Hello everyone and Happy Holidays!

I haven’t posted in a long time due to other work in which I am involved.  I will share this “other work” with you in my next post.

I sincerely hope all of you have had a productive and successful 2011.  If you have struggled in 2011, let me know, perhaps I can share some ideas for success.

Recently, I have had some individual questions about Strategic Planning.  This is normal for this time of the year as company leaders look to 2012.  One problem with a blog is that it is not easy to navigate to earlier posts on a particular subject.  So, to tell someone to go look at the Strategy section of my blog is not really an easy solution to their problem. This is especially true for subject matter that is treated in a series of posts…which I tend to do.  To make it easier to see the series in order, I have listed the posts below.  Simply click on the links to see the post.

1. Getting from A to E   www.medicaldevicesuccess.com/2010/11/18/getting-from-a-to-e/
2. Qualitative Benefits of Strategic Planning   www.medicaldevicesuccess.com/2010/11/18/qualitative-benefits-of-strategic-planning/
3. Elements of the Strategic Marketing and Sales Plan   www.medicaldevicesuccess.com/2010/11/18/elements-of-the-strategic-marketing-and-sales-plan/
4. Data – The first Strategic Planning Element  www.medicaldevicesuccess.com/2010/11/29/data-the-first-strategic-planning-element/
5. Assumptions   www.medicaldevicesuccess.com/2010/12/03/assumptions-–-defy-the-old-saying-that-results-in-“ass-u-me”/
6. SWOT Analysis  www.medicaldevicesuccess.com/2010/12/08/avoid-needing-a-swat-team-with-a-good-swot-analysis/
7. Key Strategic Goals  www.medicaldevicesuccess.com/2010/12/17/key-strategic-goals-–-making-the-commitment-for-the-year-ahead/
8. The difference between Strategies and Tactics   www.medicaldevicesuccess.com/2011/01/04/critical-the-difference-between-strategies-and-tactics/
9. Key Strategies and Supporting Tactics  www.medicaldevicesuccess.com/2011/01/08/key-strategies-and-supporting-tactics-–-turning-talk-into-action/

10. From the Strat Plan to the Budget      www.medicaldevicesuccess.com/2011/01/29/“there-is-nothing-quite-as-wonderful-as-money“-from-the-strategic-plan-to-the-annual-budget/

Hopefully, most of you are already in control of your 2012 plans.  If not, the posts listed above may help you get on track.  Don’t fall into the trap of being tactical.   Sure, exhibiting at a particular trade show is a no brainer.  But it should be tied to a strategy that gives the trade show purpose.  And, being part of a strategy may move you to get more out of you activities at the exhibit.

Plan and execute!  Good luck as you prepare for 2012!

Finally, if you think any of you friends in the medical device world would benefit from this series, please forward this email to them.

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OK, I am breaking a promise.  In my last post…which was way too long ago…I said I would write about a Nidek e-blast that deserves a better grade.  I thought I had one.  I looked at about 10 Nidek e-blasts that I saved and decided not to write about them.  It’s Friday.  In the US we have had enough negative news and commentary over the last couple weeks.  It seems like most of the world is immersed in bad news of some sort or another.  How about something POSITIVE?

So, let’s look at a Very Very Good e-blast from Optovue.  This is one of the most effective e-blasts I have seen all year.  I would have given them an A+ if they had just not made one mistake.  A mistake that could cost them some leads.

Here is what the e-blast recipient would see in their email client if a preview pane was open:

If you are like me and have been following the previous posts, you are saying, “Sweet!”

First, we will evaluate the From section, Subject Line and 20% Zone area.

From: Optovue (deployed by trusted source Wolters Klumer Vision Care) – Perfect. The reader knows exactly whom it is from.  And, by having “Optovue” here, they don’t have to waste precious space on the Subject line telling readers who the e-Blast is from.

Subject Line: “Save Thousands on SD-OCT – Limited Supply”.  POWERFUL! TO THE POINT! CALL TO ACTION – “Limited Supply”!! SD-OCTs are still a hot product in the ophthalmology market.  That subject line will definitely get readers to dive into the content.

Now, look at the 20% Zone that we see in the preview pane.  Right at the top, the message of saving thousands of dollars is repeated.  And, the reader learns that the sale items are certified demo units.  The colors and “Mid Summer Sale” script are cheerful.  The artwork is compelling and supports the “Mid Summer Sale” theme.

