How to set up a marketing strategy in the health care industry
The Health Marketing, also referred to as Healthcare Marketing, includes all those activities aimed at spreading the visibility and increasing the potential customers of such realities as private health care facilities, RSA, Pharmacies, Parapharmacies and companies that market medical devices.
Unlike "traditional" marketing, whose main purpose is sales, the Health Marketing aims to To create, communicate, and disseminate health-related information drawing from pure marketing strategies to center communication on the end customer and using science as a preferred source to promote health.
Medical communication: regulations, legislation and constraints
In fact, until 2006, the medical industry was prevented by law from doing both offline and online promotion. The enactment of the Bersani Law then liberalized advertising in this area, albeit with some limitations, but the implementation of genuine medical marketing clashed with the morals of Doctors and Health Care Professionals. Indeed, it appeared unethical to treat the patient as a "normal" client to whom one could show one's services and with whom one could brag about the quality of one's work. L' Healthcare Marketing has since taken hold, however, affirming a willingness to position itself as a strategy that, first and foremost, Disseminates scientific information that can focus people's attention on well-being their own and their loved ones.
- Any instrument that promotes health care facilities or companies that market medical devices must comply with the law regarding the Protection of Personal Data (GDPR) and the Code of Professional Ethics regarding the use of images and names of Doctors and Health Care Professionals;
- it is necessary anonymize Cookies, so as to prevent the collection of sensitive data
- it is not possible to carry out operations of remarketing and retargeting Using data acquired within the website
Advertising for medical devices
La health advertising on the web of Medical, in vitro diagnostic and medical-surgical devices must strictly adhere to the Guidelines published by the Ministry of Health on December 20, 2017. This regulation was later supplemented on October 24, 2019 with additional specific limitations for theFacebook advertising. In essence, what is in the Guidelines is an extension into the digital world of what was intended for traditional offline communication.
As in classic advertising, before launching a promotion on medical devices it is necessary to apply for ministerial authorization prior through a special form (available on the website of the Ministry of Health) at the rate of € 380.10 per text, and the Ministry of Health has up to 45 days to approve or reject what is submitted.
An exception to this stringent regulation is what is counted as the institutional advertising: this is the promotional communication aimed at the visibility of the company and does not include any reference to either specific products or their health properties.
Case History: digital strategy campaign for Prontex
With Prontex, brand featured in the Pharmacies and Parapharmacies from all over Italy with medical devices and specific solutions for benessere, we studied a priori the target market and all the regulations we would have to comply with. With a view to launching an error-free campaign that was in line with what was prescribed, we felt it was essential to structure a strategy that focused on increasing the visibility of the brand without directly promoting its products.
To do so, specifically we went about it in this way:
- restyling of the institutional website www.prontex.it from a User Friendly perspective, to make it more usable by users and optimized for search engines. Within the site, as per regulations, there is a disclaimer specifying that the content and information present is reserved exclusively for Health Care Professionals.
- creation of a Facebook Page and a Instagram account whose editorial plans include only institutional and informational content. Following the logic of the Health Marketing, the goal is to retain the target audience by providing science-based content on health and wellness. There are also posts dealing with topics related to the target area of the Prontex products; in them the specific product is never mentioned, let alone its specific properties boasted.
- the ability to post comments has been disabled on both channels, as required by current regulations. There is also no agreement with sponsors or testimonials. Again, the regulations are very clear: the use of scientists, physicians, health care workers or persons known to the public to accompany the communication of medical devices, in vitro diagnostic medical devices and medical-surgical devices is excluded.
Health marketing: promoting health according to the law
Define a Healthcare Marketing Strategy is a real challenge, full of pitfalls and obstacles. With Prontex we approached the issue by conducting a thorough preliminary analysis, studying current regulations and identifying what the main steps were to spread brand awareness and acquire new customers without incurring penalties and sanctions.
To structure your Health Marketing Campaign entrusted to those who already know its limitations and opportunities: CONTACT US!
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