How Medical Storytelling Will Raise Money and Market Your Breakthrough Device
By Stanley Meytin
Do you know how to leverage medical storytelling to raise funds for and market your healthcare products? A promotional video might just be the ticket to growing your business, reaching patients, and changing the world.
You’re a pro at creating medical devices that save lives and make a difference in people’s health and wellness. But you need to raise money to fund the research, development, and awareness of your device. Plus, you need to find ways to get the word out about your devices to patients, doctors, and experts.
Too often, healthcare companies die or wither because they can’t find avenues to raise funds or spread awareness about their medical products. Their life-changing breakthroughs get filed away, collecting dust instead of saving lives—simply because they don’t know the opportunities for medical marketing.
We’re here to make this process a lot easier and cost-effective for you. Medical storytelling videos are currently the most impactful ways to open fundraising doors and to reach your ideal target patients.
Why should you create a video for medical devices?
While you’re in the process of bringing your medical breakthrough to life, you likely have two main goals:
- To raise funds to support research and development efforts
- To spread awareness about your device and efforts to doctors, patients, and other experts
A lot of medical companies are finding that the traditional methods of fundraising and spreading awareness are going out of fashion. Written proposals don’t grab the attention of potential investors. Sending pamphlets and salespeople to doctors’ offices isn’t enough to prove your product’s credibility anymore.
Instead, videos are becoming one of the most cost-effective ways to spread information about your medical products to potential investors and purchasers alike. Video is taking over in just about every industry—including the healthcare industry. A few quick minutes of visual storytelling about what you do, how you do it, and why you do it is an effective method for disseminating your message quickly and effectively.
Get investors
Investors love videos. When executed properly, a video can give an investor all of the information they need and stimulate an emotional response in just 2-3 minutes. It’s that sort of stimulation that gets investors interested in your business—interested enough to give you money. Plus, in a sea full of written proposals, your video will stand out and catch your potential investors’ attention.
Market your product
You can also repurpose your video as a marketing tool to showcase your product when you go to doctors or direct to patients. If your video can grab the heart (and funds) of your investors, you’ll likely gain attention from the people who will benefit from it as well.
Whether talking to an investor or a patient, your video’s goal is to demonstrate the value of your product and how it will make an impact in the industry.
Do it all—at a low cost
Video production costs may feel expensive at first. But you can use and reuse videos for investors, marketing, and sales pitches—and they actually work. You save exorbitant amounts of time, resources, energy, and costs not having to create different proposals and campaigns for each audience. All the while, you get a storytelling platform that is able to create an emotional response that urges your audience to take action.
3 factors of medical storytelling
There are three main factors you want to emphasize in your medical device video:
- Product info: What is the device?
- Brand mission: Why did your brand create this device?
- Selling point: Why does this device matter?
1. What is the device/product?
Before anything else, people want to know what you’re putting out. Keep the description simple. You want to condense your product’s explanation to a sentence or two that gets at the heart of what the device does and the technology behind it.
For example, from the Cochlear website: “Cochlear implants help those with moderate to profound hearing loss in both ears who are not receiving enough benefit when using hearing aids. They are designed to help you get back the sounds you’ve been missing by giving you the clarity you need to hear better and understand speech, even in noisy situations.”
The goal of this first section is to give your audience enough information to see if it’s pertinent to them and to describe how your technology is unique from (or better than) other products on the market.
2. Why did you create the device?
This is where you delve into your brand. Every company has a purpose, a history, and a mission. It’s this branding that turns you from an inventor or manufacturer into a healthcare expert.
Most healthcare companies have the purpose of helping and caring for their patients. So you need more than that to stand out. Be specific about how exactly your company is in the business of making a difference. Get more info on building a brand message people will remember here.
For example, the mission of Cochlear is: “We help people hear and be heard. We empower people to connect with others and live a full life. We help transform the way people understand and treat hearing loss. We innovate and bring to market a range of implantable hearing solutions that deliver a lifetime of hearing outcomes.”
Take this apart and they have one sentence for every “goal” of their business. You can take a similar approach when building your brand mission:
- How you help patients
- How you make a change in the lifestyle/wellness of your patients
- How you make a difference in your field
- How your company is innovating new solutions
Together, this tells the viewer what your brand is all about—and why they should invest in or buy from you.
Furthermore, you might consider delving a bit into your brand’s history along with its mission. One of the most impactful aspects of medical storytelling is sharing how your brand came to be. How did your founders and employees decide to change the industry and their patients’ lives? How did it start, how has it grown, and where are you going in the future?
