2022 could be your life science company's biggest year yet. 2021 is drawing to a close, and 2022 is right around the corner. Is your life science company ready for the upcoming changes in the marketing landscape? We've compiled a short list of some of the most important marketing trends on the horizon. Make sure [...]
Science marketing can be hard if you don't have help. If you're in the life science industry, you probably know how difficult it can be to market your services or products. From biotech to medical instrumentation, many science companies are grappling with how to connect with their audience and increase sales. The good news is [...]
Trust is the most important element of any relationship. Whether it's personal or professional, no partnership can exist without trust. And while the world of life science marketing may not be the most romantic field in the world, it's still crucial to establish and maintain trust with your audience. Sending positive trust signals can instill [...]
Is your life science website as good as it can be? Chances are, it isn't. Don't feel bad, every site on the internet can be improved in some way. The good news is that many of the most impactful site optimizations are easy to implement. In our line of work, we've seen sites ranging from [...]
When you’re undertaking a strategic marketing initiative, should you use your internal marketing team to handle the work, or should you hire an external marketing agency? This is an important question, as the results should last for years. This brief blog post will outline some of the factors to consider when making that choice. If [...]
Why am I (an expert in the field of life science marketing) writing about employee turnover? Because the two are intimately connected. I’ll lay out the case here and in upcoming issues.
Tone of voice (and the archetypes that can help define and guide it) is a powerful tool for differentiating an organization and a set of offerings. Given its power, it’s surprisingly underutilized by life science organizations. Keep in mind, however, that like all tools it can be powerful when used correctly—and cause significant problems when used without care. Since the team at Forma has been deeply involved in using tone of voice and archetypes as part of our marketing toolkit for several years now, I’d like to offer a few cautions.
Tone of voice is a powerful tool for differentiating your life science offerings. In the previous issue, I discussed the need for consistency. Since every employee has the potential to be a brand ambassador, ensuring consistency means aligning all employees around a single tone of voice.
Tone of voice is a powerful tool for differentiating your life science offerings. In the previous issue, I discussed how tone of voice can be guided by archetypes. I also reviewed some experiments demonstrating the self-reinforcing nature of archetypal patterns. This self-reinforcement plays a crucial role both in enabling archetypes to guide tone of voice and allowing a particular tone of voice to be understood as a component of an archetype’s pattern. In this issue I build on those topics by looking at other patterns, biases and heuristics that support the need for consistency when using tone of voice in your life science marketing efforts.
Tone of voice is a powerful tool for differentiating your life science offerings. In the previous issues in this series, I examined the benefits of harnessing tone of voice and offered a new system for defining tone of voice: archetypes. In this issue, I discuss some experiments which demonstrate the self-reinforcing nature of archetypal patterns. This has many positive implications for marketers who wish to harness tone of voice as an effective tool for differentiation: enabling clear communication, driving consistency, and even improving team alignment.
Tone of voice is a powerful tool for differentiating your life science offerings. In the previous issue, I presented a new system for defining tone of voice: archetypes. In this third issue on tone of voice in life science marketing, I discuss the different components of tone of voice, and reveal the results of experiments done to test the link between archetypal patterns and vocabulary.
Tone of voice is a powerful tool for differentiating your life science offerings. Unfortunately, it is often ignored. In the second in a series on tone of voice in marketing, I introduce a new way of developing a tone of voice, one that can be easily shared across your entire life science marketing team—and beyond.
In marketing communications, tone of voice is not your content or message, but it is crucial nonetheless. While tone of voice is a powerful tool to differentiate your offerings, it is often ignored. In this first in a series on tone of voice in marketing, I tease apart some of the interesting aspects of tone of voice, reveal a multi-dimensional scale that can be used to classify different tones of voice, and outline one possible system for defining your specific tone of voice.
Archetypes are one effective way to manage the meaning of your brand-story in the minds of your audiences. Doing so effectively leads to greater differentiation and pricing power. Studies have shown that careful selection and maintenance of archetypes is related to higher profit. What are archetypes? In this and subsequent issues, we’ll introduce the basics of this fascinating topic.
The root problem of poor sales performance is often poor differentiation and poor positioning. We examine a typical growth pattern of service organizations in the life sciences and see how better sales traction begins with a clearly defined marketing strategy.
