Life science marketing is a relatively new field that encompasses a plethora of topics. From AI healthcare consulting to food science, it is a broad, interdisciplinary study rooted in scientific knowledge and observation. This sort of dry information and data-based actions will benefit from several inbound marketing methodologies that will surely come in handy in promoting and building life science-based brands.
Clever marketing requires careful planning, observation, and execution of your target audience, much like a scientific experiment. Those with business savvy can make a living by providing life science products and services that will benefit others and the environment through the world they live in.
Using the scientific method as a basis, we can track a research-based inbound marketing scheme that analyzes possible leads and provides suggestions that can be implemented into your current business’ profiles.
What exactly do you want to get by maintaining an inbound marketing structure for your business? Ask yourself these questions as you craft your methodology and schedule for how you want your brand to be represented through online or personal marketing. Areas that can be improved in a business may seem glaring or even noticeable. One avenue to analyse where exactly you need improvement or feel you could do better is peer and audience reviews of your products or services.
Listen to their evaluations, observations, and comments about how they experienced your brand. Feel their pulse—would they want to continue the same kind of service, or could they improve? Keep this updated, and you will have an idea of what you need to improve.
One good thing for inbound marketing is that you can improve your business without costing much of your capital or budget. This is especially beneficial if you want to pursue an online-driven campaign or if you want to establish your business online first. This method aids you in getting more out of your money through low-cost Internet advertising and a relatively simple advertisement structure – the higher up on the Google search results page, the more views you get.
Another way to pinpoint your business’ areas for improvement is by conferring with your staff. If you handle only a certain percentage of your brand's day-to-day operations, it would do well to be with those who are there more often. Day in and day out, they are the ones who see how your business can be run, and it can be made to fit so that you can arrange things at your discretion. Take note of everyone’s opinions, come up with a statement, and then you may start planning your business strategy around that.
Creating opportunities for leads and furthering their business practices comes with practice and knowledge of online marketing. No matter what strategy, a research-heavy business and marketing plan has a better chance of success. Thorough research often leads to better-prepared methods and a keener eye for your future business practices in the long run. Industry news, in particular, should need continuous updating and consideration due to innovations that could change how you conduct your strategies.
Along with the research comes educating oneself to adapt to opportunities and challenges that come your way. For example, if you run a local chain of chemists’ stores, and a new drug enters the market, one has to read all the available information provided to them. Identifying information and sources useful to your business is a crucial business skill that can only be honed through acquiring knowledge and insider experience that can only be taken from running day-to-day operations.
Keep research on file in an online database and disseminate among staff members about new developments and fields for ideas that could be implemented and achieved throughout the marketing plan. This should be done so that there is an easy reference whenever you need them, and it is much easier to sort out documents in this manner.
Keeping in mind all the information you have researched, this is where you start implementing your marketing scheme. A hypothesis is usually inferred from analysing the problems given and the information that you and your team have gathered. Do you want to expand your current product or service line-up, or do you prefer to improve the quality of the current line-up? Is there a need to conduct outreach to a different target market or a new market component? Are you lacking in social media experience or exposure? Keep all these things in mind when constructing your scheme.
One way is to outline all the content and marketing actions you plan to take quarterly, bi-annual, or annual. This is so that you can target specific dates with more or fewer posts or conduct gatherings during select holidays that will undoubtedly draw large crowds. In agriculture, for example, you can hold an online sale on chosen produce or machinery in time for the harvest season. You can keep free clinics and trials on your medical equipment in coordination with charities such as The Prince’s Trust. Such discussions should have taken place before you conducted your marketing scheme for the period you created it.
A scientific hypothesis stays the same despite the changes that come its way in the implementation of your methods. In marketing, you can attribute this to agenda-setting and use it as a benchmark to evaluate quarterly, bi-annual or annual reviews. If it is working, you proceed with the rest of the plan, but if it fails, it is then time to start anew. Unlike goals and visions that are done in a specific meeting, a hypothesis keeps one in check as to how far a plan has come from its original intention or when your goals do not match your expectations.