Pro-tip: Put your business mission at the heart of all your content, videos, and communications. This creates a brand that people know, love, and trust.
3. Why does this device matter?
Define your value proposition and unique selling point. This is where you describe how your device is different from anything else on the market. You want to leave space to prove your product’s worth for your patients (and the doctors who are giving it to your patients).
On Cochlear’s homepage, they give you the significance of their product at the very top: “Hear now. And always. Hearing connects us to our world. To small everyday wonders and to the people and experiences we love.”
Remember that you’re selling a product—just like any other business or industry. That means you still need to demonstrate how and why this product can change your audience’s lives for the better.
Acknowledge your customer’s pain point and show how your product is the solution. In the video, you want to paint a picture that stirs up emotion about how your medical breakthrough can change the everyday life of your patients.
Testimonials
This is also a great place for testimonials. User testimonials help prove that your product is credible and legitimate. Social proof is one of the most successful ways to tell investors and other customers that your product is worth trying out. The best videos (that convert the most) have at least one customer testimonial.
Learn how to master your video testimonial conversions in 10 easy steps.
Should the video present studies about my medical device?
Yes and no. If you have studies that prove the efficacy of your device, you definitely want to mention the results in the video. This is a great way to substantiate credibility and efficacy. When it comes to medical products, proof is an absolute must.
But you don’t need to get into the specifics of the study. Sum up the results in a sentence or two, and then provide links to your website or medical journal where the viewer can find more information.
Pulling medical storytelling together
1. Start with what your device is. Let people know what the device does and the novel technology behind it.
2. Tell the story of your brand. Why did you want to create this product? How do you care for your patients? What makes your brand mission unique and important?
3. Tell the story of your device. What makes your product so special? How will it improve the lives of your patients and doctors? What credibility does it hold from studies and previous users?
Medical storytelling videos help you raise funds from investors, spread awareness about your inventions, and encourage doctors and patients to see the effects of your product for themselves.
Our healthcare clients have seen incredible, life-changing success from just one powerful video. You can too.
How do you relate to your audience and get their attention? See what a video can do for your medical breakthrough with a consultation from True Film Production. We look forward to brainstorming ideas to make a difference in the healthcare industry and the lives of your customers.
Reading Time: 6 minutes
By Stanley Meytin
Do you know how to leverage medical storytelling to raise funds for and market your healthcare products? A promotional video might just be the ticket to growing your business, reaching patients, and changing the world.
You’re a pro at creating medical devices that save lives and make a difference in people’s health and wellness. But you need to raise money to fund the research, development, and awareness of your device. Plus, you need to find ways to get the word out about your devices to patients, doctors, and experts.
Too often, healthcare companies die or wither because they can’t find avenues to raise funds or spread awareness about their medical products. Their life-changing breakthroughs get filed away, collecting dust instead of saving lives—simply because they don’t know the opportunities for medical marketing.
We’re here to make this process a lot easier and cost-effective for you. Medical storytelling videos are currently the most impactful ways to open fundraising doors and to reach your ideal target patients.
Why should you create a video for medical devices?
While you’re in the process of bringing your medical breakthrough to life, you likely have two main goals:
- To raise funds to support research and development efforts
- To spread awareness about your device and efforts to doctors, patients, and other experts
A lot of medical companies are finding that the traditional methods of fundraising and spreading awareness are going out of fashion. Written proposals don’t grab the attention of potential investors. Sending pamphlets and salespeople to doctors’ offices isn’t enough to prove your product’s credibility anymore.
Instead, videos are becoming one of the most cost-effective ways to spread information about your medical products to potential investors and purchasers alike. Video is taking over in just about every industry—including the healthcare industry. A few quick minutes of visual storytelling about what you do, how you do it, and why you do it is an effective method for disseminating your message quickly and effectively.
Get investors
Investors love videos. When executed properly, a video can give an investor all of the information they need and stimulate an emotional response in just 2-3 minutes. It’s that sort of stimulation that gets investors interested in your business—interested enough to give you money. Plus, in a sea full of written proposals, your video will stand out and catch your potential investors’ attention.
Market your product
You can also repurpose your video as a marketing tool to showcase your product when you go to doctors or direct to patients. If your video can grab the heart (and funds) of your investors, you’ll likely gain attention from the people who will benefit from it as well.
Whether talking to an investor or a patient, your video’s goal is to demonstrate the value of your product and how it will make an impact in the industry.
