EMS
In August 2020, we were asked to prepare a marketing campaign promoting the launch of new medical devices produced by a Swiss company EMS. We knew it would be a challenge: an international project introduced into 7 European countries, combining educational, promotional, and community-building content.
Alexander Bindheim
Digital Marketing Specialist EMSIn August 2020, we were asked to prepare a marketing campaign promoting the launch of new medical devices produced by a Swiss company EMS.
Project goal and overview
We knew it would be a grand challenge: an international project introduced into 7 European countries, combining educational, promotional, and community-building content.
What started as a won tender, for which we proposed fresh and possibly a bit too bold campaign ideas, ended up as a long-term contract. Now we coordinate and create most of EMS’s medical content (including text, design, and graphics) that is distributed via various digital channels in several countries. In just a couple of months, we managed to cover the broad subjects of pain therapy and rehabilitation, but also the field of urology.
How did we develop an international medical launching campaign?
Target group
- medical specialists
- distributors
- international audience (Switzerland, France, Germany, Italy, UK, Spain, Portugal)
Main challenges
- bringing traffic to recently launched social media channels
- creating a series of educational content (including e-books, webinars, newsletters, study recaps)
- promotion of online events
- gathering testimonials from market evaluators
- re-inventing campaign design, while maintaining corporate identity
Project highlights - the solution
social media posts
Different channels (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn) - what was challenging was the fact that our client needed to develop all the channels (some of them from absolute scratch, e.g. Instagram accounts) and provide sufficient traffic. The announcement posts, in particular, demanded a lot of brainstorming. We have strived to engage the audience, and this is why we have carefully considered how to present new concepts and solutions.
e-books
Creating a series of e-books for medical professionals constituted a substantial part of our task. E-books covered the extensive subject of pain therapy and possible means of rehabilitation (including shock waves, laser, manual therapies and rehabilitation in combination with technology). Each e-book included a series of promotional social media posts.
developing a series of case studies
Our task was to establish a communication path with market evaluators (specialists using EMS solutions in their everyday practice), gather their testimonials, and compile a series of case studies for the client’s website.
design and visuals
Designing the campaign offered us a unique chance to re-invent the brand image. Developing a consistent style, suitable for each type of content and at the same time maintaining the company's messaging hierarchy and its corporate identity was a formidable challenge. We were satisfied as most of our innovative ideas were accepted. Consequently, we were able to come up with eye-catching, original materials.
examples: SM graphics, e-books, carousel, icons, colors & fonts, the mix of company’s photo materials with our visuals
mailing and newsletters
Intending to develop highly engaging communication with different target groups, we were asked to create a series of mailing and newsletters, including:
- online events invitations and follow-ups,
- scientific study recaps,
- educational events promotion,
- testimonial requests.
translations
We had to rely on an external translating company, given the fact that we had created the content in English and the campaign was being introduced into 7 countries.
scientific articles and study abstracts
Developing the clinical evidence section of the campaign is tantamount to diligent analysis and summarization of countless scientific papers. That is how we create a series of study recaps, educational infographics and corresponding social media content.
The results
- Over 300.000 people reached on social media month over month
- Increased monthly website visitors by 20%+ month over month
- eBook downloads have become a key lead generator for EMS
Our insights on this project
It is time to share an opinion from our team on the challenges we had to face during our cooperation with EMS:
“When you create content relating to medical devices, sooner or later you will have to dig into all the technical details and understand them as exhaustively as the engineering team. It is part and parcel of being a copywriter. Now imagine you are under huge time pressure… Carrying out the EMS project definitely taught us how to work difficult, technical topics out and still meet the short deadlines.”
“It was a useful lesson of time and workflow management. It is crucial to know what to do when the established plan faces the workforce and time restrictions. Prepare for the fact that the initial plan will be needing some adjustments as the project progresses... The key is to maintain straightforward communication with your client, discussing all the possible delays and satisfactory solutions.”
“At the beginning of any project what might be challenging and disrupting are the prolonged feedback loops. Weekly or bi-weekly calls are definitely a good idea that we used during this project. They allowed us to keep both our team and our client up-to-date and to manage feedback loops better."
“One more important lesson was the fact that in the end, you, as a medical copywriter, are responsible for the quality of the research and materials you base your content on. Even if you are provided with the briefing from the client, always cross-check all the information.”