Dissecting the Mind of a Surgeon: How Focus Groups Can Shed Light on Marketing Best Practices

As a marketer, how often do you speak directly to the surgeons who use your solutions? How well do you understand their motivations, fears and influences? If you’re like most device manufacturers, not often enough.

Surgeon focus groups can offer rich insight into how surgeons think – helping us understand how to deliver information about our offerings, or new ways to connect with surgeons. By engaging our actual – and potential – users, we can uncover tips for better marketing and tailor materials, products and branding to their needs. Below are five ways that focus groups can make you a better marketer:

  1. Learn how to tailor your messages

Messaging around a device, how it works and why it is unique is key to a successful launch. By presenting several messaging ideas or options to surgeons, you can learn which ones resonate most. Focus groups may even present new ideas you hadn’t considered, giving you an opportunity to strengthen your launch message.

As a marketer, how often do you speak directly to the surgeons who use your solutions? How well do you understand their motivations, fears and influences? If you’re like most device manufacturers, not often enough.Click To Tweet

  1. Identify effective visual concepts

In a focus group with spine surgeons we learned that artistic beauty shots of human backs were unappealing to surgeons when used in advertising. The reason? It wasn’t realistic or representative of their real patients. Only in a focus group can you uncover these subtle preferences and define a visual representation of your brand that surgeons can relate to.

  1. Understand surgeon use of new information channels

Surgeons are increasingly getting information through online and mobile sources. But how do we know if were reaching surgeons with digital campaigns? One way to find out is to have surgeons interact with your online or digital channels in a focus group setting. You can explore exactly how surgeons will navigate information to ensure that it is intuitive and user-friendly.

  1. Test product packaging and usability

By examining the ways surgeons work with devices, focus group participants can suggest packaging and design alterations that could impact the device and ease of use. With this feedback, you’ll gain additional insight into how to package products for use in storage areas, prep areas and the operating room. The same goes for surgical trays and accessories.

  1. Assess and refine your brand identity

Surgeon focus groups can offer outside opinions on how your brand is viewed or how your device is perceived in the marketplace. Launching a new product with this feedback can give your company an opportunity to define the product in line with your corporate brand, even refining messaging where needed to start anew.

For more information on marketing to surgeons, check out our interactive infographic.

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