Culture eats strategy for breakfast – Part 2 Recent research we conducted with life science companies shows that leaders in the life sciences believe they establish corporate culture, but they do little to document this culture in a way that lasts once they leave the room. In this issue, I reveal several other surprising insights [...]
Culture eats strategy for breakfast - Part 1 If it's true that culture eats strategy for breakfast, and if we think about what that really means, then we'll conclude that life science leaders should spend as much time planning and documenting culture as they do financial performance. Recent research we conducted with life science companies [...]
Life science marketing is a lot like cycling. Great Britain has dominated professional cycling over the last decade. The British team has won the Tour de France—cycling’s most prestigious event—5 out of the last 6 years. This record is amazing. To find its equal, you have to go back many years, to the time when [...]
As we begin 2018, there’s one marketing resolution I wish you’d make. Make this marketing resolution, then actually implement it, and you’ll change the trajectory of your marketing efforts—you’ll gain clarity and make a positive difference on all your marketing activities throughout the year. This marketing resolution has three parts. But to understand it, you [...]
Your CRM is the lifeblood of your life science business’ future. CRMs can be complex beasts to install and manage, but that’s not the most critical challenge. All the technology in the world won’t help if your sales team isn’t using your CRM correctly. In this, the second of a two-part series, we look at improving the adoption of your CRM. We’ll dive into ways to lead your business development team through a transition—from their current state, where data is missing or just isn’t being captured correctly, to a more perfect union of protocols and personnel.
Is your life science CRM system working optimally? Are you tracking your new business opportunities effectively? Do you have the necessary visibility into your sales pipeline? Is everyone on your life science sales team using your system in a consistent manner? If the answer to any of these questions is “no,” then you’ve got a protocol problem—or is it a personnel problem? Or maybe it’s a technology problem? Let’s face it: CRM systems are complex beasts, with lots of moving parts, including software, protocols and personnel. Many life science organizations fail to use them effectively. In this first part of a series, I examine how to assess where the challenges arise in the adoption of proper CRM processes inside life science organizations, and what you can do about them. In future issues we’ll dive deep and develop a plan for getting the most out of your CRM system. The goal of all this: to tune your tools, so you can be more effective in your marketing and new-business development efforts.
For companies large or small, trade shows are effective marketing and sales tools. According to CEIR, meeting a prospect at a trade show versus in the field saves an organization an average of $943. So how can you make sure that your trade show attendance is producing impressive results for your company? Here are some tips to [...]
Life science sales cycles can be long. For this and many other reasons (which I’ll summarize below), it is important that we nurture our prospects. While some life science organizations understand lead nurturing well, many don't understand the subtleties involved in creating a highly effective life science lead nurturing "ecosystem." In fact, there are eight distinct activities involved in life science lead nurturing. In this issue I'll describe each activity, and show how they all work together. It turns out that both lead nurturing and lead generation share many of the same activities, so I'll spend some time discussing both. If you're interested in understanding how lead nurturing works or how to improve your own lead nurturing activities, read this issue.
There is a great deal of misunderstanding about lead nurturing in the life sciences. Apparently, some see nurturing as a chance to continue their strong-arm sales tactics. And some see nurturing as a waste of time. What is nurturing, and what’s the best way to go about it? In this issue, I begin to explore this fascinating topic by asking a very simple question—what exactly is nurturing?—and exploring opportunities for nurturing through each of the stages of the sales process.
If your boss directed you to double your profit, what specific steps would you take? In this issue, I look at some interesting case studies that indicate how you could achieve this desirable goal.
Two questions invariably come up when talking with life science marketers about archetypes. The first is: what are archetypes? I’ve answered that question in many places—here’s a good introduction: Gaining differentiation (and pricing power) through the use of archetypes in life science marketing. The second question is: can I have multiple archetypes, one for each [...]
I just spent the week with my twin two-year-old nephews. Needless to say, I am exhausted. However, it is a different exhaustion than I expected. I had expected to be physically exhausted from chasing them around and preventing them from hurting themselves. Instead, I am exhausted from keeping up with their curious minds and can [...]
Image courtesy of jesadaphorn at FreeDigitalPhotos.net Did you play Go Fish growing up? It’s a great card game for kids because the rules are simple. The goal is to collect pairs of cards to lay down on the table. If you need an “8,” you ask for it, and the next player has [...]
