The Internet is one of the most powerful persuasion tools ever devised. Using it wisely can substantially increase the interest that website visitors feel in your product.
Of course, retailers use the Internet to sell billions of dollars worth of products every year. Many life sciences companies, though, could not sell their products directly to internet visitors. Manufacturers of everything from medical equipment to medical devices and pharmaceuticals, therefore, use it to advertise and distribute information to the public. Depending on how they distribute that information, they can open a dialogue, significantly increase their prospects’ interest or waste a golden opportunity. How can you avoid wasting that opportunity?
Learn Who’s Interested and Start a Dialogue
Three of the most important things any company can know are:
• The actual identity of their prospects
• Their contact information
• Their area of interest.
Learning that information early in the purchasing cycle can have a big impact on sales.
Companies whose products represent substantial investments for hospitals, for example, can benefit from knowing which institution is in the market for new equipment – well before they reach the RFP or RFQ stage. Further, understanding their specific needs can give firms a substantial “leg up” on the competition. But institutional buyers frequently play their cards close to the vest. They will often not divulge their interest unless given a compelling reason to do so. Interactive marketing websites can offer them a reason to reveal themselves.
Medical equipment, medical device and biopharmaceutical companies that market primarily to busy physicians and hospital administrators would do well to consider implementing a customized eBrochure program. The opportunity to quickly obtain exactly the information they want in an easy-to-read format is an offer few time-stressed doctors or executives will want to pass up. And once they have traded their contact information for a customized brochure the company can begin the dialogue that often leads to a sale.
Stirring the Imagination
Showing prospects the things that matter most to them will certainly hold their interest. It can also increase a product’s attractiveness if the company presents it in a way that stimulates the imagination. Author Alvin Burns writes in The Journal of Advertising, “Several consumer researchers have shown that imagery-eliciting strategies can significantly affect attitudes…That is, imagery-eliciting stimuli resulted in more positive attitudes than stimuli not attempting to elicit imagery.” In one such study in the early days of cable television, persuasion expert Robert Cialdini, PhD and his colleagues found that homeowners who were asked to envision themselves enjoying the benefits of cable TV were more than twice as likely to subscribe as those who were just told about those benefits. Helping your prospects visualize their enjoying the advantages of using your product or service can make it significantly more likely that they will use it.
Customized eBrochure programs and websites that allow prospects to see exactly what they want to see and help them imagine actually using the product or service stimulate interest. They have a proven track record in turning website visitors into customers. If you’d like to see the actual hard data or learn more about this, please email me at
lrondeau@thealliedgrp.com.
Is the ability to capture key data and stimulate prospects’ imaginations enough to actually increase opportunities and sales? Is there another factor that can improve the likelihood of success? There is. You can read about it in my next blog post, “Thought is the Child of Action in Interactive Marketing Websites.” Stay tuned.
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