In today's rapidly evolving scientific landscape, from AI healthcare consulting to environmental research, life scientists face the dual challenge of conducting groundbreaking work and effectively communicating it to the world.
Inbound marketing has emerged as a powerful tool to bridge this gap, enabling researchers to attract collaborators, secure funding, and engage with the public. Whether you're developing AI-driven medical solutions or exploring new frontiers in biotechnology, mastering inbound marketing can amplify your impact. This article provides an essential checklist for life scientists looking to harness the power of digital marketing, ensuring your valuable research reaches and resonates with your target audience. Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics courses—also known as STEM—are needed more than ever to address real-world concerns. Regardless of the cause, there are ways that we can fit an inbound marketing scheme into the marketing, promotion, and human resource departments of our industry. Those in the sector should respond accordingly to the changing wants and needs of the public today, as there is now an increasing interest and demand for the development of the sciences.
For years, people have used science to glean answers to questions that have plagued the world. The scientific method is taught in almost every institution of higher learning to test anything and everything, and it has been developed for use, not just in the life sciences.
Engineering, mathematics, and social sciences have benefited from the work that has been growing amongst the learned community, and the only bane to this cause is that the need to communicate this work effectively to the masses is still lacking.
To ensure that your experience is free from any unsavoury tangles, create an inbound marketing checklist of everything you want and expect in your work, research team, and the quality of your work moving forward. You can adapt and modify this list to suit your needs, but its essentials remain unchanged.
Work with what is best for your work output, potential or otherwise, to maximise your current resources. Here are some categories you might consider establishing or revising to improve one’s research and scientific output.
Research Staff and Interns
Any aspiring life scientist has started as a research assistant or associate to an older, more experienced professor. Depending on the field and scope of your intended research, you could be confined to a laboratory or out in the world exploring the jungles of the Amazon.
Those keen to pursue a career in the sciences should start by earning a degree at a reputable university or college that specialises in the work you fancy. Your marks will also matter; a 2:1 honours degree is usually the standard for acceptance in master’s programs in the UK, so you best work hard to get the kind of output you want. After your master’s degree, you may enrol in a PhD course.
The academic qualifications, however, are only part of it. Say that you have the marks, but as a student, you could not get any of your research papers published in journals or were never cited in another’s work as having been substantial in their progress. Making a name for yourself in the time it takes to earn your degree, get a place in a research team, or eventually lead your own is much easier.
On the hiring end, look at these qualities carefully and assess the talent pool you have gathered. Which ones are hard workers? Which ones can be adequately trained? Who is adaptable and flexible to the schedules that any scientific work demands? These people deal with your experiments, write your reports, and handle the cases daily.
Although reading microscopic slides and writing reports can be tedious for some, exceptionally keen people will show enthusiasm for their work regardless of how small they talk. Offer them competitive salaries, allow them certain days off and bonuses, and facilitate training in a capacity that fits your desired work. Depending on your patronage, research grants and items can be utilised.
Treat them well, and it will be reflected in your work. Retain a firm yet fair hand in dealing with your research staff, and you will go far, but micromanaging them will not do. There are bound to be a few hiccups when just starting the job, so be prepared to keep yourself on the lookout for these things. Any team is only as strong as the person leading them, so be helpful.
Inventory Checks
One of the first things you should settle once starting in the life science industry is the number of people your research team or workplace can handle. How many positions need to be filled in? How much work output is expected from them?
Your research proposal and plans should be hammered out before starting the work. Only then can you plan according to the size of your team: the number of staffers you hire, the work that should be done, the budget that needs to be complied with, and more.
Every research team has specific requirements, whether in supplies, accommodations, or work parameters. Ensure your staff is on call to receive these requests and respond accordingly. One should be on the lookout for those who mooch or freeload on your supplies. If the amount of requests is suspect, your staff should know to report it to those in charge so that the situation can be dealt with respectfully and agreeably.
