a different story. Pay-per-click advertising can be used by healthcare marketers to rank their landing pages or web pages at the top of Google search results. They cannot retarget them because of HIPAA concerns.

To ensure that everyone on your marketing team is up to date with HIPAA regulations, you might consider hosting a comprehensive HIPAA training program. You should also keep the program current throughout the year and retrain as needed to ensure compliance.

Marketers must be patient, given the long sales cycles and slow pace of healthcare industry change, as well as the massive regulation.

Three examples of successful B2B marketing campaigns in healthcare

BFW Inc.

Strategies that focus on foundational pillars rather than trendy tactics can sometimes produce the best results. BFW Inc. is an American manufacturer of surgical and medical headlamps. 

BFW is now the dominant keyword for every niche through highly targeted content, backlink outreach campaigns that are extremely successful, and aggressive onsite SEO. They have beaten much larger and better-funded competitors and are now ranked #1 for more than 50 types of “surgical headlights.” 

This is especially remarkable because B2B marketers in health find it difficult to manage SEO strategies and content marketing . Only 30% of them are satisfied with their ROI (Return On Investment).

BFW’s campaign is a powerful reminder to B2B marketers that they need to focus on the basics before spending too much on trendy ideas. This type of marketing campaign requires a lot of strategic thinking, patience, and discipline.

Podcast Network by HIMSS

Many healthcare brands, both B2B and b2C, are now using podcasts to increase their reach. According to the Content Marketing Institute, nearly one-fifth (25%) of B2B marketers consider podcasts an essential tactic.

HIMSS (Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society, Inc.), is a global thought leader and advisor whose mission it is to support the transformation and improvement of the healthcare ecosystem through IT. The podcasts feature talks by experts on various topics in healthcare and discussions about important industry trends. They are getting more leads and have a much better quality podcast than ever before.

Recent research has found that 68% of podcast listeners are more likely to have a postgraduate degree. They are 51% more likely than others to work in management, and 60% in professional fields. This is why B2B companies find this marketing very appealing.

Medical Realities

The Medical Realities Platform uses VR to teach healthcare professionals complex topics. Shafi Ahmed, the Chief Medical Officer and co-founder of his company, performed a 360-degree live operation on a patient with cancer to launch it.

This video was among the first to use VR videos. It is a revolutionary way for doctors and other medical professionals. The results speak for themselves. Nearly 200,000 people watched the video.

6 marketing strategies that work in the B2B space for the healthcare sector

Here are some guidelines to help you create a marketing strategy that targets the healthcare sector. These rules won’t guarantee success but they will make you more ready to meet sector challenges.

1. Stimulate website development

Did you know that 62% of consumers will not consider a business if there is no information online about it?

Your healthcare company can be a leader by creating a strong web presence. A healthcare website should reflect the advanced capabilities of your company through design and development, regardless of whether it is for software companies, clinical research organizations, or life science organizations.

Before you build your new website for your business, think about what these must-haves will look like.

• Domain Name and Web Hosting
• Responsive design
• Call to action buttons
• GDPR compliance
• Chatbot use
• Contact information and more information about us

A suitable Content Management System is also required for investing in a new site. This system allows businesses to easily place and manage their content. Digital content can include images, videos and marketing materials.

2. Promote educational content

Numerous studies have shown that B2B companies that create strategic content are more likely to generate leads than those that don’t. This is because professionals are more likely to focus on what they learn and how it helps them.

You will want to balance educational and promotional content. It will be easier to build trust relationships with healthcare professionals and other sector workers if you are more relevant.

We recommend that you keep up to date with all the latest medical management and technology news so that you can be the first to address an issue or dive into a topic.

3. Make sure you use the correct channel

The content is important, but so is the container. It is crucial to choose the right channel for communication in order to reach your target audience.

There are many social media platforms that you can choose from. However, not all are suitable for B2B businesses. LinkedIn, for example, can be a great choice in healthcare marketing. Although it cannot provide the same visual performance as Instagram or Facebook, this social channel can connect professionals who are open to networking and form relevant groups.

LinkedIn can be a powerful tool for companies to increase their brand, grow their social networks, and generate more leads if it is managed well.

4. Marketing to B2B Influencers 

In reality, the influencer market is not uncommon in healthcare. Do you remember the TV ads that said “9/10 dentists recommend”? This is the earliest form of healthcare influencer marketing. It makes sense to use this strategy in the healthcare B2B sector.

How do you go about doing this? Choose influencers (professional medical workers, physicians, patient advocates, etc.). People with large social media followings and engaged audiences. If an influencer has a large number of followers, but few comments, it is likely that they rely on bots and paid likes in order to promote their social media profiles.

Next, take a look at the channels that influencers use. Marketers are often interested in working with social media influencers like those on LinkedIn, Twitter, or Facebook. It’s also a smart idea to use other media channels, such as television and print media. It would be foolish to ignore these traditional channels, which still appeal to a large audience.

Influencer marketing campaigns have a 11x higher ROI than other types of promoted content. So you’ll want to adopt an influencer strategy as soon as possible.

5. Tradeshows and events that host guests

Event marketing, after referrals, is not surprising. Referrals and events are both ways to establish a personal connection.

Tradeshows and B2B events offer a unique and exclusive setting that brings together many decision-makers in one location. It is also difficult to establish relationships within such a short timeframe through other marketing channels.

Events and tradeshows require significant investments – booth space, exhibit space and booth, sponsorship opportunities and pre-show and in-show marketing. However, B2B marketers understand that the investment is worthwhile.

6. Everything is important

Last but not least, measure everything at every stage of your B2B health strategy.

Analytics tools can be used to evaluate your healthcare marketing strategies. You will have the data you need to make adjustments and produce more leads.

The bottom line

Healthcare marketing can be more challenging than other industries, but if done right, you will reap the benefits of your efforts. This article will show you how B2B can be used in healthcare. It will also include 3 challenges and 3 examples of success. We’ll also provide 6 strategies to help you with your B2B healthcare marketing.

We can help you tailor your tactics to your audience if you are unsure where to begin. We enjoy learning about other companies and brainstorming ways to reach a wide audience.