22 Years of Lessons Learned
This month Pulse Health & Wellness is celebrating its 22nd anniversary. It is hard to believe that for more than two decades, we have been helping healthy brands earn the trust of health professionals and, in turn, their recommendations to patients and clients.
During that time, we have had the privilege of working with hundreds of talented people and dozens of brands to deliver meaningful outreach that educates professional and consumer alike.
Plus, there is no way to do what we have been doing for more than 20 years and not build a tremendous amount of institutional knowledge.
The health and wellness landscape has changed considerably since 2000, but these lessons we have learned hold true:
A consumer's own health professional is the most trusted source of nutrition guidance. The data continues to show that a consumer's own health professional—whether that be a physician, dietitian, or a fitness professional—is their most trusted source of guidance. If you want to tap into true influence, influence that comes with trust, credibility, and a proven track record of driving sales, then health practitioners are where it's at.
Trends come and go but basic nutrition education is always relevant. Across 22 years, we have seen it all. Low fat, high protein, low carb, gluten free, non-GMO, natural, clean, and so many others. As those trends have ebbed and waned, what we continue to hear from health professionals is that there is a need for basic nutrition education to support their patients and clients. Being the source of this education builds trust and credibility for your brand—and drives trial and loyalty.
Brands that support health professionals earn recommendations. We regularly poll the health professionals in our PulseConnect network to ask them what makes them recommend one brand over another. The answer has been remarkably consistent: an understanding of a product's nutritional profile and a personal experience with the brand. Arming health professionals with everything they need to know about your brand and an opportunity to try it for themselves drives recommendations to consumers. If professionals have a comfort level with your brand—and materials and resources on hand to share—what brand do you think they are going to recommend? And if you communicate with them regularly, keeping them up-to-date and stocked with resources to share, imagine the value that accrues.
Peer-to-peer communication builds credibility and earns trust. It goes without saying that marketing to consumers through their health professionals is substantively and stylistically different from other forms of marketing. But health professionals aren't just looking for brands to share information and market their products. They want to know that brands are committed to producing nutritious products that benefit their patients and clients—and that the brand is committed to supporting their efforts to promote a healthy lifestyle. There is no better way to do this than peer-to-peer communication. Whether it's a dietitian on staff or a health professional working with the brand, marketing to health professionals through peers is an excellent way to build the trust and credibility needed to earn recommendations.
Health professionals prefer physical materials over digital assets. Digital marketing looked quite a bit different in 2000 than it does today. Particularly over the past decade brands have committed heavily to reaching consumers online, whether that is by email, social media or targeted advertising. Yet, when we ask health professionals how they want to receive information from healthy brands, nearly 80% tell us they want physical materials. Why? Health professionals prefer to hand something to a patient or client during a counseling interaction as opposed to giving them a URL to visit later. They like to review materials together, make notes to customize advice, and ensure that consumers have something to refer back to later. By providing physical materials to health professionals—both for their own ongoing reference and to share with patients and clients—your brand is meeting their preferences and increasing the chances of a recommendation. Digital still plays a role, but physical materials can make the difference.
These are just a few of the lessons we have learned over the past 22 years. Working with healthy brands and health professionals every day means we are learning something new every day. If we can help you learn the value of health professionals to marketing a healthy brand, let us know. Email info@pulsehw.com or visit our website at pulsehw.com.