While you want to keep your team together, as you are all working towards the same goal, any excessive or abusive treatment of your supplies and facilities should be well accounted for. While the importance of any life scientist's work is that they can proceed without intrusion, there is still a need to keep one’s benefactors informed of their situation.
Apart from having good in-house staff, one should hire human resources and public relations people who can help bring attention to the work or cause it champions. Human resource staffers oversee the staff's payroll, attendance, and overall well-being.
They also conduct orientation and training regarding the company policy on attendance, tardiness, leaves of absence, and other personal concerns. Treating them well will improve their ability to train your service staff, which will only benefit your research team.
Public relations staff are responsible for handling your benefactors' marketing and promotion, current research, and the developments needed to bring the work forward. Identify the strengths of your team and the credibility of your hypothesis regarding your study; include examples that can be easily seen in the real world or are relatable from a communicative perspective.
Your key strengths will be the basis for any marketing campaigns that will be conducted. Your PR staff are also responsible for mapping out promotional activities for your work or getting sponsors and benefactors to help fund your research. A good PR person on your staff will ensure these opportunities are maximised to their full potential.
Logistics and Service Time
The tricky part is conducting your research, whether an experiment requires a series of observations over time or within a controlled environment. With a staff with varying responsibilities, learning to communicate is critical to efficient and quality service.
Staff should know when and where to deliver any critical negative or positive information and through which channels. Micromanaging a staff as varied as this leads to burnout, so establishing a culture of trust and understanding between departments makes the team smooth and as free from conflict as possible. If possible, have written reports handed in consistently regarding employee performance, progress within the project, and suggestions to improve.
When things happen to go wrong, establish a code to determine the level of the complaint. Specific codes should be assigned for damage to property, control group contamination, natural disasters, and any emergencies that require special attention.
Simulating emergencies such as earthquakes and floods should be determined by location – is the area you occupy naturally prone to these disasters? As such, have these measures in place and ingrain them in your staff. Establish the shifting schedules and assign which staff reports at this particular time.
Have written reports and evaluations ready at least once a month to be filed by the human resource department to track performance and bonuses based on merit.
Apart from customer service and communication, training certain staff members in first aid may also be wise. Situations involving the health and safety of your clients will arise as long as they stay within your area of responsibility, and it wouldn’t hurt to know that there is someone on call when there is a medical emergency.
Property destruction can sometimes be unavoidable in any scientific study. Regarding equipment or machinery, they insist on replacements and extra charges based on damage. Is there insurance or company policy that pays for this?
Will the research team be liable? The cost will be higher if the damage is done to electrical appliances or furniture. Prepare yourself for any situation that may arise.
Online support
One of the fastest ways to bring attention to your research team’s work and causes is to establish an online presence. This includes your website, blog, and resources for learning more about your research team’s work.
This is one way to increase your audience's reach outside the scientific community and the general public. Partnering with government and non-government organizations promoting these issues can help you source and allocate funds for your work.
These include online and real-time fundraising activities, awareness campaigns, seminars, and establishing an inbound marketing methodology to attract key informants to donate or champion your cause.
Upload images and videos of your current experiments and research on your website or blog. Tailor-fit the message to appeal to the common public and emphasise the need to promote the study and its impact on the public. This allows your audience to visualise your work and how they can help, as well as help attract sponsors and benefactors in the long run.
Create written and visual content that appeals to them and emphasizes the strengths of your research. Extremely scientific terms and technical jargon can confuse the public, so be prepared to communicate in less complicated terms to get people to sympathize and want to help.
Blogging can be an extremely effective marketing tool to increase your potential, as it lends a human touch to your otherwise digital presence. If the budget is permissible, you can establish a content marketing division to keep your website updated and responsive.
Social media is also a powerful tool to increase your online visibility. Creating a Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram page should be your standard, and your content division team can help establish up-to-date content related to your studies and related stories. Social media also lets you keep abreast of your potential customers’ sentiments and suggestions, allowing for an interactive experience that will enable you to improve your studies and engage with fellow scientists conducting similar experiments.