Do it all—at a low cost
Video production costs may feel expensive at first. But you can use and reuse videos for investors, marketing, and sales pitches—and they actually work. You save exorbitant amounts of time, resources, energy, and costs not having to create different proposals and campaigns for each audience. All the while, you get a storytelling platform that is able to create an emotional response that urges your audience to take action.
3 factors of medical storytelling
There are three main factors you want to emphasize in your medical device video:
- Product info: What is the device?
- Brand mission: Why did your brand create this device?
- Selling point: Why does this device matter?
1. What is the device/product?
Before anything else, people want to know what you’re putting out. Keep the description simple. You want to condense your product’s explanation to a sentence or two that gets at the heart of what the device does and the technology behind it.
For example, from the Cochlear website: “Cochlear implants help those with moderate to profound hearing loss in both ears who are not receiving enough benefit when using hearing aids. They are designed to help you get back the sounds you’ve been missing by giving you the clarity you need to hear better and understand speech, even in noisy situations.”
The goal of this first section is to give your audience enough information to see if it’s pertinent to them and to describe how your technology is unique from (or better than) other products on the market.
2. Why did you create the device?
This is where you delve into your brand. Every company has a purpose, a history, and a mission. It’s this branding that turns you from an inventor or manufacturer into a healthcare expert.
Most healthcare companies have the purpose of helping and caring for their patients. So you need more than that to stand out. Be specific about how exactly your company is in the business of making a difference. Get more info on building a brand message people will remember here.
For example, the mission of Cochlear is: “We help people hear and be heard. We empower people to connect with others and live a full life. We help transform the way people understand and treat hearing loss. We innovate and bring to market a range of implantable hearing solutions that deliver a lifetime of hearing outcomes.”
Take this apart and they have one sentence for every “goal” of their business. You can take a similar approach when building your brand mission:
- How you help patients
- How you make a change in the lifestyle/wellness of your patients
- How you make a difference in your field
- How your company is innovating new solutions
Together, this tells the viewer what your brand is all about—and why they should invest in or buy from you.
Furthermore, you might consider delving a bit into your brand’s history along with its mission. One of the most impactful aspects of medical storytelling is sharing how your brand came to be. How did your founders and employees decide to change the industry and their patients’ lives? How did it start, how has it grown, and where are you going in the future?
Pro-tip: Put your business mission at the heart of all your content, videos, and communications. This creates a brand that people know, love, and trust.
3. Why does this device matter?
Define your value proposition and unique selling point. This is where you describe how your device is different from anything else on the market. You want to leave space to prove your product’s worth for your patients (and the doctors who are giving it to your patients).
On Cochlear’s homepage, they give you the significance of their product at the very top: “Hear now. And always. Hearing connects us to our world. To small everyday wonders and to the people and experiences we love.”
Remember that you’re selling a product—just like any other business or industry. That means you still need to demonstrate how and why this product can change your audience’s lives for the better.
Acknowledge your customer’s pain point and show how your product is the solution. In the video, you want to paint a picture that stirs up emotion about how your medical breakthrough can change the everyday life of your patients.
Testimonials
This is also a great place for testimonials. User testimonials help prove that your product is credible and legitimate. Social proof is one of the most successful ways to tell investors and other customers that your product is worth trying out. The best videos (that convert the most) have at least one customer testimonial.
Learn how to master your video testimonial conversions in 10 easy steps.
Should the video present studies about my medical device?
Yes and no. If you have studies that prove the efficacy of your device, you definitely want to mention the results in the video. This is a great way to substantiate credibility and efficacy. When it comes to medical products, proof is an absolute must.
But you don’t need to get into the specifics of the study. Sum up the results in a sentence or two, and then provide links to your website or medical journal where the viewer can find more information.
Pulling medical storytelling together
1. Start with what your device is. Let people know what the device does and the novel technology behind it.
2. Tell the story of your brand. Why did you want to create this product? How do you care for your patients? What makes your brand mission unique and important?
3. Tell the story of your device. What makes your product so special? How will it improve the lives of your patients and doctors? What credibility does it hold from studies and previous users?
Medical storytelling videos help you raise funds from investors, spread awareness about your inventions, and encourage doctors and patients to see the effects of your product for themselves.
Our healthcare clients have seen incredible, life-changing success from just one powerful video. You can too.
How do you relate to your audience and get their attention? See what a video can do for your medical breakthrough with a consultation from True Film Production. We look forward to brainstorming ideas to make a difference in the healthcare industry and the lives of your customers.
What story would you like to share?
Whether you want to launch an idea, spark a movement or simply get people talking about what you do, you have one shot
at delivering your message in a way that matters. Let’s make sure you do it right.
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