There is no question about it, the diagnostic space is transforming to a more patient-centric focus. Personalized medicine is a reality, thanks to the more than 35 companion diagnostic tests that are now commercially available. Customized NGS biomarker panels are changing the way that patients are both diagnosed and treated. With this transformative shift in the nature of the products being brought to market, the way in which these products are marketed must also shift.

IVD MARKETING HAS EVOLVED

The ability of an organization to adapt from a traditional Product Marketing approach to a more sophisticated patient-centric approach will ultimately dictate commercial success of a product, both in top-line revenue gains from product adoption and in bottom line launch efficiency. However, this transformation is no small task – it requires discipline, experience, knowledge, time, and resources.

Our daily experience working with diagnostic marketing teams gives us a view into high performing teams in the personalized diagnostics space. Here we will share 5 common challenges which get in the way of elevating marketing to the caliber that patient-centered diagnostic products demand. Do you recognize your marketing team in any of these scenarios?

5 OBSTACLES TO ELEVATING YOUR MARKETING PROGRAMS:

1. “I can do it myself.”

Calling all do-it-yourselfers! When it comes to diagnostic marketing, we have yet to meet a Marketer who doesn’t have more on their plate than they can possibly chew. (If this isn’t you and you are measuring and achieving your goals consistently without losing any sleep, you can stop reading and get back to work!). However, if you are more in the “barely staying afloat” category, we hear you. Marketers are responsible for customer travel, fielding internal questions from development and technical support, attending and organizing meetings, and executing hundreds of strategic and tactical activities, all competing in priority.

At Market Ready Rx, we bolt onto your existing team to extend your reach in a specific area of expertise. We serve as additional tentacles to help you accomplish more. Imagine having team members with 30+ years of experience to help you to develop ideas and execute on them. And we know what you’re thinking - bringing in third party support can feel burdensome to integrate.

Some simple ways that you can reduce the burden of integration include:

• Creating a brief for your support team which outlines your goals.
• Providing style brand guide, tone and sample communications.
• Providing an overview of your preferred work-style.

Professional marketing consultancies like Market Ready Rx can then hit the ground running after a kickoff meeting. Because efficiency is one of our core values, we develop programs that maximize your high-value time, while also allowing you to focus on your other priorities. With touches at key milestones, we enable you to work in parallel while we do the heavy lifting.

2. “The way we’ve always done it works for us.”

The “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” mentality is one that we have all fallen victim to at some point in our professional careers. As Will Rogers famously said, “Even if you are on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there.” In the wake of this diagnostics transformation, using a product-oriented “features and benefits” approach could mean getting run over.

Our goal as a Market Ready Rx support team is to take you to the next level before it’s too late. We can create momentum where there otherwise might be inertia by offering a fresh perspective and providing key positioning adjustments that can elevate your deliverables and outcomes. We can define where your solution impacts the patient journey and the pain points are that are being solved to improve patient care. While many Marketing activities can be reactive in nature, our approach is proactive and elevates your marketing effectiveness and productivity.

3. “A third party doesn’t understand our products.”

It’s true, companion diagnostic and molecular biomarker NGS targets are complex. These products have transformed patient care in ways we didn’t think possible 50 years ago. Yet, Market Ready Rx has been along for the ride, immersed in the commercialization process for these key personalized medicine solutions for 20 years. We have worked with Fortune 100 companies and startups (and everything in between) in this space and we understand the challenges, nuances, and priorities of a personalized diagnostic provider.

While many marketing consultants are focused on feature and benefit marketing, our experience allows you to extend your positioning beyond this traditional approach, by tailoring messaging to address clinical decision points and the impact on the patient journey.

4. “I don’t know what makes sense to outsource for personalized diagnostics marketing.”

When tasked with a growing “to do” list, it becomes difficult to know when to ask for help. Juggling resources and budget with deadlines is always a challenge and tends to drive decision-making. In order to elevate your marketing to the patient-centric holy grail, you will want to ask yourself some critical questions:

• Do I have a strategic plan for the next year with clear sales and marketing goals and tactics to support the goals?
• Do I (or my team) have the experience to develop a strategic plan?
• Do I have resources to execute a strategic plan?
• Do I have a clear understanding of the clinical decision points impacted by our product?
• Do I understand the patient journey?

If the answer to any of these questions is “no,” consider how you can supplement your existing experience and resources to be able to achieve each of these fluidly. An introductory meeting with Market Ready Rx is designed to help you to identify your gaps and define which activities can be tackled by a third party, as well as a creative strategy for tackling the rest.

5. “I have a limited budget and don’t have allocation for an expensive program.”

You wouldn’t be a high-performing diagnostic Marketer if budget didn’t keep you up at night. With competing needs across an entire organization, the value of Commercial Marketing can sometimes get lost. We have sat in your chair and understand the challenges that come with this dynamic. Imagine a world where you had sufficient budget to get it all done at a high quality without losing any sleep!

While this might seem like a pipe dream, we can help you to articulate the value of your initiatives to your management team in order to get a higher return on your investment and buy-in from all stakeholders. We can also define creative solutions to do more with less. For example, we can help to deploy a clear positioning message across multiple platforms in a cost-effective campaign to get more bang for your buck. We can help you to identify solutions that focus on quality vs. quantity to drive the outcomes that your team desires.

SO NOW WHAT?

If you found yourself nodding your head to any of the above, we offer our support to you. Your time and resources are valuable and limitations in either area don’t have to prevent you from experiencing premium marketing outcomes.

Contact us to schedule a free consultation to assess your needs, priorities, and effectiveness and to explore how we can extend your reach. This introductory discussion is the first step in elevating your marketing programs to help you not only keep up with, but outrun, the transformation of the diagnostics market.

To learn more about what we do and how we work, check out our blog Delivering Kick-Ass Marketing with a Passion or visit us at www.marketreadyrx.com.