On to the Body and Content of the e-Blast.

BEAUTIFUL!! Notice there is very little copy.  They know they have a good product for their target segments.  They aren’t going to waste space with a lot of puffery.  They know there is demand for the SD-OCT.  They get right to the point.  Here is what is available.  First come, first serve.  Indicating the inventory levels is good technique.  They could do an e-Blast in a couple days showing the inventory going down.  What if they run out of demos?  Well, if they are like most diagnostic equipment companies they will tell the doctor, “Sorry, they are all gone but let me see what kind of deal I can do for you.”  I guarantee that Optovue won’t let those interested doctors down.

Sigh!….  I really wanted to give them and A+ because there was so much good about this e-Blast.  Then….just out of curiosity I clicked on the yellow button.

What cost Optovue the A+? The “Click Here to Email” button takes the reader to the “Contact Us” page of the Optovue website.  Big mistake! Now the reader has to take the extra step of clicking on one of the email addresses or fill out a form.  This Contact Us page is not very good.  It is a long page.  If you have a small laptop and don’t think to scroll down the page, you may miss the form at the bottom to fill out.  This form is for all “contact” situations.  It is not a landing page specifically made for this e-Blast.   On a Contact Us page like this, they could have some leads going to several different emails that are listed at the top of the page.  Or, the lead may fall through the cracks if the form isn’t filled out correctly.  So, the excited and motivated reader gets sent to “Contact Us” page hell.

Always, always use a purpose built landing page for your e-Blasts as a place to capture the prospect’s contact information.

On the other hand, because there is limited inventory, a motivated reader is likely to call the phone number they provide.

Congratulations to Optovue for showing us (for the most part) how an e-Blast should be done.  Their marketing person deserves a raise!

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Technorati Tags: e-Blasts, e-mail marketing, E-Marketing, Medical Device Consultant, Medical Device Marketing, medical devices, Tactics

OK…for the last several posts I have been talking about what makes a good and effective e-blast.  And, I have pointed out some mistakes companies have made with their e-blasts.  Before I go any further, YOU get to evaluate the Nidek e-blast below.  First, look at their from line, subject line and 20% zone.

Sorry Nidek….but this isn’t a very good start.  Let’s see if my assessment matches yours.

• You can’t tell who the e-blast is from.  It says Review of Ophthalmology.  Yes, they are respected and trusted.  That is good.  But without a hint of the true sponsor, you might think this is a message from Review and not an e-blast.
• The visible subject line is very vague….”combination system”???  Is this supposed to be a 3-in-1 diagnostic instrument?  It “saves time”?  So?  And, you cannot see the rest of the subject line that says “increases efficiency”. The subject line is too long.   Some readers won’t make the transition from this line to the content of the e-blast where they can see the entire subject line.  Also, many people have their email client (Outlook, Apple Mail, etc.) set up not to display the 20% Zone.
• The 20% Zone – “Reflections”?!?! What does that mean? I would be really surprised if a large number of doctors get beyond this point.  My bet is that this e-blast has a high probability of being deleted before being read.

What do you think?

Now, scroll down to look at the content of the e-blast.

Oh…now I get it.  “Reflections” must relate to the testimonial from the Dr. Barnebey.  He is reflecting on his use of the instrument.  My international readers would probably agree that the word “Reflections” is confusing.  And, the word has nothing to do with any benefit or feature related to the product.

“The Benchmark of Excellence in Ophthalmic Lasers” ??? This is really old school “puffery” in marketing.  Sort of like all those companies that claim they are the “Gold Standard” or the “Technology Leader”.  This statement may make Nidek feel good about themselves but it communicates nothing to the reader about the benefits of the product.  For the new generation of doctors and consumers at large, this kind of language is interpreted as arrogant.  Never, ever have language like this in your advertising.

What do you think of the testimonial?  I like testimonials.  But this one is weak.  It would have been stronger if Nidek could have worked with Dr. Barnebey on some metrics related to his improved efficiency.  For example, if the doctor had said that he saved enough time to see one more patient per day, other doctors could easily do the math in their head as to the payoff.

What would you have done with this e-blast?  Decide if you agree with me.

