Very few companies have had success in selling health-related products through digital marketing. There are still a lot of apprehensions about buying health products that are not recommended or prescribed by doctors. Customers who bought such products online have researched every possible side effect of a supplement or vitamin. They also usually go to the doctor first for advice on whether to take such products or not.
In-office promotions are far more successful in marketing health products. Customers are more likely to believe a dentist who said a particular brand is great for teeth whitening than a mega influencer on social media. Would you believe that a flavored water drink with caffeine is more effective at preventing teeth stains for coffee drinkers than not drinking coffee altogether? If a dentist tells you it’s okay to have that third cup of coffee but you’ll have to take flavored water as an alternative, you will believe it, won’t you?
That’s because customers, above all, value expert opinions. When it comes to health-related products, they want the assurance that they will work or that it won’t harm them. Digital marketing strategies that work on other products don’t necessarily work in the health industry because of fake claims that the internet helps spread.
Paid Search Advertising
The power of the internet is never more palpable than it is with paid advertising. Compared to organic search ranking, paid ads are the shortcut. It is an instant ranking on search engines that will take you years to achieve through an organic ranking strategy. There are two major reasons why you need to spend on paid search advertising. The first reason is to rank for competitive keywords, and the second reason is to take advantage of targeted marketing.
With paid search advertising, you can target specific demographics such as age, gender, and household income. This optimizes your marketing efforts since it allows you to exclude markets that are not interested in your products. You are not going to waste a single centavo in trying to attract a non-audience. So, if you are selling supplements for senior citizens, you have to set the parameters of the ad to target that segment.
Product-centric Blogs
While paid search advertising is essential, so do product-centric blogs. Content marketing is the be-all and end-all of digital marketing. If you want to remain on top of your game, you have to invest in producing content that people will want to read. Your pages also have a higher chance of getting to the top of the search engine results food chain if it contains relevant blogs.
Health products are always a challenging topic. Who’s to say, after all, that a beauty product will work on you the way it worked for the endorser or the blog author? While there is no surefire way to tell how different products lead to different results, quality blog content will help bridge the knowledge gap. Blogging will allow you to discuss the products, promote their benefits, and answers any lingering questions your audience may have about them.
Social Media
What is digital and internet marketing anyway without social media? Two out of five adults are already following or will follow their healthcare providers on social media. It is the same thing with health-related products that they support. They would like to know the latest news about a health product, so naturally, they will like and follow the pages on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
Aside from that, customers like to feel in control of what they buy. The ability to reach out to you on social media will make them want to try your health products. If it’s easy to clarify a product’s claims of benefits, then it’s easy to convince customers to give such products a try.
Email Marketing
Whoever said that email marketing is dead is wrong. It is still the most effective internet marketing strategy. Your target market is more likely to read an email about a product rather than actively seek information about it. But this is only going to be an effective method if you have a catchy and personalized subject line. Your email has to look like it was exclusively written for the recipient. Otherwise, they’ll tag it as spam when they see it in their inbox.
In-office promotions, traditional display signages, and digital marketing have to work together to amplify your products’ benefits. With so much ambiguity, unsubstantiated claims, and scams on the internet, it is easy to see why people are wary of too-good-to-be-true products. So if your products are too good to be true, then isn’t that worth the joys and pains of internet marketing?