In this issue, I complete my examination of the process of rebranding. I’ll outline the last 5 steps in the rebranding process, and discuss the importance of introducing your new position and brand-story to your internal and external life science marketing audiences.
—First in a series— Most life science marketing (stinks) is less than adequate, and I have a theory about why that is. It begins with what makes a scientist want to become a scientist in the first place. There are three key characteristics that make scientists want to become scientists, which also loosely describe the [...]
There are two trends that are changing the importance of the sales role in the life sciences. I’ll outline these trends, which you’ll easily recognize, and then I’ll talk about what this means for life science organizations. TREND 1: Ubiquitous information is reducing the power of the sales department. It used to be that sellers [...]
In this issue, I examine the process of rebranding. I’ll outline the first 5 steps in the rebranding process for a life science organization, product or service. Once you’ve decided to rebrand, you should begin by developing a clear-eyed understanding of your environment, your audiences and your competitors. Then you must select a position and an archetype.
The recent webinar, Using archetypes in life science marketing to increase sales and margins, included an interactive discussion led by David Chapin that shed new light on how life science organizations can set themselves apart from the competition and better engage their audiences in a crowded, highly regulated marketplace. In so doing, such organizations will benefit [...]
Explore this infographic to find out if it's time to rebrand your life science organization.
Photo: seaskylab at FreeDigitalPhotos.com Words 2 Wow Founder Chris Conner (@words2wow) recently asked life science sales professionals if their marketing communications teams were giving them what they need to be successful – namely getting the right leads into the funnel and creating tools to help them bag the business. Only 40% of the [...]
In this issue, I provide some guidance on the makeup of your life science rebranding task force. Having worked with many such teams over the past two-and-a-half decades, I’ve learned that some attributes are essential, and some should be strenuously avoided. I’ll begin this issue by outlining how to guide the rebranding discussion and I’ll close it by discussing the issue of timing: how do you know when to rebrand? In the next issue, I’ll provide a decision tree to help you make the decision: Is it time to rebrand my life science organization, product or service?
In this issue, I examine the diverse set of factors that typically trigger the discussion about whether a life science organization should rebrand. I’ll also discuss the positive and negative consequences of rebranding. In the next issue, I’ll cover the attributes, roles and responsibilities that should be part of any rebranding task force.
Isn’t it ironic that marketing, the one business function that is (supposedly) responsible for clear communication, is also the one with widespread confusion about the meaning of one of its central terms: brand? There are actually at least four meanings, all very different. So I’m going to begin the discussion about rebranding by clarifying some terminology. And then I’ll point out the eight foundational assets you must have for an effective “brand” in life science marketing. In future issues, I’ll cover the reasons to think about rebranding, discuss the team you need to undertake this effort, provide a decision tree that will allow you to determine whether it’s time to rebrand, and give you a roadmap to follow as you rebrand your life science organization, product or service.
Image courtesy of Stuart Miles @fdigitalphotos Every year, I set out with the best of intentions. I make resolutions to be healthier, do more charity work, or even spend more time with friends and family. Things always start well but somewhere around January 15th, something comes up and I go off track. The same [...]
"If you just want to read one book—and only one—to make your products or services more desirable, congratulations: you are holding it.” What began in 2008 as a monthly series of white papers extended into a full-length book. On the heels of its release last month, our CEO David Chapin will present “Learn How to Improve Your Life [...]
This whitepaper is a free copy of Chapter 7: Positioning—Your Marketing DNA from Making the Complex Compelling—Creating High Performance Marketing in the Life Sciences, now available from Rockbench Publishing. This book provides detailed guidance on how to create high performance marketing that is focused specifically on the nature and needs of the life sciences marketplace. Making the Complex Compelling lays out a clear vision and step-by-step process for creating compelling marketing, with components that all work together and reinforce each other—from your unique value proposition, to an effective brand-story, to content marketing and marketing automation—all to drive engagement, interest, traffic, leads, and sales. Judging from the questions I’ve received and our web traffic over the years, positioning is a topic that fascinates many of you. In honor of the book’s release, this newsletter is a free copy of Chapter 7 from the book. This chapter is titled Positioning—Your Marketing DNA. It has been slightly edited and I hope this serves you well.
Mission statement. Strategy statement. Vision statement. Value statement. Internal language. External language. And while we’re at it, is ours a platform or a product? A product platform? A productized platform service? Besides the financial statement or maybe the research statement, does any of this matter? Mostly no. And it almost never matters to your audience(s). Those who [...]
