Search engine marketing, also called pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, is an effective method of connecting your brand with potential customers. Many medical device companies use PPC ads to successfully target and reach their audience at the exact moment they are seeking a solution. Some companies, however, have become gun-shy when it comes to running PPC advertisements, and rightfully so. The FDA is not afraid to send out warning letters alerting healthcare companies that they are in violation of acceptable marketing practices – PPC included. View the presentation to learn how to successfully and safely run PPC advertising for your medical device. In our latest entry you will learn: 1. What is acceptable according to the most recent FDA guidance 2. What a company can do to work within these guidelines 3. The different strategies companies are already using for PPC advertising

1. Medical Device
Pay-Per-Click
Advertising

2. Medical Device Pay-Per-Click Advertising
Search engine marketing, also called
pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, is
an effective method of connecting
your brand with potential customers.
PPC advertising offers companies
the opportunity to reach an
audience at the exact moment they
are seeking a solution, by presenting
ads directly above or to the right of
the organic results.

3. Medical Device Pay-Per-Click Advertising
While organic listings are more
trusted, they are also more difficult
to achieve, especially when
launching a new product or website.
So while growing your search
engine ranking placement
(organic SERP) can take several
months to a year, PPC advertising
can deliver immediate traffic to your
landing page.

4. Medical Device Pay-Per-Click Advertising
This type of advertising is also
extremely targeted; targeting
capabilities are very
sophisticated, you can target by
location, by device, time of day
the ad is displayed and more.
Plus it is one of the most
measurable forms of advertising
available.

5. Medical Device Pay-Per-Click Advertising
Every single aspect of your
campaign is tracked from the
number of click conversions, cost
per conversion, etc. making it
very easy to understand your
return on investment (ROI),
make adjustments and improve
your campaign.

6. Medical Device Pay-Per-Click Advertising
Many medical device companies
have become gun-shy when it
comes to running PPC
advertisements, and rightfully so.
The FDA is not afraid to send out
warning letters alerting
healthcare companies that they
are in violation of acceptable
marketing practices – PPC
included.

7. What’s acceptable according to the FDA?
Answer: Very little.
In the summer of 2014, the FDA finally
issued some draft guidance on Internet
marketing.* One document, titled
“Internet Social Media Platforms with
Character Space Limitations – Presenting
Risk and Benefit Information for
Prescription Drugs and Medical
Devices,”** addressed how companies
should discuss risk and benefit information
on platforms where communications are
limited to a specific amount of characters.
This includes Google’s paid search option
and platforms like Twitter.
*http://www.greymattermarketing.com/blog/fda-distributes-new-draft-guidance-on-social-media
**http://www.fda.gov/downloads/drugs/guidancecomplianceregulatoryinformation/guidances/ucm401087.pdf

8. What’s acceptable according to the FDA?
Answer: Very little.
The FDA stated that an ad must provide adequate explanation of the risks
associated with the product and provide the full name of the drug or device.
Yet, this is practically impossible given the maximum 35-character limits of
search advertisements and presents companies with a few big challenges:
• Strict requirements are likely to discourage participation in this platform, so information
available on any medical device could actually become more limited and not reach the public
where they expect to find it.
• This opens the door for foreign suppliers or natural, homeopathic treatments (who don’t
fall under FDA guidelines) to increase market share. Yes, companies can file the trademark
paperwork with Google to stop their brand name being used, but these other companies can
still run ads for symptoms, conditions, etc. and gain market share.

9. What’s a company to do?
Answer: Choose the best option for you.
The most compliant and most
conservative thing a company can do is
simply choose not to run PPC at all. They
could file their trademark paperwork with
Google to protect their brand name
while beefing up their organic SEO. This
way, hopefully, they gain share of
unbranded keywords – like conditions or
symptoms.
However, winning the SEO game takes a
lot of time and resources, so this isn’t all
that realistic for most companies.
Some companies, pharma companies in
particular, have been operating under an
assumed “one-click rule” in which the
side effects are listed within one click of
an ad rather than in the actual ad text.
This is an interesting interpretation, but
not sanctioned by the FDA.

10. The Strategies
Many companies are finding a way
to run PPC ads by looking at the
FDA’s guidelines around the “help
seeking” ad category. Help-seeking
ads describe a disease or condition
but do not recommend or suggest
specific drugs or branded
treatments. They use unbranded
URLs that redirect to the branded
website.
This tactic also passes muster with
Google, whose policy states:
• Pharma advertisers are allowed
to use an unbranded URL that
redirects to their branded
website
• Pharma advertisers must own
this unbranded URL and it must
be working (if a user were to
enter it directly into their
browser, it must redirect to the
advertiser’s branded or working
URL)

11. The Strategies
There is a downside to this option: a higher chance for consumer
confusion. A consumer seeking information on headache pain, for
example, might view a help-seeking PPC ad as confusing or even
deceptive, if the link simply redirects to a brand page, instead of a
disease-specific website.

12. The Strategies
The bottom line is that the FDA says:
– Ads must provide adequate explanation of the risks associated
with the drug or device
– Provide the full name of the product all within a 35-characterlimit
If you want to comply 100% you simply can’t run PPC because
this is impossible. However, if you’re open to the help-seeking
option, you can effectively launch a PPC campaign in a
manner compliant with the FDA and Google.

13. Grey Matter Marketing is a full-service, award-winning marketing agency working exclusively with medical technology
companies. We provide the marketing architecture to build strong connections with providers and patients to drive
adoption of innovative technology that improves lives. We have a proven track record in developing both traditional
and digital plans that create compelling marketing experiences and drive business results. Our strength is finding the
important truth in any communication effort, and translating that truth into something your customer understands, and
more importantly, feels. Armed with this knowledge and insight, we roll up our sleeves and do what we do best: work
hard, think strategically and deliver.
IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN LEARNING MORE ABOUT PAY-PER-CLICK ADVERTISING FOR
MEDICAL TECHNOLOGY COMPANIES EMAIL US AT INFO@GREYMATTERMARKETING.COM