Top 5 Tips to Commercialize a Digital Health / Mobile Health App

Christian Dominique

By Christian Dominique, President of Dominique Strategic Consulting

Introduction

The competition for health app is so fierce that more than 200 new mobile health (mHealth) apps are being added each day, according to IQVIA. There are over 318,000 health apps available in 2018 on the top app stores worldwide, nearly double the number of apps available in 2015. Dominique Strategic Consulting (DSC) has worked with a few of these apps in the last few years and contributed to their commercialization and growth. It has also seen many apps try and fail to captivate and coordinate, some to the point of bankruptcy. Here are the top takeaways to succeed in this industry.

1.      Stakeholders before Sales

2.      Collaborate to Elevate

3.      B2C/B2B/B2G dilemma

4.      Custom AND Standard

5.      Do Your Research

1. Stakeholders before Sales

Digital Health companies need to truly understand (before, during and after sales) the intricacies of its stakeholders and how they interact with their products and services. Techniques may include formal and informal surveys, work groups, market research, impact study, project and change management tools, among others.

For example, one of our clients mentioned that their clients had “more issues with the change management part than the budgetary, purchasing, technology and implementation concerns.”

Stakeholders must include people and organizations potentially interacting or affected by the technology and the health aspects that your app uses or delivers. This should be mapped out and can be vaster than initially envisioned.

Only once stakeholders have been identified, along with their main concerns and priorities, can appropriate strategies for integration and communication be made. This will also be an iterative process through the business development. Subsequently, the sales cycle can be clearer and the outcomes longer lasting.

2. Collaborate to Elevate

The competition is vibrant, and everyone wants some market shares, yet the companies that succeed often find ways not only to innovate AGAINST but to innovate WITH their competitors.

Having comprehensive strategies that can find strengths in synergies in other technologies out there or to co-create a better solution for the marketplace is a key sustainable growth factor. Companies open to new ideas, other companies and opportunities win over organizations that think their products/services and methods are the best.

Collaboration can be geographically, technically, clinically and/or scientifically. Collaborators can include content providers, healthcare providers, information technology, insurers and patients. The hopes is to reach multi-level collaboration with appropriate political, financial, technological and business partners.

3. B2C/B2B/B2G dilemma

Is the health app for direct consumers, businesses, nonprofit or other organizations, public hospitals or government?

The answer is often more than one of these. Even (or especially) when a company thinks it can only be one of these. A technology that suits a need can usually be adapted to solve similar problems in a slightly different way.

The dilemma is then figuring out

a)      HOW to differentiate its B2C (Business to Customer), B2B (Business to Business) and B2G (Business to Government) offerings

b)     WHO in theses scenarios are the stakeholders (yes, again)

c)     WHAT IDEAL customer mix the company would like in 1, 3 and 5 years from now.

d)     WHAT to do (strategy and action plan) to get to this ideal mix

4. Custom AND Standard

So your app has key features? Guess what, you are not the only one with cool and unique features.

You can build anything for your clients? Many talented teams can build the world for the right price.

The two paths companies usually take are:

a)      to have a standard product with unique selling points (USP) that has value and hopefully is superior (and/or better sold to the market) with little customization OR

b)     to have to constantly create custom-made (build to specifications) for clients.

DSC suggests that you may prioritize one approach in the short term. In the long run, you should seriously consider doing both.

a)      If you have standard apps:

Discover the joys and pains to do (and to seek out) custom projects. This will allow for key customers to not only depend on your technology, but also to teach you hands on what are the issues and potential innovations that can serve the marketplace at large.

b)     If you have custom projects:

Take the time to think, refine and build a standardized product (or product suite) from your various custom projects. If done right, this standard product can generate stable recurring revenue to stabilize your custom revenue and give better return on investment (ROI). It also allows you to cross-sell your custom work with an entry level product.

5. Do Your Research

We have met many companies with little knowledge of some of the competing products and technology out there. Even if there are many as we mentioned, without being adequately familiar, the risk of failure increases dramatically. Early success does not mean that it is sustainable. Same goes for the knowledge of the complementary products―remember collaboration! Time and expertise should also be spent exploring new vertical or geographical markets, with segments and stakeholders in mind. Think beyond the company’s initial target. Often an organization is convinced that there is no better fit for their solutions than with one key market, yet frequently misses much more opportunities to grow and make an impact with their innovation.

Conclusion

Hope this article was helpful to achieve better commercialization. Even though the digital health market and especially mobile health apps are now a dime a dozen, there is still plenty of space for companies with vision and execution that can navigate the sea of competitors… and collaborators. 

Any other key steps you think should be added for go-to-market strategy success?