The HealthCare field is constantly changing as it faces challenges from changing regulations to changing technologies. Traditional marketing approaches often fail to effectively reach decision-makers in such a layered industry. This is where account-based marketing (ABM) in healthcare is involved.
ABM enables health care marketers to invest in high-value accounts and provide customized campaigns that land with the right organizations and decision-makers.
This blog will cover the ABM basics in healthcare, specific healthcare challenges and opportunities, and the clinical lead approach to ABM success.
By the time you finish, you will be world-class at successfully implementing ABM and what it can do to transform your marketing within healthcare.
What’s Account-Based Marketing (ABM) for Healthcare?
Highly focused, ABM is a marketing and sales strategy that customizes and targets marketing efforts to specific accounts, quality over quantity.
While traditional one-size-fits-all approaches cast the widest net possible, ABM flexes laserlike focus on a group of high-value targets, developing hyper personalized campaigns that directly address the specific needs of a customer or decision-maker.
It is even more critical in the field of healthcare because healthcare is made up of highly specialized audiences such as hospital administrators, physicians, insurance companies and pharma companies.
ABM makes sure the right message gets to the right person at the right time, that means the results will be more significant.
Unraveling the Unique Challenges and Opportunities in Healthcare
Healthcare is a challenging and promising industry, and if there’s a place where ABM can thrive, it’s here.
Difficulties in Healthcare Marketing
Regulatory Compliance
The healthcare industry is one of the most heavily regulated industries in the world, with an array of strict guidelines from HIPAA in the U.S. to GDPR in Europe. This renders dated marketing tactics such as cold outreach risky and ineffective.
Influence of Complex DMUs
Healthcare decisions are not typical. In the various sectors, for example, industrial, if you make a healthcare decision, multiple constituents are involved i.e. the executive team, medical staff and also the supply chain teams. Marketing has to satisfy all these different points of view.
Evolving Buyer Personas
Providers and healthcare professionals must navigate ever-changing times in the industry, from new technology to policies. These shifts put buyer personas in a constant state of flux, so marketers must to adjust their messaging on a regular basis.
The Rewards of ABM
Hyper-Personalization
ABM allows marketers to create campaigns that specifically address the pain points of specific key decision makers, so you become a source they trust and speak to directly.
Efficient Resource Allocation
By honing in on certain accounts, ABM allows you to clearly allocate time and money to high-value targets, which translates to a higher ROI.
Improved Collaboration
With ABM, sales and marketing alignment is absolutely critical. That way, the messaging and strategy are consistent.
Identifying Key Accounts in the Healthcare Industry
In ABM, the first step is to select the best key accounts that match up with your business objectives. And not every hospital, clinic or health care provider has to be your target. Rather, you should direct your attention to those most likely to need your solution.
What Are Some Actionable Strategies to Identify Key Accounts in Health Care?
Segment by Specialty
Target individual health segments, for example orthopedic clinics, mental health providers or local hospital chains. Less is more when it comes to personalization. Narrow your attention and all the information and personalization becomes stronger.
Leverage Data Analytics
Leverage data to know which healthcare entities match your ideal customer profile (ICP). Consider issues such as size, revenue, location and current technology adoption.
Collaborate with Sales Teams
Your sales team knows who the cash cows will be. Collaboratively narrow your list of targets.
Writing Targeted and Meaningful Content for Medical Professionals
Content that speaks to your target audience is also a key cornerstone of successful ABM. In the healthcare field, a generic message is not enough because it’s such a highly specialized industry.
ABM Content for Healthcare
The types of content that ABM companies for healthcare can create are:
- Whitepapers and E-books
Grant access to rich resources focused on issues particular to healthcare, like patient outcomes or compliance. - Case Studies
Share a success story of a healthcare organization that has been helped your solution. For instance, explain how a clinic was able to save time and money because of your product. - Webinars and Live Demos
Plan interactive events specifically for key deciders. For example, a demo of how your software streamlines medical billing might appeal to such CFOs or heads of administration.
How to Create ABM Content That Works
- Employ vertical terminology to gain trust.
- Go straight to the pain (i.e., decreasing patient wait times, or simplifying reporting procedures).
- Support the benefit of your solution with real data and insights.
How to Track the Success of Your ABM Campaigns in the Medical Tech/Healthcare Sector
ABM success is not determined by vanity metrics such as clicks or impressions in the traditional sense. Instead, measure on the more meaningful KPIs of authentic engagement and ROI.
Key Metrics to Track
- Account Engagement
Track engagement from your target accounts like webinar registration, email open rates, and content download rates. - Pipeline Contribution
Figure out how ABM initiatives impact opportunities in the sales pipe. Did your offer help your prospects make further progress in their decisions? - Revenue Impact
Quantify the revenue ABM-targeted accounts and benches against other marketing efforts. Over time, ABM should deliver a greater ROI. - Deal Velocity
Track the velocity that targeted accounts pass through the funnel versus non-targeted accounts. Purchase decisions are expedited in ABM campaigns, because they are custom.
Successful ABM Strategies in Healthcare – Case Examples
Case 1: Targeted Outreach to Hospital Administrators
A medical device corporation turned to ABM to reach hospital administrators at midsize facilities. By customizing webinar content to emphasize the potential for cost savings and improvements in patient care, they increased qualified leads by 43% and shortened the sales cycle by 20%.
Case Study 2: Bespoke Content for Pharma Companies
An increasing number of pharmaceutical companies are employing custom content to communicate with their diverse stakeholders.
One SaaS provider leveraged ABM to reach pharmaceutical companies through personalized e-books on improving clinical trials. This tactic led to a 27% increase in account engagement and multimillion-dollar deals with two of their targets.
The Future of ABM in the Healthcare Industry
The future of ABM within the healthcare field is very bright. As AI and marketing automation continue to evolve, that power to personalize at scale will only become more powerful.
Furthermore, enhanced collaboration between marketing and sales alongside data driven insights will mean for more powerful marketing campaigns.
Healthcare organizations are also coming to realize the value of personalized experiences, which is why ABM is such a valuable asset to the modern marketer.
If you haven’t yet adopted ABM, it is definitely ‘time to try’ for your organization!
