The Top 16 Direct-to-Practitioner Branding Mistakes

Similar to but also different from their B2C cousins, these are the 16 patterns we’ve seen direct-to-practitioner brands falling into, time and again.

1. They lead with the science
2. They are hindered by a lack of customer insight beyond sales data
3. They don’t know what they stand for, their bigger mission in the world
4. They believe that technology/science differentiates them
5. They believe their solution is the best
6. They work from historical or anecdotal assumptions rather than data
7. They believe that high quality is more than just the cost of entry
8. They focus on their operations at the expense of their marketing
9. They struggle to simply communicate their manufacturing processes/IP
10. They are afraid of and/or resistant to transparency
11. They reactively let competitors frame the conversation
12. They think that marketing to the patient will increase compliance
13. They think their customers care about diverters as much as they do
14. They think their customers are more paper-oriented than digital-savvy
15. They burden their sales force on qualifying leads versus letting marketing fill that role
16. They let sales lead and marketing follow

OK, take a breath. Recognize your situation in any of these patterns?

From our research and years of working with leading direct-to-practitioner brands, we know these are the hard truths you face. While each company has its own unique set of challenges, there is more commonality among them than difference. Established leaders, with decades of success and revenues in the hundreds of millions of dollars, aren’t any more immune to these mistakes than their smaller competitors with $20 million in revenue.

You want your brand to reach more practitioners, to help them change more lives. You want to establish greater loyalty among health care professionals, and thus have greater impact, both professionally and financially. We’re here to help.