Digg It - Business

There are two basic approaches to advertising or lead generation... the shotgun approach... or the rifle approach.

There is only one cost efficient way... the rifle approach.

By carefully selecting specific niche markets, or market segments, and presenting a compelling message directly to that audience, you will begin to reap the real profi

According to USFDA, a combination product is one composed of any combination of a drug and device; biological product and device; drug and biological product

t rewards of direct marketing.

First let's define a "niche" market. I define it as: "Any homogeneous market in which the members of the group have similar occupational, interests, or lifestyle characteristics... those characteristics being ones which would make them an excellent prospect to benefit from your services... and/or consume your p

; or drug, device, and biological product and fixed dose combination would include two or more combinations of drug.

Examples of combination products may in

roducts.

HERE IS AN EXAMPLE OF TARGETING OCCUPATIONAL MARKETS FOR A "WELLNESS" NICHE...

Some of the niche markets are obvious:

* Chiropractors

* Medical Doctors, Nurses

* Health Food Stores

* Fitness Centers

* Spas, Health Retreats

* Acupuncturists, Massage Therapists, etc.

* Veterinarians, Pet Clinics, Pet Shops (wellness is not li

lude drug-coated devices, drugs packaged with delivery devices in medical kits, and drugs and devices packaged separately but intended to be used together.

mited to humans)

NICHE LIFESTYLE AND DEMOGRAPHIC RELATED MARKETS...

=> Senior citizens or "baby boomers"

=> Specific Disease Sufferers... cancer, diabetes, arthritis, ADD, Lupus, etc. (Remember, we can make NO claims.)

=> Pre-natal, Pregnant Women, Babies, Parenting

=> Sports participants and enthusiasts

=> Health & Fitness Buyers

=> V

here is enormous increase in the number of combination products entering the market in the recent years. Combination products have proven advantages but fixe

tamin, Supplement, Remedy Buyers

=> Etc. Etc.

HOW TO TARGET THE NICHE...

Regardless of how you intend to approach the niche with your marketing message... print advertising, broadcast, direct mail, e-mail marketing, etc. ... you have to identify resources that can supply the targeted pathway for your message.

The first place to look... an

d dose combinations are still in the process of convincing regulatory authority on their advantages over the single ingredient formulations.

Combination pro

d a pure qualifier for whether you have identified a real niche in the first place... is to look for magazines and other print media (newsletters) that are targeted specifically to that defined market... and that can supply you with targeted mailing lists (snail mail or opt-in email) , print advertising vehicles (magazines, newsletters, newsp

ucts have become life saving products for the pharmaceutical companies who doesn’t have many innovative molecules in their product pipeline and have been inc

apers, trade journals, etc.), to cost effectively reach the niche.

Where do you find these resources? The easiest and fastest way is to do a search at Google (or your favorite search engine) for terms that closely identity the target audience.

For purposes of example let's use the occupational niche of Chiropractors:

Searching Google for "

easingly used in the product life cycle management. Even the companies having product patents are trying to extend their product life cycle through the combi

hiropractic magazines" will show us a link... http://www.chiro.org/LINKS/journal.shtml ... which will in-turn identify several publications which show promise:

* Chiropractic Economics

* DC Products Review

* Dynamic Chiropractic

* Today's Chiropractic

Once you have identified several publications that serve the niche market, your next st

nation products and maximize the revenues. But the companies involved in this practice are overlooking that they are burdening the patients both economically

ep is to contact each publication and request a "full media kit" from the advertising department. The publications ad department will send you a copy of the publication, advertising rate card, and other marketing materials touting the advantages of advertising with them.

SELECTING MEDIA...

Study the contents of the media kit carefully. Espe

and physically. They need to rightly judge the benefits of the combination products and they have to even look at the risks involved when combining the produ

cially look at the ads which could be considered competitors for your product. If you are lucky enough to live near a large university or public library here is a trick used by many savvy advertisers... go the library and see if there is an old copy of the magazine in question. Go back at least a year or two. If you find the same advertisers

ts. Some of the combination products were well accepted by physicians while others suffered. Companies involved in development of combination products are fi

n the old publications you can safely assume that the publication is pulling a profit for their advertising. This is not fail-safe... but it is a good indicator.

