ATLANTA – The upcoming Medtrade (Oct 20-23, 2014 in Atlanta) has an excellent line-up of speakers who will present programs addressing the most important topics faced by DME suppliers today. Every issue of Medtrade Monday, leading up to Medtrade, will highlight a Medtrade program.
Adding a Product Line to Your Existing Business
One of the hottest topics on HME right now is “how can I diversify my business?” Providers should consider a potential marketing approach even before choosing a product or service to add to their lineup. This may be as simple as thinking through some high level details such as whether or not your customer base is already familiar with that kind of product or inquiring about co-op marketing options with the manufacturer.
In fact, asking the right series of questions is at the core of most successful marketing plans. Even the most basic questions; Who? What? Where? When? Why? Wow?—can unlock insights into positioning a product to integrate with the existing business.
In addition to all this question asking is execution. Execution is nothing more than a marketing code word for turning ideas into reality. It is important to evaluate all the touch points of a new product line. Providers will need to plan for communication with internal staff, referral sources and, of course, patients and caregivers to raise awareness about a new product or service – and each audience may be interested in slightly different features of that product.
New product lines often live and die by the marketing whether it’s a foray into retail, adding additional services, or simply expanding upon what you already offer. Successful product integration needs support from the right market research, internal training, a solid launch plan, and appropriate brand positioning. While this can seem like a monumental task, thoughtful planning ahead of time can help make implementation a much smoother process.
Q&A with the Presenter
Medtrade Monday: Why is this topic important?
Anna McDevitt, president of Laboratory Marketing: This topic is important because post-acute healthcare is becoming increasingly competitive. Thinking about how a product will be marketed—both internally and externally—can help providers to stay ahead of potential problems plus find unique competitive advantages.
Medtrade Monday: Why should people attend this presentation?
McDevitt: People should attend this presentation because it outlines an approach to developing a complete marketing strategy for adding a product line. The content is based in common sense, rather than marketing buzz words, and presents simple, scalable solutions that can be applied to any type of provider.
On Tuesday, October 21, 2014, Anna McDevitt, president of Laboratory Marketing will present an in-depth program entitled Adding a Product Line to Your Existing Business.
• Providers who wish to register for Medtrade should CLICK HERE.
• The full link for registration is http://registration.experientevent.com/showmth141/default.aspx?flowcode=att
• Pricing for events can be found at https://medtrade.com/attendee/pricing.shtml
• All sessions at Medtrade and their descriptions can be found here: https://medtrade.com/conference/conference-sessions.shtml
Exhibitors have already bought 98% of the floor space at the Georgia World Congress Center in anticipation of what could be the most important Medtrade in the event’s long history. For a complete list of exhibitors and/or additional information about the show, visit medtrade.com.