There are many ways to bring this about. Below are some suggestions as to how to bring your plans about:
This one is a no-brainer. As life science marketing experts, you should know that technology is the pride and joy of the industry. The sciences are coming out with new, effective ways to have better equipment, medicines, crops, and more products and services to improve quality of life. There is a significant cost that comes with new technology, however, as prices in the market usually fluctuate in the case of anything that has just been introduced. Think wisely about whether a particular investment will be worth it or if it is something you can afford to keep.
One way to maximise your inbound marketing efforts is through implementing a social media presence on all the popular websites, from Facebook to Twitter and Pinterest. Each has slightly different modes of communication and networking, but it all serves one purpose – the ability to reach out to others and establish relationships with them despite the distance. This comes at little to no cost and has far greater outreach than taking out an advert or ringing someone’s telly. Google services, in particular, help bring about measurable data and analysis as to how many people you have reached, the number of people who reference you or link you back, and your ranking on their search results page. The sector is still adapting to the digital market, so plenty of online opportunities exist.
Whether over an online forum or speaking to the masses, your language is as essential as the method you choose to deliver it. Each industry has buzzwords and jargon that would confound those not in it, so tailor your words to your catering audience. Launching a new product to a different target market indicates a need to introduce yourself, your brand, and the industry you belong to. Life sciences, in particular, are known for highly technical jargon. Explain key concepts before delving into new terms, and use visuals to illustrate your point further. This makes it much easier to get your message across.
Avoid spam by crafting personalised emails to critical experts and informed potential clients. Where do you find these people? They are the ones commenting on your blogs and are present when you do product demonstrations. You can glean many interested people through online forums, social media, and even through word-of-mouth and business networking functions. This can all serve to further your influence to them and maintain a rapport with those who do end up responding.
Any industry will have critical experts who provide valuable insight and information and hold considerable pull regarding how your products are viewed. If one industry insider writes a bad review about your product or service, this will impact your sales considerably and hurt your marketing plans. Instead, collaborate and interview them to cater your services better to the knowledge they hold. Who knows? In the course of your business, you can become an influencer yourself. It just takes time.
During the implementation of your life science scheme, there should ideally be no more hitches regarding research or understanding of the targets one must achieve for the year. Here, you finally begin to conduct your plans and see them to fruition – an experiment of sorts. In this stage, it is essential to keep reviewing oneself to see if one is still keeping track of one's goals. This is to remind one another of what is at stake and what can be achieved by the current method.
However, unlike the scientific method, you can still modify and adapt plans to accommodate any sudden changes or movements in the coming year. If the current environment changes, it would be prudent to review and reevaluate your plans. In most scientific experiments, this is not possible, and any contamination would mean starting over from scratch. The key here is to be flexible regarding any developments that cause you to rethink your marketing scheme.
Timely, well-written, and concise reports are critical in implementing your plans. Tracking the progress of your current marketing method will affect future campaigns. Daily or weekly reports help you keep abreast of changes and make business decisions much easier. Identifying any hidden problems during the duration of your schemes will be well worth the effort.
Most experiments, studies, and immersions have a strict timeline for when and how long they will take. In marketing and business, this is not the case. It is a continuing process that requires a dedicated team of people to conduct and will take considerable time and effort to succeed. This should not serve as a deterrent—in fact, it should be used as a challenge to continue to improve your business plans.
Life science marketing is all about improving the quality of life. As such, there is always room for error and improvement. There are so many opportunities as the services and products of the sector are only growing – healthcare, fresh produce, and equipment will always be in demand for anyone who wishes to live a life well-lived. It is crucial, then, to innovate and provide them with products and services that are standard and continuously give satisfaction to others. Only then can you deem your plans successful, and only when you have defined those parameters for yourself can you consider them successful.
Steps of the Scientific Method, ScienceBuddies.org, ScienceBuddies.org
20 Smart Ways to Generate More Leads for Your Business, Jeff Bullas, Jeff Bullas