In practice, too much marketing is non-differentiating, and puts more emphasis on being flashy than on being effective. You can’t connect with audiences by putting tactics before strategy. How can you structure your marketing for maximum effectiveness?
Many companies try to enter the life science market, lured by the promise of rapid growth and significant opportunity. But entering the life science market can be difficult; many companies try and fail. In this first of two whitepapers on the subject, I’ll provide an overview of some of the factors that make this market unique and identify what you can do to increase your chances of success.
Choosing a name for a life science company, product or service can be difficult. Any choice will generate a strong, almost instantaneous response, carry great emotional weight and (ideally) last a long time. How do you choose a name while avoiding the emotional rollercoaster that such choices often bring? I outline an eight-step process. But first, let’s talk about the importance of choosing the proper name.
The terms User and Customer research are sometimes used interchangeably, and while there can be some similarities between these two types of research, there are distinct differences. In general, both of these types of research focus on understanding behaviors, needs, and motivations through observation techniques, task analysis, and other feedback methodologies. However, that is where [...]
Frank Diana, Global Head of the Digital Enterprise Solutions Team at Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), paved a road map for becoming an emerging digital enterprise. In this exceptional 6-part online series featured on Perspectives, TCS Consulting Journal, Diana presents a compelling case for organizations facing commoditization of their products and services. In his 2nd installment, [...]
Marketing's purpose is to inform and influence potential customers, to give those customers specific, low-risk, easy-to-take actions resulting in movement toward the next step in the buying process. Stories move people and are one of the primary tools marketers can use to bring potential customers closer. And everyone loves a good story. Numbers can tell stories, too. And [...]
Archetypes are a powerful way to manage the meaning of your brand-story. Using archetypes effectively allows you to create high-performance life science marketing—leading to greater differentiation and pricing power. In past issues, I’ve outlined how to determine the archetypes of your competitors and how to choose an archetype for your own organization. Now, in this final issue covering archetypes, it’s time to put your archetype to use. Let's get practical.
Todd Weeks has joined Forma Life Science Marketing as Director of Production. In addition to driving Forma’s operations and capabilities in marketing automation, analytics, and social media, Todd is responsible for managing workflow, project deliverables and budgeting. He has 20 years’ professional experience in team and project management, workflow development and training, and quality control, [...]
The effective use of archetypes can provide differentiation in life science marketing. But choosing an archetype can seem like a daunting task. How do you choose an archetype for your own organization? I outline a proven ten-step process.
Archetypes are one effective way for life science companies to create greater differentiation and pricing power through effective marketing. In this issue, I’ll explore an example of bringing archetypes to life throughout your marketing communications, and I’ll discuss how you can determine the archetypes of your competition.
Carrie Crowe has joined Forma Life Science Marketing as a Director of Client Services. In addition to her role as an account manager for some of Forma’s largest clients, Carrie is building upon her expertise in life science marketing research by exploring methodology alternatives and interpretation of outcomes. She has 15 years’ professional experience in [...]
Summary: Archetypes are a powerful tool to guide the development of your marketing communications. In this issue, we’ll start by examining one of the sources of the strength of archetypes: pattern matching. We’ll look at the twelve families of archetypes and at the many different archetypes within these families. And we’ll discuss why you shouldn’t select the Scientist or the Innovator as your archetype.
One of the primary things we do in working with life science companies is to help them assess where they are now and then to decide where they want to go. These are fundamental questions of goals, strategies, tactics and positioning and they touch not just how companies go to market, but also on the [...]
David Storey has re-joined Forma Life Science Marketing as Associate Creative Director. Before launching his own firm in 2004, he was the Senior Art Director (at what was then Forma Design) for five years. Storey has 25 years’ professional experience in corporate branding, strategic marketing, interaction and user interface design, and art direction. As his name suggests, he [...]
Archetypes are one effective way to manage the meaning of your brand-story in the minds of your audiences. Doing so effectively leads to greater differentiation and pricing power. Studies have shown that careful selection and maintenance of archetypes is related to higher profit. What are archetypes? In this and subsequent issues, we’ll introduce the basics of this fascinating topic.
