How to Create Unique Differentiation with AI for Your Healthcare Agency

Now more than ever, you need a way to really differentiate your healthcare agency offering. A recent AI Lab we have been doing is working with healthcare agencies in helping them create a unique differentiator for their agency using AI.

Think about it. Let’s assume you work for a healthcare market research agency, or a healthcare consultancy. Why is it that clients come to you? What specifically is different and value added that your team brings to the table?

When I browse healthcare agencies, apart from specializing in this vertical I see phrases like ‘your partner’, ‘award winning’, ‘integrated’ ‘full service’, ‘strategic research’, ‘commercial expertise’, ‘unlocking potential’, ‘delivering results’, and so on. The same phrases appear on many websites. Most agencies are guilty of this. And there are so many agencies that all sound similar. The teams have all worked in pharma, they all have commercial expertise, they all offer results, they all have awards and so on. Given the sameness of most agencies, it is likely that the work is most likely largely repeat work or through contacts, as the phrases used on the website are all offering the same thing. Everyone is chasing the same clients with the same pitches.

Agencies need to differentiate themselves clearly with a unique offering that provides a unique value proposition for their agency. This market is large and competitive. This is partially because of the low barrier to entry to start an agency. Many retired, redundant or even fired ex-pharma people start agencies as you simply need some expertise, some contacts and a few months of money to keep you going. According to Statistica, there are almost 40,000 advertising agencies in the US alone. A large chunk of these have healthcare divisions. How many of these agencies are ‘trusted partners’, ‘integrated’, ‘full service’, ‘award winning’ and so on? Most have similar claims.

To carve your stake in the ground, you need to have something unique and value-add that only you can do. The healthcare agency environment satisfies all the key criteria described by Michael Porter to use differentiation as a competitive strategy. These were hyper competitive market, not price sensitive, clients with specific needs, firm can fulfil unserved needs. And yet, if you look at agency websites, they are all about the same things and say they have the expertise, deliver results, are focused on several things. They are all hesitant to really differentiate on one core thing for fear of missing out on business in another space. However, in this effort to do everything that seems to be flavour of the month, they end up being the same as everyone else and end up being ‘okay’ at each of their areas–despite their claims. You can only be exceptional at a few things. Yet only a few agencies want to limit themselves to that. However, the trends in agency hire now have moved away from one agency to do everything as pharma increasingly turn to niche specialists for specific aspects of what they do–be it customer journey mapping, or customer experience design or whatever. The agencies that do that one thing and do it so well that their expertise stands head and shoulders above the rest are the ones that win the business now. Not the ones that do a load of things.

Common Ways Being Used to Differentiate Healthcare Agencies

Expertise and Authority

What is the core area that you and your team have worked on for decades (or the longest time you can)? What expertise has you and your team built up over a very long time that your competitors cannot claim. This is one way to differentiate. Unfortunately, many companies have teams with decades of the same expertise, so this is difficult to differentiate on well anymore.

High value content

High value content can differentiate you. But these days everyone has blogs, videos, white papers and webinars. A useful value add tool being offered can be a good way to highlight your expertise and differentiate your brand. However, so many of these are being done by many agencies now, so again, it can be difficult.

Pricing Model

It used to be time and materials, but increasingly buying teams want to pay a set price and know what they get for that. Some agencies are coming up with a set pricing model that includes and excludes various aspects and this approach is becoming preferred over the old time and materials approach. However, then it comes down to price, so you will also need to be very good at something niche on top.

 What’s missing?

The key thing missing is using AI to create a competitive differentiator that uses what you do well, but empowers it with AI, and then takes it to a level that no one else has.

Say you are the only agency that do what you do in a superpowered way with AI? And what you do fills an unmet need with your target audience that other agencies cannot do as they have not got the AI layered on top of this niche area?

Then you own the playing field. You have a niche market with something special that your agency and your agency alone can do.

Why you should become an AI-empowered agency

We are at a transition period in the agency world. Some are embracing AI and some are sticking to what they always. Here are some advantages of becoming an AI-empowered niche agency.

Stronger results for your clients

Uncover previously unseen and un-accessed insights for your clients because of the ability to use AI on your data. Using AI, you can access insights in real time and decide in real time for your clients when the decision is needed and not months later.

Easier to scale

If humans are making all the decisions and brain power of your niche, you are relying on their time. Things that would take a human days could take AI seconds. Without relying on humans to do everything, you can offer much more scale in the work being done for clients, much faster, and less expensive than having humans do it all.

Better customer service

AI can be used for customer service. Take the Bank of America. They have replaced 50% of their customer service staff with AI and get stronger customer satisfaction. However, even without AI for the customer service, if the AI is doing the other work, your humans have more time to spend on customer service as well.

Lower costs

With much of the burden of the work being done by the AI system, the costs to implement the work are far less and they need less staff and the overheads are lower which can translate into savings for your clients as well.