As we wrap up 2023 and look ahead to 2024, it’s worth reflecting on some of the key trends impacting marketing for health tech companies. In this week’s Healthtech Marketing Show, I share my thoughts on Health Tech Marketing Trends 2024, based on recent conversations with health tech marketers.
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I recently met with a dozen health tech marketers to get their take on Health Tech Marketing Trends 2024. Here are nine key trends to be aware of as you plan your 2024 strategy:
- Budgets will be flat at best. While some companies expect marketing budgets to grow next year, most expect them to remain flat or face pressure to cut spending. Health tech companies will need to clearly demonstrate marketing ROI to secure a budget, especially those with longer sales cycles.
- AI adoption will accelerate, but responsible use policies are needed. Virtually all companies are actively exploring AI tools for marketing and sales productivity. However, concerns about plagiarism and responsible use remain. Many companies are developing policies to guide employee usage of tools like AI writing assistants.
- Quality over quantity when it comes to leads. Rather than chasing lead volume, there’s a shift toward focusing on higher-quality leads and improved conversion rates. This aligns well with account-based approaches. Tight collaboration between sales and marketing is key.
- Proving marketing’s revenue impact remains challenging but critical. Economic pressures mean C-suites will scrutinize marketing ROI more than ever. Companies are exploring better lead tracking and attribution models to quantify marketing’s revenue impact, especially for longer sales cycle products.
- Video is still the top content priority despite production barriers. While video is a top priority, producing quality video at scale remains difficult for most. Some companies are experimenting with AI tools like Descript and Synthesia to improve video creation productivity.
- Huge opportunity in linking PR and content. Many marketing and PR teams work in silos within larger companies. However, small companies tend to be better at integrating content and PR. Creating bylined articles authored by executives is one way to build stronger content-PR alignment.
- Writing still a vital in-house skill despite AI. Interestingly, content writing remains a top “must have” in-house skill for health tech marketing leaders. While AI writing tools clearly offer value, there remain very human elements to quality writing that are difficult to outsource.
- Pressure to consolidate martech stacks while expanding capabilities. There’s an appetite to add innovative capabilities like ABM, predictive analytics, and AI layers to tech stacks. But teams also feel pressure to consolidate and avoid shelfware. Marketing ops leadership will be critical to drive smart integration.
- Customer success and retention have become more vital. As growth gets harder, retaining existing clients gets more important. We’ll see tighter alignment between marketing, sales, and customer success to drive greater lifetime value.
The overarching Health Tech Marketing Trends 2024 themes are a shift from volume to quality, pressure to prove ROI, and leveraging AI responsibly. While health tech marketers express guarded optimism for 2024, most expect a challenging growth environment. However, for savvy marketers who can clearly demonstrate their value and ability to drive outcomes, abundant opportunities remain on the horizon.
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