Here are the Don'ts: Don't create demand for a cool, innovative product or service Don't ask me (the visitor) to invite friends or colleagues Don't ask for a visitor's name and email address, especially if the visitor is a qualified, interested prospect Wait, aren't those the same as the do's? Yes, except for the [...]
Here's the challenge: for your next presentation, think of the projector or screen as a campfire. Then tell a good story. Something magic happens when you gather around a campfire. Time slows down. Connections and memories are made. Stories resonate. I still remember a spine-tingling ghost story told around a campfire from almost 40 years [...]
Most life science marketing is ineffective. Surprisingly, horribly, disastrously ineffective. But it doesn't have to be this way. There are 10 commitments we can make that will transform our marketing efforts into high-performance life science marketing. Make these 10 commitments and join the movement to wipe low-performance marketing off the face of the earth.
He’s not a doctor, but he does play one on TV and Mr. Gervais’ secrets for success are the perfect prescription for becoming successful in content marketing. His 3 steps from his recent secrets for success article in TIME are simple: Work hard Be original Write about what you know. He was writing about his success [...]
Content marketing is the great equalizer. Using content marketing, small life science firms can be as effective and engaging as much larger firms. Unfortunately, as content marketing gets more and more popular, being seen as unique becomes more and more difficult. But there still seems to be real opportunity in content marketing in the life sciences; there are areas of content that are not yet heavily populated by competitors. In this issue, I’ll identify what you need to do to be able to take advantage of this "blue ocean" (a place where the competition is not yet heavily focused [i]).
What role do social media play in your life science marketing mix? If you can’t shake the vision of Facebook and Twitter from your mind’s eye, read on. Many B2B companies – life science organizations among them – have created Facebook pages and tweeted a time or two and seen little value from their efforts. [...]
There is significant misunderstanding about how marketing works – that is, of the mechanism by which it affects people’s attitudes, beliefs and behaviors. In particular, many scientists believe that they are immune to marketing’s effects. But if scientists are immune to marketing’s effects, why do so many companies continue to spend significantly on marketing campaigns? The reason is simple: this supposed immunity is just a myth; marketing actually works. To understand how, let’s examine the marketing mechanism of action.
It’s a spin on the proverbial chicken-or-the-egg: Which comes first? Content or SEO? In a blog post this week on The Content Marketing Institute website, Jay Baer reiterates the value and true purpose of content. He calls it Youtility -- marketing that’s wanted by customers (as opposed to what marketers have traditionally provided: marketing we [...]
It was an exciting Thursday last week when the Forma team gathered for Research Triangle Park's first Life Sciences Awards. David was hailed as RTP’s Best Life Science Marketing Consultant for his specialized expertise in the promotion and success of life science organizations -- namely through strategic differentiation, positioning, messaging, and branding. Sponsored by the [...]
Different wavelengths. A disconnect. Out of sync. Marching to a different drummer.Call it what you will, but misalignment in life science marketing can have significant effect on your organization, inside and out:Poor employment engagement, including high turnoverA confused marketplace and workforceA marketing effort with low ROILack of focus – in your target audience, specialization, business [...]
Inbound marketing, when done well, should result in a deeper relationship between your organization and your prospects, developing into a steady stream of well-qualified leads. In this issue, we attempt to strip away the hype surrounding inbound marketing and specify the approach needed for an effective inbound marketing effort in the life sciences. We’ll see how the various components of inbound marketing reinforce each other, interacting to drive effective results.
Most schools across the Northern Hemisphere are letting out for the summer. But when it comes to planning for and implementing Marketing Automation, some life science organizations might be prepared for year-round enrollment! Marketo’s Definitive Guide to Marketing Automation defines marketing automation as a system that “streamlines, automates, and measures marketing tasks and workflows … [...]
Marketing is getting more complex as buyers retreat into anonymity. To be effective, the Marketing function must shift from focusing on simple, outbound promotional activities to attracting prospects, and then converting them from visitors to leads to customers. Inbound marketing is more complex and is more synergistic than outbound marketing. For example, outbound marketing is designed to culminate in a single exchange of value, that is: products or services exchanged for money. Inbound marketing is designed to employ many small exchanges of value and this shift requires changing the way we think about marketing in the life sciences.
David Chapin, CEO of Forma Life Science Marketing We may be biased, but we always thought David was the Best Consultant in RTP. Now it's official. This month, the Triangle Business Journal announced the winners of the inaugural 2013 BDO Life Sciences Awards and David was named 'Best Consultant' -- recognized for the [...]
