Marketing for Allied Health

Since I was a teenager I have been working in technology and technical products.

It was always a dream to develop products that could be sold at scale and build a significant business.

However for this dream to become a reality it required two (2) things -

1. A finished product that was ready for sale and could be reliably manufactured at scale and quality

2. Customers and most importantly SALES

IN 2015

In 2015 I invented a product for electronics prototyping. It was an original design to be manufactured in Australia.

I was very proud of this product and excited that I had completed a product ready for sale (Step 1 above).

However it didn't sell! At least it didn't sell in the numbers I was expecting and needed for it to be viable.

Any customers that did buy it loved it and moving the price up and down made no difference.

I engaged in expensive print magazine advertising, cold calling, email campaigns all with no or very limited success.

I've since learned that these tactics are all "RANDOM ACTS OF MARKETING" and unlikely to succeed in anything but test my sanity and waste my time and money.

LESSON #1: THERE WAS NO MARKETING STRATEGY!

EARLY 2019

In early 2019 I attended a trade show in Europe for the electronics industry. The largest in Europe and one of the largest in the world.

I spent a week there and what I saw was several products not identical to mine but in the same class, selling for a lot more money (at least three times) and with what seemed to be a passionate following.

People crowded around their exhibition stands and shared their positive stories with the exhibitors and other attendees.

LESSON #2: FIND YOUR "STARVING CROWD*"

On returning home and on reflection I shed tears (true) in frustration and went through the list of possible reasons for my failures with my product to date.

Poor Product quality - NO

Wrong Pricing - NO

Lack of need - NO (MAYBE)

Poor Marketing - YES!

No one knew of my product and few really understood its application.

I also realised that it was unreasonable to expect that people would search for a product they didn't know existed and that they didn't know they needed.

In summary my product was a well-kept secret that hadn't connected with a "starving crowd".

LESSON #3: NO MATTER HOW GOOD YOUR PRODUCT,
NO ONE WILL EVER EXPERIENCE IT, UNITL THEY BECOME A CUSTOMER

POSITIVE ACTION

These realisations were a powerful, significant moment in my life and I still remember it like yesterday.

It could have been the emotion and the frustration. The possiblility of a positive outcome.

Some action that I could take immediately to change my situation.

I decided that I would become the best marketer that I could be.

I decided to act. I decided to act immediately.

BUT WHAT TO DO?

THE 1-PAGE MARKETING PLAN

After working with a PR consultant and a social media consultant in 2019, a business and life coach of mine mentioned the ONE PAGE MARKETING PLAN book written by Allan Dib. He even had some copies and kindly gave me one.

This bright yellow book with nine (9) coloured tiles on the cover was a revelation and has changed my life.

Written by a self-proclaimed "geek" it was exactly what I needed. It was structured, logical, simple, outcome driven and different. I had read other marketing books in the past however this book talked about things I hadn't heard of, or thought of in a no-nonsense way with many strategies and tactics counter intuitive to common thinking.

I LOVED IT!

After learning what I could from the book and other related programs in 2020 I completed the "1-Page Marketing Plan Certified Professional" training program and certification with Allan Dib and his team.

The concepts, strategies and tactics taught in the ONE PAGE MARKETING PLAN are central to the work we do here at ROKETING with our clients.

We have also expanded on it with additional related topics and three (3) new Steps that we have written.

We also have in-person training courses and workshops based on the ONE PAGE MARKETING PLAN.

Over the years I have developed good relationships with Allan Dib and his team and continue to be involved in their marketing programs and their programs.

What did I learn from this experience that I can share?

Marketing needs to be considered during the design and development of the product or company. At ROKETING we call this development with a "MARKETING PERSPECTIVE"

That once the product is "complete", ready for sale you are AT BEST only half way to sales

That a great product doesn't guarantee success. History is full of stories of the second or third best product becoming the market leader

Random acts of Marketing will fail

Copying the marketing tactics of big business will fail and are a waste of time, energy, sanity and money

Marketing is a repeated process not an event or to put it another way small repeated actions done well

Identifying YOUR TARGET MARKET (Step 1 of the ONE PAGE MARKETING PLAN) is the most important of all the nine (9) Steps

That I/ME/MYSELF are MY biggest competitor

YOU HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO AVOID THE SAME MISTAKES I MADE.

As for my invention that started this story -

Because our target market was not clearly identified and the problem we are solving not properly defined, it will take a lot of effort for it to be successful and may actually never be.

It's currently a "hobby" business status.

STARVING CROWD*

STARVING CROWD is a reference to a question raised by marketer Gary Halbert in one of his letters.

"If you and I both owned a hamburger stand and we were in a contest to see who could sell the most hamburgers, what advantages would you most like to have on your side to help you win?"

The answers vary.

Superior meat from which to make burgers, sesame seed buns or a great location. The lowest prices and so on...

In the letter Gary's answer is simple -

The only advantage I want," he replies...

"Is...
a Starving Crowd!"

Think about it.

When it comes to direct marketing, the most profitable habit you can cultivate is the habit of constantly being on the lookout for groups of people (markets) who have demonstrated that they are starving (or, at least hungry) for some particular product or service.