• From section – If Nidek would have used BMC for deployment, they could have had their name in the From section.  I am not sure that Review of Ophthalmology can do this.  Also, BMC publishes Glaucoma Today.  So, the email list would have been on target.  That is not to say that Review has a good email list….they do.
• Subject line – “Dr. Barnebey on Nidek laser’s efficiency” or “Why Dr. Barnebey uses Nidek combination lasers” or “Dr. Barnebey evaluates Nidek lasers for efficiency”.  Putting the doctor’s name in the subject line will definitely get readers.  And, we have solved the problem of indicating who the e-blast is from by naming Nidek.  Finally, we have a subject line that will fit in the email client screen of most readers.
• The 20% Zone – Get rid of “Reflections”.  They could do a couple of things here.  One would be to move Dr. Barnebey’s quote up into the zone.  This would definitely grab someone’s attention and move them to continue reading.  Or, they could have a benefit statement related to improved efficiency, “Offer the same patient care and see one extra patient per day”.
• The Content – Again, get rid of “Reflections”.  And, delete the “Benchmark” statement.  Add metrics to the doctor’s testimonial to more clearly demonstrate the benefit to the readers.  This could be in extra patients per day or more time with the family.  It could even be in financial terms.  The difficulty with expressing benefits in financial terms is that some readers might find that too forward…..even though that is what they are interested in.

So…Let me know what YOU think.

More E-Blast grades on the way after the Fourth of July.

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Technorati Tags: e-mail marketing, E-Marketing, Medical Device Consultant, Medical Device Marketing, medical device strategies, medical devices

In the last post we reviewed why the “From” segment and the “Subject” segment of the incoming e-blast are so important.

Today, we will talk about the body of the e-blast.  It is important too.  However, a marketer can put together a compelling HTML page with a great message, a compelling call to action and perfect formatting and the email will fail if no one opens it.

Keep reading to learn why B+L gets a grade of B- on the e-blast I use as an example.

Once the e-blast is opened by the recipient, the content goes to work.  For the content of the e-blast to be successful it should:

• Clearly state a benefit or call to action in the upper 20% of the HTML page.  This is what I call the 20% Zone. This is important because many people have their email client organized to show part of the selected email.  A clearly stated benefit in this zone helps insure that the reader will start to scroll down through the e-blast.
• Keep the HTML page to a size no larger than a standard piece of paper.  If a reader has to scroll too far, they lose interest and may think “I will come back later to read this.”  Guess what?  They won’t come back. The e-blast will get buried in their inbox.
• Offer something of value (a benefit) to move the reader to take action:
  • A discount
  • A free white paper on the subject
  • Invitation to an informational webinar
  • Promotion – free iPod with all orders in July
  • Something at your trade show exhibit (if this is the purpose of the e-blast)
• Have easy to find and easy to use buttons for:
  • “For more information click here”
  • “For a no obligation product demonstration click here”
  • “Not going to the show…No Problem…click here”
  • Be sure that the buttons link to a landing page that is SPECIFIC to this product and/or e-blast.  There is nothing more frustrating than clicking a button and being taken to a page where you have to fill out a comment section to indicate the product you are interested in.  The landing page should say something like “Thank you for your interest in Product CureAll.  Please provide us the information below and we will send you the white paper today.  To learn more about Product CureAll click here.”  Or, “Thank you for your interest in Vision Restore.  Per your request, we will have someone contact you in 24 hours.”
• Include url links to your website
• Include links to your Twitter feed, any YouTube videos and your Facebook page.  You don’t have these yet!?!? Get on the ball!  Below you will see that B+L has 2 out of the 3.
• Consider using other technologies to engage the reader.  A short imbedded video is great.  However, this is not necessary for a really effective e-blast.

Let’s continue this discussion by reviewing my inbox below.  I have selected Bausch+Lomb – “Florence Henderson Coming to a TV Station …..”.  Most of the time B+L has ineffective subject lines.  Yet, this one is nearly perfect.  Florence Henderson is a star in the USA.  That will definitely get the reader’s attention.  Also, B+L has done enough saturation marketing about Florence Henderson as their spokeswoman that somewhere in the back of most eye care professionals’ minds they relate her to B+L.  Also, it says “…coming to a TV Station…”.  Even though, the subject line is interrupted at that point, the brain wants to fill in the rest with “near you.”  So far so good.

Notice my email client is organized so you can see part of the selected email.  Many people have their email software formatted this way.  That is why it is very important to be sure that a compelling message is in this part of the e-blast.   In the case of the B+L e-blast, the message you see in this 20% zone is above average.  However, I believe they miss a huge opportunity that is indicated at the very bottom of the content.  In the 20% zone you do see Florence and the “play” button on her picture.  This indicates a video.  This will definitely get some reader involvement as some will decide to watch the video.

