Startups Stack Exchange Archive

Marketing ideas for extremely niche medical web app

• posted by: user12825 on 2017-02-14
• tagged: tech-company, marketing
• score: 6

I’ve spent the last 2 years building a web app which focuses on a very niche area in medicine and research: flow cytometry. Basically my web app allows users to analyse flow cytometry files from anywhere on any mobile device. You can see it here.

The target market for the web app is labs/hospitals and universities.

I’m now at the stage where I want to market it. My ideas for marketing it are:

1. use contacts to run a trial in a local University
2. find flow cytometry news sites and ask them (via email, facebook or twitter) to publish an article on my software
3. apply to participate in flow cytometry events
4. google adwords

I spoke to contacts in the medical research departments of two local Universities and one of the Universities is interested in running a trial.

Regarding number 2, I quickly realised that flow cytometry is so niche that there are very few news site on it. There a couple however and I sent them emails, without a response as of yet.

Similarly, because its so niche, there aren’t many events. There are only 2 or 3 major ones per year. I have applied to be part of these.

I’ve signed up for google adwords, so we’ll how that goes.

Overall, however, I’m not making much progress (though I only started marketing it one week ago). Would people have tips for marketing software that’s so very niche?

EDIT Since research departments in Universities are a target market, is it worth directly emailing these departments? Or is cold emailing useless?

Answer 12126

• posted by: BrettFromLA on 2017-02-15
• score: 3

Since there are very few news sites about flow cytometry, starting a flow cytometry blog may help establish you as a “player” in the field.

Pros:

• Blogs are inexpensive.
• You can feature your web app prominently at the top of the blog.
• You can write occasional blog posts about features of your app or your app’s successes.
• It enables others interested in the field to connect with you, which can lead to additional news stories, insider advice, and probably more sales of your app.

Cons:

• It may be a challenge to come up with blog topics.
• It will take more of your time.
• Getting people to your blog is another marketing hurdle. However, it will be easier to get people to visit your free blog than it will be to get them to buy your web app!

Answer 12121

• posted by: Michael on 2017-02-15
• score: 2

Some journals have sections dedicated to advancements in technology and tooling. If you find such a journal, you would write up an unbiased, objective, analytic essay comparing your offering to existing tools and methods. The goal is finding a journal focusing on a superset of your specific niche. On a side note, I have written a flow meter for insects, and our apparatus got into such a journal.

You mentioned having begun marketing only one week ago. You can expect real progress to take a lot longer than one week, even if you play your cards right. If you have not already, one of the most useful things at this point may be for you to obtain real-world feedback from users, even non-commercial ones. Be open-minded about their responses and how they feel about your product versus competing options.

From my experience, Google Adwords is very challenging for any low-price product. Due to the enormous competition for key terms, you can expect to pay far more on Adwords than you can possibly get back in sales. If your product is high-priced (like $1000 per customer), then Adwords may be a good option.

Also, be sure not to market too soon. If your product has not really been used by real-world users, and hence not refined by their feedback, marketing now may do more harm than good. First impressions matter a lot. If someone looking for a product comes across your offer and disregards it now, they probably will skip that solution in two years when your product is more refined and feature-full.

Show HN is another option you may consider to get some exposure, especially if your goal is to get funding.

Answer 12123

• posted by: SRDC on 2017-02-15
• score: 2

CAUTION: This sounds like it would likely be classified as a medical device if ever marketed for use by patients or hospitals. Marketing it without approval (or registering with FDA and checking if you need approval) could put you in violation of Federal law, and the FDA could penalize you or even shut you down and prosecute you. (Here is FDA's definition of a 'medical device')

Research Use:

Used in universities for research may be a safer route, if it is not for medical use (as defined by the FDA).

A few pointers/ideas/thoughts:

1. You have a very small niche market - 'mass marketing' schemes are not nearly as helpful here. Google AdWords may be helpful ... if you can get it targeted to your audience and ONLY to your audience; otherwise, it may turn out pricey.
2. Publishing papers may be very helpful if your target is academics, etc. - getting some local researchers to use it and then publish their findings/comparison ... as you are trying to do. That may require some funding for them - at least of material costs.
3. Alternatively, sometimes there are 'pseudo-research' publications that can be helpful - more like industry updates, where you author an article discussing a problem in the industry (and then, obviously, how to solve it ... with your app). You might start looking into magazines & research journals for industries (companies) & research areas that would USE flow cytometry, rather than look for 'flow cytometry' journals/magazines.

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