Responding promptly and diligently is critical; this allows you to build rapport with your public and create a positive interaction that will benefit you.
Allowing your audience the ease of facility to make your services accessible online is a must nowadays, as everyone is interconnected, and word of mouth has become even more prized in building an online marketing reputation. The research team should be able to market and present their research well, and package work together to ensure your message is clear and concise across your outbound and inbound marketing methodology.
Source:
Life Scientist: Job Description, Duties, Salary and Outlook, study.com
Frequently Asked Questions: Inbound Marketing for Life Scientists
Q1: What is inbound marketing, and how does it differ from traditional marketing for life sciences?
Inbound marketing is a strategy that focuses on attracting customers through relevant and helpful content rather than interrupting them with traditional advertising. For life sciences, this means creating valuable content like research insights, industry trends, and scientific explanations that draw potential collaborators, funders, or research subjects to your work. Unlike traditional marketing, inbound marketing aims to build relationships and establish authority in your field.
Q2: How can inbound marketing help me secure research funding?
Inbound marketing can significantly boost your chances of securing research funding by:
- Increasing the visibility of your research through content creation and SEO
- Demonstrating the impact and relevance of your work to potential funders
- Building a network of supporters and collaborators through engagement
- Showcasing your expertise and thought leadership in your field
Q3: What types of content work best for inbound marketing in life sciences?
Compelling content for life science inbound marketing includes:
- Blog posts explaining complex scientific concepts in layman's terms
- Infographics visualizing research data or processes
- Whitepapers or e-books detailing your research methodologies
- Video demonstrations of laboratory techniques or equipment
- Podcasts discussing current trends or breakthroughs in your field
- Case studies showcasing successful research projects or collaborations
Q4: How can I measure the success of my inbound marketing efforts in the life sciences field?
Key performance indicators (KPIs) for life science inbound marketing include:
- Website traffic and engagement metrics
- Number of research paper downloads or citations
- Increase in collaboration inquiries or partnership opportunities
- Growth in social media followers and engagement
- Number of speaking invitations or media mentions
- Improvement in search engine rankings for relevant keywords
- Increase in research funding or grant applications
Q5: How can I balance my research work with inbound marketing activities?
Balancing research and marketing can be challenging. Consider:
- Creating a content calendar to plan and schedule marketing activities
- Delegating some marketing tasks to team members or hiring a specialist
- Repurposing research content for marketing purposes to save time
- Using automation tools for social media posting and email marketing
- Integrating marketing activities into your regular workflow, such as writing blog posts about ongoing research
Q6: Are there any ethical considerations I should know when using inbound marketing for life sciences?
Yes, ethical considerations in life science marketing include:
- Ensuring accuracy and integrity in all published content
- Respecting confidentiality and privacy in research data
- Avoiding overstating research findings or making unsubstantiated claims
- Disclosing any conflicts of interest or funding sources
- Adhering to regulatory guidelines for promoting scientific research
- Ensuring accessibility of content to diverse audiences
Q7: How can I use SEO to improve the visibility of my life science research online?
To improve SEO for life science research:
- Use relevant keywords in your content, such as specific scientific terms and methodologies
- Optimize your website's meta descriptions and title tags
- Create high-quality, in-depth content that addresses specific research questions
- Build backlinks from reputable scientific websites and publications
- Utilize schema markup for scientific articles and research data
- Ensure your website is mobile-friendly and loads quickly
- Regularly update your content with the latest research findings and industry developments
Other articles worth reading:
- Inbound Marketing: Questions for Self-Starters
- Inbound Marketing - 5 Myths of Social Media Marketing
- Life Science Marketing: Creating An Inbound Sales & Marketing Strategy
- Inbound Marketing: DELIGHT - Social Monitoring