Now, I will show you the entire body of the content section of the e-blast.

What do you see at the bottom? “Get started with the Crystalens Florence Henderson Marketing Campaign!”  Why did they leave this to the end?!?!? This is the real call to action to get a doctor to collaborate with B+L.  And, it appears that B+L will provide the doctor with materials and links.  This is the biggest benefit to the doctor yet B+L leaves it at the bottom of the page.  They should have indicated this opportunity for collaboration in the 20% zone.  This is why B+L gets a grade of a B- for this e-blast.   For my international readers, a B- (B minus) would be just above average.  An “A+” grade would be excellent. An “F” grade indicates failure.

Next up Nidek gets graded a D for their e-blast.

Happy internet marketing!

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Before we define the elements of a good e-blast, I want you to think about the last 2 or 3 e-blasts you opened.  I mean e-blasts that were some type of consumer-oriented solicitation.  Most likely, they were from an on-line retailer that you prefer.   For example, I regularly get emails from LL Bean® (clothes and outdoor equipment), Lowes® (hardware and home improvement products), Scott E Vest® (hi tech clothing) and Bed Bath and Beyond® (household goods, cooking, small appliances) and others.  I open a fair number of these e-blasts because they make it very clear that they are offering something.  If I am not sure, then I don’t open them.

The reason I want you to think about e-blasts from on-line retailers is because they are usually very very good with their Internet marketing.

What do you do?  What do you open?  What motivates you to open an e-blast? Think about it.  Now, think about the e-blasts you see from your particular medical device industry.   The medical device emails that I see are primarily related to ophthalmology and optometry.  I regret to say, for the most part, they are not nearly as good as the consumer product companies with an on-line presence.  Some eye care e-blasts are very poorly executed.  The good news is that we can learn from good and bad examples of ophthalmic market e-blasts.

Now that I have you thinking about e-blasts, let’s look at what makes you, me and medical professionals open e-blasts.

From and Subject line – This is the most important part of the e-blast. If the subject line doesn’t catch the attention of the reader, the e-blast content doesn’t make a difference.   For a subject line to be effective it needs to:

• Come from a trusted source – this can be communicated in the From or Subject sections
• Offer a compelling product benefit or feature a high profile person – this is in the Subject section of the line

Before we go into more detail, take a look at a screen shot of my Apple® mail client where I have the folder for e-blasts open.  Skim down through these e-blasts.  Are there any that would catch your eye more than others?

Come from a trusted source – All of the emails in the above image come from a trusted source.  This makes it more likely that the email would avoid being sent to the junk or spam folder.  These trusted sources are the ophthalmic industry media magazines that also offer e-blast deployment as a service.  Some of the emails appear to come from the manufacturer.  This is a good trick and offers credibility.  However, if you look closely at the “from” email address it says manufacturer@bmc.com.  BMC is an industry publisher.  I like this particular technique that clearly indicates the manufacturer up front.  This saves the reader time and enhances the subject line message and credibility.  The e-blasts where the media publications are indicated in the From section are not bad and they are also from a trusted source.  However, they can weaken the message.  For example, the last e-blast you see on my screen is from Eyefind® (part of Jobson® – an eye care media company that everyone knows).  If you look from the “From” which says “Eyefind” over to the “Subject” line can you tell anything about the company that is sponsoring the e-blast?  No, you can’t.  In fact, the impression is that the advertiser is Eyefind.  If you opened the Eyefind email, you would see that the advertiser is Augen Lenses.  While Eyefind would qualify as a trusted source and probably gets through the spam guard, the subject line is vague.  It is very likely that someone receiving this email will not open it. When the “From” is Bausch + Lomb®, they can get away with a vague Subject line to some extent.  The corporate brand has been successfully communicated.  Even with vague Subject content, someone may be curious enough to open the e-blast to see what B+L has sent.

Now, all that being said, some medical device media companies don’t have the deployment technology to allow the company name to be in the From section.  You should ask about this.  If the media companies in your medical device community can’t have your company name in the From section, then you must have a compelling Subject content that indicates your company name or is so interesting that someone will want to open the e-blast.

