Bringing a health technology product to the market brings with it a host of challenges. The strategies you’ll use, products you’ll sell, and means of distribution will vary greatly depending on many factors, including whether you’re an established company or an entrepreneur.
With health technology products and services being anything from wearable fitness devices or smart apps, to pharmaceuticals and medical devices, it can be difficult to figure out what to do next.
But don’t just sit there and hope that the health-care system will sort itself out. Instead, use these 5 strategies outlined here to get started bringing your health technology product to market.
This post will help guide you through five critical steps to developing a comprehensive go-to-market strategy for your product!
Identify Your Target Market
The first step to bringing a health technology product to market is identifying your target market. This can be done through market research, analyzing competitors’ products and services, and creating user personas.
Conducting Market Research
In market research, potential customers are asked their opinions about how they currently use health technology or what they would like to see in such products and services.
You’ll want to ask questions like: What do they think of the current state of affairs? What kind of features do they wish existed? How would they use these features if they were available today? The answers will help you figure out who exactly should be buying your product–and whether there are enough people willing (and able) enough for them all at once!
Analyzing competitors’ products and services
While preparing to launch a health technology product, one of the first steps you should take is to research the products and services of your competitors. You’ll need to be aware of what’s available on the market, how it’s utilized, and what kinds of issues it helps individuals with.
Start by identifying the most prominent companies in your space and then do some digging on their websites and social media accounts.
Consider what makes their offerings unique, and how your product will compare. If you’re launching an app or website that offers similar features to those of other products in the market, take special care in making sure your offering is easy to use and understand.
Creating user personas
A persona is a fictional representation of your target user that helps you understand what they need and how they behave. Creating user personas is an important step in defining your market and understanding your target audience.
User personas help you understand who will use your product, what they need from it and how they want to interact with it. They should reflect the demographics of your actual users as much as possible (age, gender, income level, etc.).
This helps you make decisions about what features will be most useful for them and how they will use those features in their daily lives.
Focus on User Experience
User experience (UX) is the key to success for health technology products. If you don’t design intuitive interfaces, prioritize usability and accessibility, and incorporate user feedback throughout the development process, your product won’t be as successful as it could be.
Designing intuitive interfaces
If you want your customers to use your product, then you need to make it as intuitive and easy to use as possible. Designing an intuitive interface of your product or app so that your customers can easily use the product will help you gain their trust and keep them coming back for more.
Prioritizing usability and accessibility
The best way to make sure that people actually use your product is to make it easy and intuitive to use. Even if you have a great idea for how people should take care of themselves, if you can’t explain it in simple terms and make it easy for them to follow through, then all your hard work has been for nothing.
People don’t buy products they don’t understand. They need to be able to see how they will benefit from using it and how it will improve their lives. The best way to do this is through clear language that explains how the product works and what it does — from the perspective of the end user.
If you’re selling a wearable device, show what happens when someone wears it; if you’re selling an app, show how users interact with it and what features make it unique compared with other similar apps on the market.
It’s important not only that your product works well technically but also that it’s accessible to everyone — including those with disabilities or other limitations on their ability to function normally due to their health or other factors. If your product requires specific conditions to work, be sure to explain these clearly so that your end-user won’t be disappointed if they can’t use it in their daily lives.
Establish Partnerships and Collaborations
Partnerships and collaborations with relevant stakeholders, such as healthcare providers, regulatory bodies and investors may help accelerate your product development process and increase exposure for your brand.
Healthcare providers
A large number of healthcare providers are interested in adopting new technologies that can help them better manage their patients. These organizations can be an invaluable source of feedback, insight and expertise as you develop your product and prepare it for market. They can also help promote your product once it’s ready for commercialization.
Partnerships and collaborations will help you reach your target market and the right people within it. For example, if you’re developing a new mobile application for the healthcare industry, you may want to partner with a hospital or medical device company that would use your app. This could help generate interest in your product before launch and make it easier for people to understand how it works.
