Our Top Tips on How to Market to The NHS in 2024

The sheer size and scope of the NHS provide diverse and exciting opportunities for private sector suppliers of goods and services. In 2022/23, the Department of Health and Social Care’s budget amounted to an incredible £181.7 billion. Figures from 2021/22 reveal that £32.1bn was spent on procurement alone.

The numbers involved in health expenditure are enormous, so it is unsurprising that becoming a supplier requires many checks and balances. The ease with which you can sell your products or supply your services to the public sector can vary drastically depending on which department you are targeting – and the multifaceted, interconnected nature of the NHS makes it arguably the most complex public department to sell to.

Whether you mass produce medicines, manufacture equipment for hospitals, provide medical uniforms, deliver on-site cleaning and security services, or design innovative health-tech platforms – you will be faced with some of the public sector’s most rigid procurement rules as you bid to join an NHS-approved suppliers list.

To better understand the complex structure of the NHS market and the best tactics you can deploy to become an approved NHS supplier, we recommend you read our article, “An in-depth look at how to successfully sell into the NHS.”

Compliance with the procurement rules and submitting a thoroughly researched proposal is a non-negotiable if you wish to sell into the NHS. But this is the bare minimum. You will not be alone in offering products and services; competition will be tough. You need to set yourself apart from the rest; marketing is the key to this.

When drilled down to basics, marketing is simply about getting potential clients or customers interested in your products and services. So, how do you get decision-makers in the NHS to discover and desire the benefits of your business? This blog will look at the specifics of marketing to the NHS.

What are the best marketing tactics when selling to the NHS?

To aid you in this journey, we have pulled together a selection of top tips on how to best market to the NHS and their providers - and what you can be doing internally to stand out from the crowd.

Invest in your website when selling to the NHS

Having a digital window sounds obvious, but investing in your website cannot be underestimated. First impressions mean a great deal and any potential contacts will likely browse your website early on during the buying process.

Use your homepage to provide an easy-to-navigate overview of your services and solutions, with deeper pages used to go into specific details. Many businesses also use unique landing pages for specific topics or when targeting particular people or vertical markets. For instance, the tone of voice or product messaging may vary when writing for the CFO of a healthcare company compared to medical staff.

Include social proof and testimonials to build trust among your audience. Third-party recommendations from healthcare customers already using your services or products will hold much sway during decision-making.

While they take longer to produce, in-depth case studies are also an effective weapon in a company’s arsenal. Clearly describe your customer’s problem and how you solved it – with evidence to back it up. When participating in an NHS tender process, you will likely be asked to share examples of when you’ve delivered ROI, so having a polished case study or two will help.

Correct language is crucial, and don’t make assumptions

When selling to the NHS, write with the customer in mind, clearly explaining the value you deliver in an approachable and conversational tone. Share how your solution will solve a challenge the NHS faces or how you can deliver ROI.

Ensure you avoid hyperbole and jargon, and don’t assume a buyer from the NHS will speak/use specific industry language. Be thorough so the reader is not left with more questions than they started.

CTAs and collecting contact details

On your website, make it easy for NHS staff and other healthcare professionals to contact you. Use strategically placed call-to-actions (CTAs) throughout your website - this blog post from WordStream shares some good ideas.

In addition, use well-designed forms to collect people’s contact data. If you are hosting high-value content on your website - such as a whitepaper on digital health trends or industry research on managing doctors’ workloads - you may make this “gated”, where people can only download the content if they fill out of form. You will then be able to market to them in the future but always remember to be GDPR compliant.

Inbound marketing to attract customers from the NHS

While selling into the NHS differs significantly from selling into other privately-owned organisations, you can still use inbound marketing campaigns to generate a pipeline of warm leads.

HubSpot describes inbound marketing as a “method of growing your organisation by building meaningful, lasting relationships with consumers, prospects, and customers. It’s about valuing and empowering these people to reach their goals at any stage in their journey with you”.

Map out campaigns designed to attract NHS staff and senior healthcare decision-makers - built around high-value content, including social media, blogs, thought-leadership articles, video content, etc.

When you create your content, remember to include keywords and phrases that your specific audience will be searching for when they are online. A broader SEO strategy will drive traffic to your website by ensuring your business is one of the first results shown on Google or other search engines. Good SEO practice can be a successful strategy but requires patience. If you want to be seen immediately on search engines, consider Pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns.

Be social

Social media is not just for sharing holiday photos and TikTok dance videos; it is one of the most effective marketing tools in the box. The platform you need to be active on is LinkedIn, the social network where business professionals connect, share, and learn. It is not just for the private sector. Most key decision-makers in the public sector will also have a LinkedIn profile.

Use LinkedIn as a research tool to find the people likely to influence buying decisions. Connect with people in the sector you are targeting. Engage and comment on their posts; you will soon be on their radar. Craft relevant and informative posts that interest your target audience but avoid hard selling. As a rule of thumb, only one in five LinkedIn posts should promote your service directly.

As with SEO, you can invest in social to promote your business. With LinkedIn advertising, you can accurately filter the recipients, so the ads only go to people in the right places.

Email and telemarketing

Don’t discount traditional marketing methods, such as email marketing and telemarketing; however, you must source your data and adhere to GDPR. When executed correctly, email marketing can deliver massive value for money.

Telemarketing is still highly effective, but preparation is vital. Firstly, you must be confident you’re speaking to the right person. Secondly, you must have the correct questions ready to determine whether there is a solid opportunity to sell your product. You don’t want to waste people’s time, which could negatively impact your reputation.

Get in front of the NHS at trade shows

There is no better opportunity than trade shows and conferences when it comes to getting in front of NHS staff and other industry professionals and innovators. By exhibiting at industry events, you will be able to engage and build a rapport with key decision-makers, which can make all the difference when it comes to securing future contracts.

At GovNet, we continue to build a strong portfolio of specialist exhibitions and conferences dedicated to the NHS and the wider healthcare sector, including Healthcare Excellence Through Technology (HETT), and many more, including hundreds of training courses through Inside Government.