Important note!  What is NOT a trusted source? These are the email listing companies that advertise that they have the email address of every doctor or nurse that you may want to communicate with via e-blast.  It is very questionable that these email address lists are opt-in lists.  When a doctor receives an e-blast from a listing company it is very possible that it will go to junk mail or the spam folder.  Even if the listing company uses your company name, the fact that the e-blast comes from their server address will get it labeled as junk or spam.  So, I am not a big fan of these services.  I never use them.

Offer a compelling product benefit or feature a high profile person. You must also make the subject line offer in just a few words.  Most email clients (Apple Mail®, Outlook®, etc.) have small areas where you view your incoming emails.  This is especially true for users of small portable computers.  Go back and look at the screen shot of my email client above.   Even though I have a wide subject line area, several of the e-blasts’ subject lines cannot be seen in their entirety.  In some cases, I have seen subject lines where the most important part of the message is at the end….where most people can’t see them.

Keep in mind, doctors and other medical personnel are getting lots of emails.  They start to delete those emails that are not interesting or meaningful.  Also, many doctors I know are constantly scanning their emails on their mobile phones during the day in between surgical cases or in between patient exams.  The subject areas on some of these portable devices are smaller than those on a laptop.  This can result in even more deletions.

The first several words in the subject line are VERY important.

A compelling product benefit message lets the reader know what the product will do for him/her.  It is NOT a message bragging about how a company feels it is the product leader in a market.  That is puffery or chest beating.  It is a big turnoff.  A benefit message is like the Revitalens Ocu Tech® message above.  It implies that using this product will result in 4 times fewer adverse events.  This is a great benefit for the patient and the doctor.  This message would have been stronger if they would have led with the “4x Fewer Adverse Events” and then mentioned the product name.  You could consider this a performance benefit message. Other compelling messages could be:

1. Those that offer a discount or other potential financial reward.  The benefit is the reward of money.  It is basic….but it works.
2. Offer education from a known person.  This may be a webinar or seminar.
3. Offer a case study that demonstrates proven results related to your product.

Featuring a high profile person is always effective.  Most people will know this person and be curious about how he or she is associated with the e-blast.  Above you will see the subject line “Join Dr. McGreal and Dr. Gailmard in …..”.  These are two highly respected and popular optometrists.  Almost everyone in the optometric community has heard them speak.  Even though there is no product or company/organization indicated in the From section or the Subject line, the mention of their names will cause many optometrists to open the e-blast.

I hope you were able to stick with this post.  I know it was long.  However, there is a nuance to the art of e-marketing that I want you to understand.

The next several posts will be shorter.  I promise.  One will focus on the body of the e-blast.  The others will demonstrate specific e-blasts.  We will give some major companies grades on their e-blasts.  That will be fun.

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E-blasts are a powerful and economical marketing tool for medical devices when used correctly.  The advantages of e-blasts are:

1. Instant feedback on your message in terms of metrics.  You will quickly know how many people opened your e-blast and how many clicked through to your website or landing page.  It is much more difficult to get this kind of feedback economically from print advertising.
2. Immediate actionable leads that you can distribute to your sales channel.  Again, this is almost non-existent with print advertising.  The only way to come close is to have a Business Reply Card (BRC) inserted in the magazine next to your ad.  This is expensive and logistically cumbersome.
3. Quick to deploy.  From concept to deployment, you can have an e-blast in front of prospects in less than 2 weeks (sometimes one week).  A print ad could take 8 weeks from insertion order to delivery of the magazine.
4. Easy and inexpensive to change the message if you are not satisfied with the initial response.
5. Possibility of testing messages in small geographic markets or market segments before deploying nationwide or worldwide.
6. Immediate placement before the target audience.  With print media you have to wait for the reader to open the magazine and eventually come across your ad.  This could take weeks.  Then they have to pick up a phone to call you or they have to go their computer and look up your website.  With an e-blast, they are already at their computer and only have to click an imbedded button “For more information click here” or click on your URL.
7. Reasonable price for the benefits.  In the ophthalmic market, e-blasts are less expensive than a full-page advertisement in print media.

The only disadvantages I can think of are:

1. Limited “shelf life” of the e-blast versus a print ad.  In other words, the e-blast is read, deleted or buried in a sea of other emails.  The print ad stays in the magazine and sits on the doctor’s desk.  He may see the ad a couple times if you have good placement.  Think about how you manage the magazines you subscribe to.  This isn’t really a huge disadvantage.
2. Low number of opt-in email addresses offered by the deployment firm compared to print media.  For example, most ophthalmic print media companies offer e-blast deployment.  Typically, their opt-in email address lists are a third to half of their number of magazine subscribers.

