How medical advertisers can use lifestyle marketing tactics

Over the past decade, physician marketing has changed a lot. This shift is clearly illustrated by visual marketing alone, in which generic pictures of doctors in white coats and blue scrubs have been replaced with exciting, moving imagery. This shift in advertising tactics has been a direct response to the changing attitudes of younger physicians.

Advertisers bombard today's doctors with exciting images, targeted calls to action and well-researched appeals. Pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers use these tactics because they work to gain the attention of a highly targeted audience.

Physicians will read documentation to learn more about new drugs and devices if they're interested - but to gain their initial attention, advertisers need to make a statement. Lifestyle marketing sells the reader on an idea - then delves into the specific of the product or service.

What is lifestyle marketing?

Lifestyle marketing has become a legitimate tactic over the past decade because, in a saturated market, each advertisement tends to blur into the next. Try to picture the last time you scrolled through your Facebook feed. Amidst the updates from your friends, you likely saw a wide variety of ads - but which one can you recall without effort?

Physicians frequent different media channels than the average consumer - but even in these targeted arenas, market saturation can lower the impact of each individual ad. Think about it: a single-page advertisement is effective because, as the sole piece of content on the page, it demands attention. A page loaded with dozens of advertisements, on the other hand, is easy enough to skip.

Lifestyle marketing circumvents the problem of saturation with captivating imagery, bold calls to action and impeccable design.

According to the marketing blog Pixlee, lifestyle marketing is:

• Personal: The advertisement should make the reader want to participate in some way. The message needs to be highly targeted.
• Well-designed: Crisp photography, vibrant colors and the suggestion of movement all make lifestyle marketing energetic and appealing.
• Credible: If the ad copy isn't authentic - or the audience is ill-defined - readers won't respond.
• Community-oriented: Lifestyle marketing should make the reader want to participate in a larger community. Physicians are already part of professional community, but what about outside the office?

How will your product or service help physicians achieve work/life balance?

Take inspiration from tourism advertisements

Whether you represent a pharmaceutical company, medical device manufacturer or staff physician recruiting group, you can use lifestyle marketing tactics to your advantage. But getting started can be difficult. For inspiration, check out an industry where lifestyle marketing dominates: tourism.

Tourism campaigns often feature wide shots of city skylines, pictures of attractive couples on the beach and ad copy that makes you just want to pack up and leave. Imagine if your advertisements could make readers feel that way.

"In a saturated market, lifestyle advertising stands out."

But exciting imagery alone won't generate leads - it must be paired with enticing copy.

Keep your ad copy tight and relevant

The majority of millennial physicians rate work/life balance as a top priority, making it a powerful advertising appeal. Medicine is a tough, time-consuming field of work, and thoughts of a more balanced life pop up frequently in the minds of young physicians. In fact, Scientific American reported that many professionals who leave the field do so because of burnout.

How does your product or service help physicians achieve a better work/life balance? If you can articulate your answer succinctly, you're on your way to developing a successful physician marketing campaign.

Now that you know a little more about how to use lifestyle advertising tactics when marketing to doctors, you need a targeted approach to media buying as well. To learn more, visit ELSMediaKits.com today.