Go-to-market success in healthcare and health tech: 5 steps to launch with confidence

Bringing a new solution to market in healthcare—whether it’s a SaaS platform, medical device, or digital health tool—is never just about innovation. It’s about execution. And without a smart, strategic go-to-market (GTM) plan, even the most groundbreaking technology can stall before it ever reaches patients or providers. These five steps will help you avoid common missteps, build early traction, and set your healthcare solution up for long-term commercial success.

Step 1 | Get early feedback before you build your strategy

Skipping early market feedback is one of the biggest mistakes health tech and life science companies make. Before diving into commercial strategy, get input from 2–3 trusted KOLs who can validate your vision and help position your solution effectively. But don’t stop there.

Start mapping the broader buyer journey by talking to future users across segments. KOLs offer strategic insight, but your frontline buyers may care about entirely different factors—like workflow improvements, financial ROI, or patient throughput.

Understand their goals, objections, and decision triggers now, before your sales team is involved. Early insights like these ensure your reps hit the ground running with a message that resonates—and frees them up to sell instead of doing on-the-clock market research later.

Step 2 | Seed the market with problem-first messaging

You can’t promote a device pre-approval—but you can start building awareness around the problem it solves. And when done right, that alone can drive early demand.

I recently worked with a healthcare SaaS company developing a patient referral platform. Instead of leading with product features, I helped them build a pre-launch messaging strategy that focused on the pain points their audience already felt—lost referrals, delays in care, and poor visibility across the referral workflow.

Through targeted content like blog posts, webinars, and educational emails, we framed the status quo as the real problem—and positioned the platform as the natural solution. I also helped them segment their audience into two groups: those already aware of the issue and actively looking for alternatives, and those who hadn’t yet realized how much it was costing them. By aligning the messaging with each group’s level of awareness, we were able to warm up leads well before launch.

The result? When they were ready to go to market, their audience wasn’t just aware—they were eager. Sales conversations started stronger, and conversions came faster, because the groundwork had already been laid.

Step 3 | Find your early adopters and build momentum from the ground up

Your instinct might be to chase big-name hospital systems or enterprise health networks right out of the gate. But in today’s landscape, especially in healthcare SaaS, that top-down strategy can delay traction by months—sometimes even years.

Instead, I recommend flipping the script. Start by identifying the early adopters: private practices, specialty clinics, or lean provider groups that are actively seeking better outcomes and are more willing (and able) to move fast.

These are your “hungry people”—the ones who feel the pain your solution solves now, and don’t need to run your proposal through five committees and a 12-month procurement process to act. In my work with early-stage healthcare SaaS clients, I’ve seen how starting small can unlock big results. One client focused first on independent specialty clinics rather than hospital systems. Not only did they secure their first contracts faster, but they also built compelling use cases and proof points that eventually helped them break into larger accounts.

Here’s why this works:

• Smaller providers are more agile. They’re under pressure to improve outcomes and operate more efficiently—and they can make buying decisions without enterprise red tape.

• You can gather feedback and iterate. These early users help you fine-tune product-market fit before scaling.

• You build credibility that snowballs. Success stories from even a few respected practices can open doors with bigger players who need proof your solution works.

From there, use digital channels—email campaigns, LinkedIn outreach, and tailored content—to engage a broad mix of providers at scale. Just because you're targeting smaller practices doesn't mean you're thinking small. You're building momentum, validation, and brand presence in parallel—all critical for sparking interest from larger organizations when you’re ready.

Step 4 | Turn early traction into social proof that sells

Once your solution is live, your job shifts from generating interest to building trust at scale—and nothing accelerates that faster than real-world results.

The truth is, most healthcare decision-makers aren’t looking to be first. They’re looking to be right. They want assurance that your solution actually works in settings like theirs. That’s why I prioritize helping clients gather proof points from their earliest adopters—so they can convert case studies into conversion tools.

Start by capturing simple, measurable outcomes from your first few customers. Did your platform reduce no-show rates? Improve staff efficiency? Cut billing time in half? Quantify that value and turn it into bite-sized wins that are easy for prospects to understand and internalize.

Then, build those insights into your marketing assets:

• Case studies tailored to different provider types or specialties

• Sales enablement one-pagers for reps to leave behind

• Social posts highlighting client wins or testimonials

• Repurposed webinar quotes from real users sharing their experience

One healthcare SaaS company I supported was able to go from one early client to five deals in a quarter simply by turning a single success story into a compelling narrative that answered the question every buyer has: “But will it work for me?”

The goal here isn’t just to talk about results—it’s to use those results to reduce risk perception and make buying feel like the obvious next step. Social proof should be integrated across every touchpoint so that by the time a prospect reaches your sales team, they’re already halfway to yes.

Step 5 | Scale strategically—without losing the human touch

Your go-to-market strategy doesn’t end at launch—it evolves. As your product gains traction, your marketing and sales efforts need to scale alongside it, but without becoming disconnected or impersonal. And in healthcare, that’s a fine line to walk.

Despite all the tech, this industry still runs on trust. I’ve seen companies try to automate too much, too quickly—only to lose momentum because they neglected the relationships that got them started.

So while it’s important to scale—through paid campaigns, nurture sequences, partnerships, and outbound efforts—you also need to maintain the personal elements that build credibility. Stay in touch with early adopters. Invite them to advisory boards. Ask for feedback before feature releases. Turn users into evangelists.

At the same time, expand your message to reach new buying groups. As you move from small practices to hospital systems or payer networks, the decision-making process gets more complex. Your messaging needs to speak to clinical outcomes and operational ROI. Your buyer personas now include CFOs, CIOs, nurse leaders, and procurement teams. That’s where I help clients layer in persona-specific content and multichannel campaigns that keep the sales funnel full at every stage.

As awareness grows, I also look at where we can repurpose what’s working—doubling down on best-performing assets, refreshing proof points, and optimizing campaigns that already have traction.

Scaling isn’t just about doing more. It’s about doing what works—smarter, faster, and in a way that still feels real to your audience. And when you scale with both strategy and empathy, that’s when marketing becomes a true commercial growth engine.

How I can help

Whether you're preparing for launch or looking to refine your go-to-market strategy post-approval, I help healthcare and health tech companies build clear, compelling marketing strategies that move the needle—without losing the nuance of your solution or the trust of your audience.

From crafting problem-first messaging and building early awareness, to scaling sales enablement and thought leadership, I help you:

• Define your differentiators and sharpen your positioning

• Create content that speaks to each stage of the buyer journey

• Build messaging that resonates with clinicians, administrators, and decision-makers alike

• Turn early traction into repeatable proof points and pipeline

• Support your sales team with marketing that does the heavy lifting

If you're ready to bring your product to market with more clarity, more confidence, and less guesswork—let’s talk.