Conclusion – I don’t believe the disadvantages come close to outweighing the advantages of e-blasts over print advertising.  If you have a limited budget, I would choose e-blasts over print ads.  If you have an adequate budget you can find a balance between the two where they can actually work together.

In the next post – The Elements of a Good E-Blast.  Then, we will evaluate some good and bad e-blasts to understand what was done correctly and what could have been done better.

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Trade show pearl #1 was written on the fly in San Diego.  Being in the exhibit hall and observing the activity at numerous booths reminded me of a number of basic pearls that are worth sharing.  The most important pearl is at the end of the list.

One more thing – Previous posts concentrated on attracting prospects to your booth.  The best in-booth execution in the world will be of no value if no one shows up at your booth in the first place.  Let’s assume that you have succeeded in motivating some trade show attendees to come to your booth.  Now your objective is to get them involved in learning about your product/services and converting them into a sale or a hot lead. These pearls will help to that end.

1. Always sign up for a lead machine (badge scanner, etc.).  And, get the premium service where they give you the database of your leads.  Lately, they give you the database on a USB stick and/or they email it to you.  Lead follow-up will be the subject of a later post.  Paying for this service is worth it.  Don’t think you will gather all the paper leads and transfer them to a spreadsheet when you get back to the office.  It delays follow-up.
   1. Program the lead machine to allow you to specify product interest and interest level.
   2. Make sure your booth team practices using the badge scanner and specifying interests.
2. If you have a smaller booth….10 feet or 20 feet in-line (3 meters or 6 meters for my international readers):
   1. If your products are large, place them front and center with space around them so visitors can easily approach the product.
   2. If products are small, consider having them on a table at the front of the booth so they are easily viewed.
   3. Keep in mind that human behavior is to avoid being trapped and to avoid being “sold”.  Visitors will be reluctant to walk into an exhibit to see a product.
   4. Stand at the sides of the booth so you don’t block a doctor from approaching your product or literature.
   5. If an industry colleague(s) comes by to gossip, pull him/her off to the side so the two or three of you don’t block your products.
3. If you have a larger booth…an island or peninsula booth:
   1. Keep the booth area open so it is easy and non-threatening for visitors to walk in or through.
   2. Avoid blocking entry by lining up products too close to each other along the aisle.  I saw a major company do this in San Diego.  It was impossible to get by the instruments and into the booth where there more instruments.  A busy or shy doctor will just keep walking.
4. Dress professionally.  Suit and tie OR a shirt with company logo and nice slacks/dress.  Shirts and blouses with company logos are a great way for a small company to look “large”, organized and professional.  It will help give a prospective customer confidence in doing business with you. And, they are not expensive.  Furthermore, as you walk around the exhibit hall, you are a walking advertisement for your company.  If you opt for suits and ties, then have name badges made with your company logo on them.  This helps a prospect identify someone to talk to about your products or services.  The little things count here.  Shine your shoes!  Dirty and scuffed shoes will elicit the thought…”If this is how a company representative takes care of himself, then how will they take care of me.”
5. Keep your exhibit neat and as uncluttered as possible.  Straighten out your stacks of literature regularly.  Empty trash bins when they are half full.
6. Have something unique and inexpensive as a give away.  In the US, with Advamed guidelines and PhrmaCode guidelines you must be careful what you give away.  Try something unique to the city or town you are from.  For example, if you are from Buffalo, give away sponge candy.  It is unique to Buffalo (and it is really really good!!).  It may be a good icebreaker to a conversation.
7. Your exhibit signage should be easy to read at a distance and at eye level.
   1. Companies with small booths frequently use roll-up banners.  They cram as much information on the banner as they can.  Then when they set it up in their booth….along with the product, a table, a chair, etc…..you can’t see half of the banner and half of the information.  Keep the words on your banner to a minimum.  Make sure they are benefit oriented.  Very Important, only have your product message and picture on the upper half of the roll-up banner.
   2. Larger exhibits must be sure their signage is clear and easy to read as well.  Benefits and product name in large print.  Details (clinical results, testimonials, etc) in small print.  The benefit statements will attract people to the exhibit where they can learn more of the details.
8. Special pricing sheets – have these printed prior to the show and hand them out to your booth team.  Explain the pricing and any other leeway your team has on pricing so they are not always holding up a sale while they look for you for approval.
9. Have a booth kit – extra pens, scissors, stapler, small first aid kit, note pads, envelopes, paper clips, tape, rubber bands, multi-tool, etc.

