Unlike in other industries, Life Sciences companies find it challenging to dabble in marketing. For one, you need to deal with various regulating bodies like the Food and Drug Administration and the Bureau of Consumer Production.
These agencies are here to prevent consumers from accessing fraudulent products. That’s because unregulated products can harm consumers. Imagine what could happen when someone bought a cough syrup that is not approved by the FDA.
If you work in a biotech or pharmaceutical company, here are x marketing challenges that you need to do overcome:
1. Identifying Your Audience
Regardless of your business’s nature, it can be easy to say that you can market to anyone. But many marketing professionals would say that marketing to anyone is marketing to no one.
But what makes it extra challenging for Life Sciences companies is that your products can be ultra-specific. For instance, coughing is a common respiratory issue. But not everyone can have your cough syrup. It can be because they are allergic to one of your primary ingredients or the dosage is too much for a five-year-old kid.
These are things you should keep in mind when promoting your products. Otherwise, it can have adverse side effects on your customers.
2. Inbound Marketing Implementation
It is common for Life Sciences businesses to use traditional methods in promoting their business and products. This includes TV commercials and billboards. The thing with such methods is that you are disrupting a target customer. You are not even sure if you can target the right market.
But what if there is a better way of promoting the company and your products? It is a method that allows you to attract quality leads and measure your performance. This is where inbound marketing comes in handy.
According to Hubspot, it is the process of attracting customers by creating valuable and relevant content. When we say “valuable and relevant content,” we mean informative blog posts, social media updates, or YouTube videos.
For instance, your target audience for your cough syrup is parents who are looking for kid-friendly medication. What kind of content do you think matters to them?
Create that and ensure that it is available in various formats (i.e., infographics and videos). Doing so helps you maximize your audience reach.
3. Generating Qualified Leads
You might wonder: Why do you need to implement inbound marketing when everyone needs cough syrup? As mentioned earlier, marketing to anyone is marketing to no one. Moreover, inbound marketing is meant for you to attract the right audience. These are people who are likely to buy from you.
This process is called lead generation. It is one of the most effective ways to ensure that your Life Sciences company is profitable. For someone who manufactures cough syrup, your ideal lead would be pharmacy owners. Doing so ensures that your product will be available to the masses.
However, lead generation is more than just writing a blog post or posting a YouTube video. You can also generate leads using different social networks like LinkedIn, or you can attend networking events.
If you are a fairly new company, Life Sciences expert, Michelle Dipp recommends connecting with investors and accelerators. Doing so can come in handy in making your business grow.
4. Listening to Your Customers
The key to making any business grow is listening to your customers. Whether it is a parent or a potential investor, they will do thorough research about your brand and your products. This includes reading customer reviews and testimonials.
The question is: What are you doing with those reviews and testimonials? You cannot stop people from leaving a review, whether it is positive or negative. But that does not mean you should leave it at that.
As a professional in the Life Sciences sector, we know that you are wary of clinical trial results. We also know that you make changes accordingly.
That said, use customer reviews and testimonials as your meter stick when it comes to your marketing efforts.
5. Maximizing Marketing Results
Not all Life Sciences companies have a generous marketing budget. But just because you have a lot does not mean you can promote willy-nilly. All your efforts must have a return on investments. Hence, it would make sense if you maximize your marketing results.
Say, your YouTube video about cough syrup ingredients became popular. Consider transforming it into a blog post or infographic, for example. And do not forget to cross-promote them. As mentioned earlier, you would want to maximize your audience reach. It also ensures that your content is optimized, regardless of the format.
Whether someone is looking for a video or image using your target keyword, they will come across your content.
Conclusion
Businesses in the Life Sciences sector have unique marketing needs. It can be due to existing laws and regulations or because you can promote various market segments. But just because it is challenging does not mean you cannot implement different marketing tactics for your pharmaceutical or biotech company.
It is just a matter of looking at the challenges as opportunities to be creative in promoting your business.