Regulatory bodies
There are many regulatory bodies, including the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Health Canada, European Medicines Agency (EMA), and Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) that regulate health technologies products. These organizations have a significant impact on how products are regulated, marketed and sold.
In order to bring your product to market, it is important that you understand these regulations before developing your product. You should also understand the standards of evidence that they require to approve a new product or change its status from prescription-only to over-the-counter (OTC). This information can be found in guidelines published by each organization. It is also important to keep up with ongoing changes in regulation so that you can adapt accordingly.
Investors
You may not have enough money to develop and market your product. However, if you can find partners who can share the costs with you, it makes it easier to bring your product to market by providing additional funding. One of the best ways to raise funding is investors.
Investors will likely want assurances that your product is safe and effective before investing in its development. Many investors require some type of proof of concept prior to funding any new venture.
Develop a Comprehensive Go-to-Market Strategy
Developing a go-to-market strategy is a critical step in the development of your health technology product. This strategy should include pricing and revenue models, marketing, sales and distribution channels and ongoing support.
Pricing and revenue models
Your pricing strategy will depend on several factors including your cost of goods sold (COGS), customer lifetime value (CLTV), and margin goals. You may want to consider setting up different tiers of service with varying pricing points that align with your customer’s needs or use case.
For example, if you have a service for people with diabetes that tracks blood glucose levels daily, you may want to offer a lower price point for those who only want to track their blood glucose once per week or month. If your CLTV is high enough, you can also consider offering discounts for paying annually instead of monthly or quarterly installments.
Once you have determined your pricing model, think about how you will generate revenue from your product or service. There are many different ways to do this: You could sell subscriptions; allow users to purchase add -ons, upgrades or other services; or charge for certain features.
For example, if your product is an app that tracks blood glucose levels, you could offer subscriptions that give users access to more data and analytics about their health.
Marketing
Hire a marketing expert. Your team may already have someone who can take on this role, but if not, you’ll need to find someone with experience in the industry and an understanding of your target audience. A good place to start is with people who have successfully marketed similar products in the past.
Establish a budget for marketing activities. Create a plan for marketing activities. Once you’ve established your budget, it’s time to think about what type of activities will work best for your company. Consider how much time you have before launch and whether any deadlines are looming in the near future that might affect your ability to execute a particular strategy.
Once you have identified these key areas, it’s time to start thinking about how you want your brand to be represented in the market. This includes things like colors, fonts and images that might appear on packaging or websites associated with your brand name as well as slogans and taglines used in advertising campaigns.
These elements combine together to create what we call “branding,” which helps consumers recognize one brand from another and helps businesses stand out in the marketplace.
Sales and distribution channels
Identify the right sales channels before bringing a health technology product to market. Do you want to sell directly to consumers or through distributors? Is there a specific type of doctor or hospital that best fits with your target market? Do you need to focus on educating consumers about the benefits of your product so that they will be more likely to ask their doctors about it? Once you have a better understanding of the market, it will be easier for you to identify which sales channels are most effective for your product or service.
Some possible distribution channels are direct sales, third-party sales, and online sales. Direct sales occur when a company sells its products or services directly to consumers. Third-party sales involve selling through a distributor or retailer who already has an established relationship with customers. Online sales are growing in popularity because they’re easy for consumers and businesses alike.
Ongoing support
Health technology products can be complex and difficult to implement. Many companies find that they need ongoing support to help customers use their product and provide feedback on how it can be improved. This commitment is essential for building a successful company, but it also requires careful planning and execution.
When it comes to providing customer support, you need to determine the best approach for your company and its products. This can include creating an online knowledge base, offering 24/7 phone support, or even sending out a technician to help with an installation if your product is complex or requires a lot of user input.
Conclusion
Bringing a health technology product to market requires many steps. One of the most important things to remember is that your strategy needs to be comprehensive and well-thought out before moving forward. This means that you should start by identifying your target market, focusing on user experience (UX), establishing partnerships and collaborations with other companies who can help get your product off the ground, as well as ensuring regulatory compliance.