10. Come to the exhibit hall early the first day of the tradeshow and walk the floor.  Visit your competitor exhibits.  It is possible they will not be there yet.  You can observe any special promotions they have in their exhibit signage or in brochures.

11. Have plenty of business cards.

12. MOST IMPORTANT PEARL – Have a pre-show booth meeting with your team.  It doesn’t matter if there are 3 of you on the team or 20 of you.  During this meeting, review your goals, the lead machine, location of items in the booth (literature, booth kit, order forms, etc.), timing of breaks when doctors may flood the exhibit hall, schedules of executives, information about competition, review any special pricing you are offering, basic rules about not blocking entry to the booth (pearl #4.d.  ), etc.

Good Luck and many I hope you get Good Leads and Sales at your Spring and early Summer trade shows!

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Technorati Tags: Medical Device Consultant, medical devices, Trade show management, Trade show planning, Trade Show Sales, trade show strategies, Trade shows

Hello everyone.  I apologize for being somewhat quiet the past 2 weeks.  I returned from a trip to Europe and immediately moved my household from Buffalo to Queens (NYC).  Needless to say…a very hectic couple weeks.  And, to top it off, I turned around and headed to the ASCRS in San Diego.

Today, while having a meeting at one of the big round tables you frequently find at the back of an exhibit hall near the food concession, I saw something that I thought was very smart.  A woman from one of the exhibiting companies was going from round table to round table and tossing several reprints of an article related to her products onto the table.  Attached to the reprint was a business card with her company’s exhibit number.

I thought this was a very smart and economical move.  Some may say it seems unprofessional.  Others may think that this exhibitor will get in trouble with the organization that runs the congress.  But think about it.  She only tossed a few reprints on each table.  In the course of a lunch time frame about 30 doctors will sit at that table.  Some will pick up these reprints.  Typically a good reprint about a product is interesting to read.  So, the likelihood of her company getting in trouble is minimal.  And, if one or two is left on the table, it could appear that a doctor had picked up the reprint at their booth, read it during lunch and left it behind.  This is a low risk promotional move.

At a large congress like the ASCRS, there may be 20 such tables spread across the back of the hall.  Over the course of a day, 700 or more doctors or allied professionals may sit at those tables.  No doubt, she was regularly going back to the tables are putting more reprints out as the original ones disappeared. The exposure is terrific.

To top it off, as she left reprints on each table with a smile on her face, she said something nice to at least one person or group of persons at the table.  It was disarming and pleasant.  If anything a nice impression that may encourage someone to look at what she left on the table.

So, try this trade show pearl at the next congress you attend.  Try to use a reprint about your product or a white paper.  It is an inexpensive way to move a little more traffic to your exhibit.

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Technorati Tags: Tactics, Trade show management, Trade show planning, trade show promotions, Trade Show Sales, Trade shows

Nothing like a long flight from Europe to crank out a couple blog posts.  “Medical Devici” is not a misspelling.  It is my new word of the community of medical device people.

I don’t know about you, but my first impression of Twitter® was that it was a lot of people tweeting that they were at the drug store or that they were getting ready to party or the address of the party or how cool the concert was or the driver in front of them is an idiot or they were brushing their teeth, etc. etc..  In other words, I thought it was a lot of worthless conversation.  A waste of time.  An exercise in personal vanity and conceit.

This impression creates a certain anxiety that if you get involved in Twitter, you will be deluged with all these strange and worthless messages.  And, you will end up with another source of distraction that is not worthy of your time.  This is not true.

Let me suggest that you stick your toe in the Twitter pool just to get a feel of the water.

This will take less than 30 minutes.  It is very basic and painless. And, you will learn a lot.  And, no, Twitter won’t take over your computer and cell phone. The idea is to follow some companies and get a feel for what they are doing.  What are their messages?  How often do they tweet?  Do they have one or more Twitter addresses?  If so, why?  Check out their profile and note how many followers they have.  Think about the conversation they are having with their followers.  What value are they delivering to their followers?  Then, over time, think about how this could apply to your business.  What conversation would you like to have with followers of your business?