Also, don't be afraid to pick up the phone and call an existing advertiser, or two--or ten, and ask them how the publication pulls for them. Direct competitors will be reluctant to

ding difficulty in defining their combination products and facing various challenges from selecting a combination to marketing it.

Following aspects would a

talk with you about this... but non-competitors will usually respond with some good information.

Be alert to the difference between "circulation" and "readership". Only make your advertising decisions on the basis of verified circulation. Readership is a figure that publications like to toss around to inflate the perceived importance and siz

dd to the challenges in developing combination products:

Which markets to tap where the combination products can do fairly well?
Which combination prod

e of their audience. The only real measure worthy of your consideration is their "audited circulation".

TESTING...

Only test one niche publication at a time unless you have very sophisticated ad tracking available to you. If the niche is unresponsive to your offer in one publication... there is a very good chance that it will be unresponsiv

cts are meaningful and rational?
Which therapeutic categories to select?
Which Combinations can address unmet needs of the patients?
Do combin

e in all the other publications which address that niche. Refine your offer... and test the same publication again. If it fails the second time with a completely different offer... then you might want to re-evaluate that niche.

MAILING LISTS...

Make sure that you inquire as to whether or not the publication will rent you their mailing list.

tions increase the patient compliance?
What would be the developing cost?
How to tackle the risks encountered during combination product developmen

Most will rent you a set of subscribers names for a one-time use. If you rent a set of names... do not attempt to copy and re-mail those names. The lists are seeded with trace names that will alert the publications of your re-use of the names. It is a violation of the terms-of-use agreement and there is much case law to support the claims of

t?

As combination products don't fit into the traditional categories of drugs, medical devices, or biological products, the USFDA is in the process of devel

the publication. If you are caught re-using one-time-use rental names you will be subject to fines and penalties by law.

Names are usually available by specific "sorts" or "selects"... that is, you can select names by such variables as zip code, gender, title, etc. If you are mailing to a niche market you may want to confine your original t

ping new procedures for reviewing their safety, efficacy and quality.

Professional from academic institutions, pharmaceutical industries, health care indust

est mailing to zip codes which are close to your own... to make follow-up easier and less costly.

Names which reflect paid subscribers are more responsive and of better quality than names which are "free controlled circulation" names... although in most trade publications you will find that "controlled circulation" (free) is the norm.

Anoth

y and representatives from various regulatory agencies are working out to design the regulatory requirements for manufacture and sale of combination products

r way to approach logistics of direct mailing is to contact a "list broker" or "lettershop" in your local area and begin a relationship with a knowledgeable staff person. Define closely what you are looking for in the way of target audience and the broker will use seek out and present options for you to select from.

If you are dealing with e

.

As there is an increasing trend of the combination products companies manufacturing such products should be able to tackle the problems involved in the de

mail lists... make absolutely sure they are from double opt-in subscribers. Push the media reps for verification of this point and get guarantees to that effect in writing.

You may want to subscribe to Target Marketing Magazine, Direct, DM News, Catalog Age, and other direct marketing trade publications... all are free. They are full of mark

elopment. They need to be wiser in analyzing the market trends and the regulatory requirements.

Companies that provide selfless information through particip

eting resources, list brokers, and helpful articles that will educate and inform you on the field of direct marketing.

Well, there you have it... a primer on targeting niche markets. The techniques described above will work to identify any niche. Targeting responsive niches will build your business quickly, profitably... and cost effectively

tion in industry events and feedback to regulatory authorities would be able to face the challenges and will be successful in developing combination products

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Are you working very hard but don’t seem to be doing as much as you want to? The busiest person is not always the most effective – you could be wasting a load of your valuable time. Do you procrastinate?

Terms like 'psychographics' drive me ballistic - they're just another way to pigeonhole people. But discover prospects' biggest worries, and you have the heart of a campaign on a silver platter. Survey data doesn't begin to tell the whole story. So how do you find out your technical prospect's problems, the ones they lose sleep over?

If you're advertising JUST to advertise - it's money wasted. Market and advertise smarter.

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