Whitepapers to demonstrate the value of your healthcare product

Whitepapers are effective marketing pieces for healthcare companies, who need to convince time-poor hospital and laboratory directors to make tricky purchasing decisions. There are a lot of factors that purchasers need to consider, and the whitepaper digests all the information and pulls out the key messages. Whitepapers educate an audience about a particular product or service and are written to solve the problems your potential customer is facing.

HubSpot says: “The goal of a whitepaper is to inform and persuade based on facts and evidence, not tell the world why people need to buy your product right now”.[1] Your whitepaper should tell the story of your product and include exciting data and facts.

Take a look at our work for Philips and Executive Health Solutions, both selling high-value health products and services.

HubSpot recommend targeting the whitepaper at those customers who are in the Awareness or Consideration stage of their buyer’s journey. Prospects in the Awareness stage of the buyer’s journey might not even be aware of your company yet, so it is crucial to be as descriptive as possible in the whitepaper. The key to writing a good whitepaper is to have the target customer in mind. Does it answer their purchasing decision questions? Does it contain enough evidence-based information?

THE BUYER’S JOURNEY AND CONTENT

Involve local therapy area VIPs

Testimonials from local hospitals, healthcare professionals or laboratories is a reassurance for potential customers. Don’t we all need a seal of approval before making a purchase? Localising the whitepaper to the Australian market will also give potential customers FOMO, as they see competitors already using your product.

Imagery, graphics and photography

Whitepapers should be as visual as possible. Marketing materials for the healthcare industry are at risk of being unengaging or dry. This is generally due to internal and external regulatory bodies who ensure the ethical and balanced representation of healthcare products in advertising and marketing. Unfortunately, this could cost you your audience before they have even struck up a conversation with you.

• Beautiful photography is required, demonstrating the key characteristics of your product.
• Illustrations can quickly translate complex key messages into digestible visual attributes. Involving a designer experienced in creating healthcare materials is crucial to not lose your audience along the way.

And remember: the supporting visuals and graphics don’t need to stay confined to your infographic. Repurpose the contents for blog or social media posts, website assets, and media stories.

Going digital

In the time of COVID-19, when fewer people are meeting face-to-face, we encourage our customers to develop digital whitepapers. There are advantages to making whitepapers digital:

• Optimise your digital whitepaper with video featuring Key Opinion Leaders talking about the product and its benefits. Video can say so much in so few words. We always recommend that our healthcare customers think about how they can tell their story through this medium.
• Typically, digital whitepapers require an email address for download, making them great gated content for capturing leads. Host the whitepaper on your product website, and make sure you let your audience know it exists.
• If you are making a digital whitepaper, why not make it interactive?
• Digital whitepapers are much more shareable. Your new business lead may use it to make the case for your product within their organisation.

From pharma to IVD to med tech and healthcare services, the entire health industry can benefit from a tool as simple as a whitepaper.

London Agency has experience putting together whitepapers for the healthcare industry. Get in touch to discuss how your offering could be showcased in a whitepaper.

[1] https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/what-is-a-whitepaper-examples-for-business