Top Ten Marketing Tips
By Elizabeth Mansfield

10. Create information that educates. People enjoy doing business with those they know, like and trust. Create a top ten list such as “Fitting Problems Amputees Face in Summer Weather” that you can distribute to patients and referral sources alike. Sharing information that educates, and doesn’t just try to sell, establishes trust and credibility.

9. Take a reporter to lunch. Every town has a local paper that likes to cover people who live and work in the community. In West Hartford, we have the West Hartford Life magazine. Taking a reporter to lunch and getting to know him or her is something you can do on a quarterly basis. This makes it easier for you to approach the reporter when you need to pitch a story.

8. Ask for feedback. Everyone loves to share opinions. What they don’t like is to fill out boring, cookie-cutter forms. The Sheraton Four Points hotel in Vancouver, BC has a cute feedback form that utilizes different smiley faces. The form is fun to fill out—you circle the face that corresponds to your feelings. By asking for feedback in a unique way, they’ve shown they really do care about what their guests have to say. 

7. Record a podcast. Who doesn’t have an MP3 player or access to a computer? Recording a podcast of FAQs (“Ten Things You Didn’t Know About Wearing a Scoliosis Brace” or “What Prosthetic Parity Means For Amputees”) and submitting it to iTunes puts you in front of the millions of iTunes podcast subscribers.

6. Start blogging. The blogosphere is exploding. At last count, there were 70 million blogs. Link your Web site to a company blog that can be updated by you, your staff or invited guests. It’s a strategic way to increase your online presence. Blogs are easy to update, and search engine spiders love them. The more you update, the higher your search engine rankings. The higher your rankings, the easier you are to find online.

5. Develop a microsite. A microsite is a small Web site that is an offshoot of a parent Web site. Just like blogs, microsites that are linked to your company’s Web site are another source for search engine spiders. You can create a microsite on a particularly interesting aspect of your business. Use Squidoo, a platform for building simple Web pages that was developed by one of the top marketing gurus in the world, Seth Godin.

4. Market to a cause. Do well by doing good. In 2004, American companies spent nearly $1 billion on cause-related marketing campaigns. Creating a campaign that collects used prostheses or orthoses to be distributed in other countries, or partnering with OPAF (www.opfund.org) for a First Volley or First Dive program, enables you to raise your profile in the community while promoting a good cause.

3. Hold a contest. The prospect of winning anything is alluring. Do you need a name for a new product? Ask your target markets to come up with a name for the product and then pick the winner. Are you launching a new Web site? Tell your target markets that you will donate a can of food to the local food bank for every unique hit your Web site gets in its first month. Not only will you engage your target market to participate, you’ll be doing something newsworthy. 

2. Got jobs? High schools, colleges and vocational tech schools all have career fairs. Put together a visually stimulating display of orthoses and prostheses and participate in a career fair as an unique way to market your company. Some manufacturers, such as Utah Arm or Otto Bock, might be able to provide you with an interactive upper-limb prosthesis display that people can actually use. Having students connect with O&P technology at a local level creates buzz.

1. Create a speakers’ bureau. With all the advancements in technology and the current media fascination with anything related to O&P, knowledgeable speakers are in demand. Offering to speak at non-O&P meetings and conferences can give a big boost to your marketing efforts.

Put together your credentials and a list of topics, such as “Today’s Prosthetic Technology: Are We Building the Bionic Man?” Distribute these to your local health care associations, hospital development department or medical associations. Establish yourself as an expert on prosthetic technology and you’ll have people beating a path to your door!

Elizabeth Mansfield is a marketing consultant with Outsource Marketing Solutions LLC in Hartford, Conn. Contact her at elizabeth@askelizabeth.net.