5 Keys to mHealth Start-Up Marketing

Note: This blog originally ran on the mHimss website  in suport of a consumer engagement “tweet up”

As a start-up mHealth firm, how do you swim with the sharks without getting eaten alive?

“Shark” investor Mark Cuban says start-ups need to understand that it’s not about having the killer idea. Success is much more about being completely prepared to take a product or service to market. “Everyone has ideas. Most don’t do the work required to get the job done.” says Cuban. It also requires more than doing the work. You must make sales.  Cuban sums it up this way:  “No sales. No company.”

So what’s the work required and how do you position your mHealth idea to make those all important initial sales that establish you as a viable business?

Let’s explore the 5 Keys to mHealth Start-Up Marketing success.

1. Determine Who-  Who does your mHealth app or software solution serve? As Cuban says, you can have a great idea, but if nobody wants it, if no one will spend money to buy it, it will fall flat. Market research is vital to pinpoint your WHO. Understand this important fact. To get initial sales wins, a universal mHealth app, such as a diet and exercise education and monitoring app, must be targeted to a specific market. For example, a post-pregnancy app is easier to market than a diet/exercise app for women. Create a detailed Buyer Persona of that post-pregnancy mother who wants to get back into shape.
2. What Is Your Message? What are the fears and desires of the Buyer persona you’ve identified? Why does this new Mom really want to lose weight? Make your end-user the heroine of the story. Create and share success stories that instill confidence and motivate end-users to achieve results they desire using your mHealth app.
3. Figure Out Where- Where does your Buyer go to get information? How does she use social media? What search terms and phrases are used? Most importantly, understand she’s a Smartphone user. As an mHealth firm, using Mobile as a marketing medium is a must to reach your end users. According to Google, 90% of mobile searches result in an action within 24 hours, 70% within one hour. If your post-pregnancy Mom searches for a diet/fitness app on her mobile phone, odds are, she’s a buyer.
4. Ship It Now- As a start-up, even when you do all the homework to understand Who, What Message, and Where to Message, you’ll never have all the answers. Today marketing, especially Mobile marketing, is about Speed. Get your app out to market. Prepare to rapidly iterate and refine your app. It’s vital to build in feedback from users, test, and constantly make adjustments based on data. Mobile Health marketing isn’t a once and done project. It’s an agile process.
5. Know WHY-  A key part of your agile mHealth marketing process is to also know and consistently iterate and refine your WHY.  Inspired businesses know WHY they do what they do. Inspired businesses think, act, and communicate from the inside out.   Always keep this thought in mind: “People don’t buy what you do; they buy WHY you do it.”  – –Simon Sinek TED: How Great Leaders Inspire Action

Follow these 5 strategies to position your mHealth start-up for success. Jump in and enjoy your swim.

 

photo credit: Alex Dodd via photopin cc