6 Ways to Create the Best “Super Bowl-worthy” Medical Journal Ads

Whether you watched yesterday’s Super Bowl game and witnessed the Ravens defeat the 49ers or strictly tuned into the halftime performance, chances are you watched at least one of the commercials airing during the full broadcast. These 30- and 60-second spots played for an audience of more than 100 million viewers, which is annually the largest showcase for U.S. consumers. In the medical field, popular journals, such as The New England Journal of Medicine, British Medical Journal, and Health Science Report, gain unprecedented exposure within the healthcare community both online and in print. The winner in this arena is the organization who can apply effective advertising strategies and create the best journal ads that result in remarkable, positive response.

Below are six ways you can create the best Super Bowl-worthy journal ads for your medical business:

1.  Communicate Quickly and Clearly – Readers and website visitors generally don’t pick up a journal or navigate a site for the ads; just like football fans generally don’t watch the Super Bowl for the commercials. Rather medical journal advertising works to capture the attention of an already engaged audience. For that reason, it’s important to communicate your marketing message quickly and clearly. This way, in that single moment where they are distracted from their core focus, readers and viewers “get it” right away.

2.  Use Immediate Appeal to Gain Interest The only way you’ll get today’s busy medical professionals to take time and read an ad is when the ad has immediate appeal. Will your medical device enable surgeons to do their jobs faster and with more accuracy? Will your pharmaceutical medication or biotech advancement help physicians have better patient outcomes? Determine what the appealing factor is and push it forward.

3.  Prompt Seeking of More Information or Re-examination of Treatment The television commercials that air during the Super Bowl can range in total run time from 30 seconds to 60 seconds. Comparatively, print journal ads range from full and half page ads to quarter page ads. As an advertiser, you have minimal time and space to communicate your message. Get the reader hooked and prompt them to take a call to action within the space allotted and you’ll entice them to continue to research your product or service. Get them to re-examine their practices and you’ll switch on a light bulb of curiosity that will inspire them to think outside of the box.

 4.  Help with Clinical Decisions – Running a daily clinical practice can be extremely challenging from dealing with difficult patients or insurance providers to strategizing highly complicated surgical procedures. Helping practitioners make easy and sound clinical decisions is one less issue they need to worry about. Within the context of your next journal ad, be sure to extrapolate on why the investment in your product or service is the best decision your audience will make this year.

 5.  Add to Information Provided by Company Representatives – Medical journal advertising is not a substitute for, but rather a supplement to traditional marketing by company representatives. Key features and marketing messages should be consistent whether the audience is reading an ad or speaking to a rep. Give the reader a taste of additional information and they will be encouraged to contact their rep to learn more.

 6.  Remind About the Value of the Product – Speak about the value of your product and you’re automatically speaking your audience’s language. These days, every dollar counts. If you can explain return on investment potential, added components, or features that are part of a package deal, chances are you’ll have an already hooked audience swayed.

Contact DDA Medical at 215-355-6442 or info@ddamedical.com to learn about our effective advertising strategies. As a leading healthcare advertising agency, we’ll help conceptualize, design, write, and execute the best journal ads for your business.