Start by setting up a Twitter account on your computer with a quick download from the Twitter site.  Don’t use a company name at the moment.  Just a version of your name.  Take a couple minutes to fill out your profile.  Don’t get hung up on this.  You can always go back to it to provide more detail.

Now that you have an account on your computer, download the free Twitter app to your phone.

To make this easy, I am going to suggest several companies to follow.  Back at your computer, go to the “Who to follow” page at Twitter and search for the following companies:

• Jet Blue – or the airline of your choice.
• Best Buy or a prime retailer of your choice
• Medtronic
• JNJStories
• FDA
• Novartis
• Pfizer
• Finally, try finding a local company that you enjoy doing business with.  For example, a restaurant, dry cleaner, small retail store, etc.
• OK, OK if you are really curious about what strange personalities can Tweet….you can sign up to follow Charlie Sheen.  This could take over your Twitter log.  Have I checked his 140 character rants out? No! Won’t happen.

By now you are following 8 or 9 organizations.  As you have selected them, their latest tweets have been piling up on the left side of your home page.  You can scroll through them to see what they are saying.

You will notice that frequently there is a link to something in their tweets.  Usually, it is a link to some news on their website.

Finally, you can exit Twitter or leave it up as one of you browser tabs in the event you want to easily go back to it.

Once every day or two, log-in to your Twitter account to see what is being tweeted.

It is that easy.  As you see what these companies or organizations Tweet about, you can start to put a list together of what you may want to share on Twitter.

Eventually, as you see the value of Twitter and begin to build your own following, you will need some advanced help to manage the followers and all the addresses you will want to follow.  There are tools that help with this like Tweetdeck® and Seesmic Desktop®.

For now, relax, be one with this new form of social media. Just take some time to get a feel for this massive conversation going on and consider what it may mean to your business in the very near future (like the next trade show).

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Technorati Tags: Medical Device Consultant, medical devices, Social Media, trade show strategies, Twitter

One thing I will say is that the pattern is that industry leaders are trending toward leading in social media.  Second and third place contenders in product categories both in medical devices and pharma tend to be lagging far behind in social media.  Below, I list how many Twitter® addresses some popular companies have active.

• Medtronic – 13 – This is one 800 pound gorilla that knows how to tweet.  This innovative industry medical device leader is also being the innovative leader in social media.  Hello!! Boston Scientific….are you asleep at the Social Media wheel?
• Pfizer – 12 – One of the powerhouses of pharma is giving its competitors a lesson in social media.  Lilly and Merck, if you have Twitter profiles, they are hard to find.
• Genentech – 3 – Not bad.
• Baxter – 1  - A token corporate presence.  Active and up-to-date.
• Novartis – 7 – They are rocking.
• Haag-Streit USA – 3 – Used regularly.  A small company making social media waves.
• Zimmer Orthopedics – none – for a company that is aggressively conducting DTC advertising, this is a bit of a shock.  Maybe their Twitter address is related to a specific product.  They don’t make it easy.
• Carl Zeiss Meditech – none – one of their markets is optometry.  Optometrists are young, social media savvy and gregarious.  Big mistake not to be on Twitter.
• Topcon Medical – 1 – Unfortunately, they are not using their account.  The last posting was in May 2010.  They get a failing grade.  To have a Twitter address and not use it  makes you look incompetent.
• Alcon – none – the mother company, Novartis, has 7 addresses.  Alcon better catch up.
• Abbott Labs – none active – embarrassing.
• Abbott Medical Optics – none – what can I say, they belong to Abbott.  With patients actively involved in decisions about refractive and cataract surgery, AMO should be having a conversation on Twitter.  They are AWOT (Absent With Out Twitter).
• Bausch + Lomb – at least 6 – several found on Twitter search . Hard to find on their website.    Pleasant surprise.  I thought B+L was more conservative than this. However, the CrystalensToday address doesn’t seem to work.
• JNJ -  JNJStories – can’t find easily on a Twitter search.  Had to go to the JNJ site to find it.  I am surprised they don’t have a Twitter program to support their  Nurses campaign.  JNJ should have 8 Twitter feeds.  They have plenty to talk about.
• FDA – 8 – The agency we all complain about so much actually is trying harder to communicate than many pharma and medical device companies.

Twitter is relevant in Medical Devices and Pharma.  Some of the above companies are proving this.

Start considering how to make it relevant to your business!

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Technorati Tags: Medical Device Consultant, medical devices, Social Media, Twitter