Inbound marketing, when done well, should result in a steady stream of well-qualified life science leads. In this issue, we begin our look at inbound marketing in the life sciences by considering the issue from the viewpoint of a prospect. What makes them consider you, rather than one of your competitors?
This Monday, the Biotechnology Industry Organization kicks off its 20th BIO International Convention in Chicago, the world’s largest event for the biotech industry. As part of its 25th anniversary in delivering life science marketing services, Forma is among the 58 partners in North Carolina Pavilion #2617. The pavilion was organized by North Carolina Biotechnology Center [...]
We’ve had a surge of new clients in recent months, and therefore a significant uptick in the number of diagnostic presentations to evaluate their current life science marketing strategy, positioning, and messaging. The driver for those presentations is a comprehensive intake survey, in which key decision makers share their impressions on a number of things, [...]
Marty Fitzgerald, Director of Business Development We’re at the CED Life Science Conference 2013 today and tomorrow, which brings to mind two of our past newsletters that focused on maximizing the life science trade show experience. I attended a show with a client last year and had the chance to visit a few [...]
Today’s life science marketers use ‘touchpoints’ to position their organization and communicate about its brand. To make marketing more effective, there are 10 key aspects about touchpoints that you must understand. All touchpoints are audience-focused, but their importance varies by industry, company, and audience. Not all can convey the same message, and there are some [...]
We continue our discussion of life science marketing alignment and misalignment by discussing the most common, and potentially most damaging, types of life science marketing misalignment. We provide a guide to diagnosis these conditions and some thoughts about treating these common misalignments.
Life science marketing misalignment will impede your effectiveness and lower your ROI. So diagnosis of marketing alignment is a crucial first step in determining whether misalignment is present, and if so, which type. In this issue, we continue our look at alignment in life science marketing by examining the first two types of misalignment. We provide some diagnostic questions to help you determine which type of misalignment (if any) is present, and we point the way towards effective treatment.
A seismic shift in marketing is happening right now. The Internet gives each and every company access to a stage with microphones on it. This is a tremendous advantage to small companies, because content marketing “levels the playing field” for these organizations. But unless these companies act quickly and begin to create compelling, unique content, [...]
The Council for Entrepreneurial Development (CED) is the southeast’s largest entrepreneurial support organization and based right next-door in the Research Triangle Park. Recently, I spent some time with CED's Jason H. Parker and he's chronicling our conversation in a series of posts on their Start Something Blog through the Winter Holidays. Check out his first [...]
A common problem in life science marketing is misalignment. Misalignment can severely impede your life science marketing efforts, resulting in a variety of symptoms. This issue examines this all too common problem. We begin with a simple assessment to help you determine if your marketing is correctly aligned. We’ll review the Marketing Mechanism of Action as a framework for understanding the four different types of misalignment.
It seems like everyone's talking about content marketing these days. Why? And what is it? The basic premise of content marketing is that, by readily and freely sharing information that an audience finds useful and relevant, they'll be encouraged to respond with trust by giving you the opportunity to engage in dialogue. All this enhances [...]
Many marketing professionals in the life sciences industry didn't start out as marketers. They were schooled in biochemistry, engineering, or physics. And while science seeks to understand, marketing seeks to sell; science seeks to describe, and marketing to communicate. Life science marketing isn't a "hard-science" but scientists often treat it like one. From that standpoint, [...]
In the September 12 issue of Advertising Age, industry exec Al Ries examined an important topic: the confusion between product brands and company brands. To illustrate his point, Ries hailed the brand strength of two companies: Apple and Disney. Both capitalized on being first in their respective industries – Apple as the first to deliver [...]
The root problem of poor sales performance is often poor differentiation and poor positioning. We examine a typical growth pattern of service organizations in the life sciences and see how better sales traction begins with a clearly defined marketing strategy.
Focusing your expectations of marketing and tracking the proper marketing metrics lays the groundwork for improving your ROI performance over time. Part three of a three-part series.
Like any good marketing organization, we at Forma study our web traffic and metrics regularly (in our case, weekly). A few months back, we made what seemed like a remarkable discovery. The web page with the overwhelmingly highest level of traffic is one of the first newsletters I wrote and posted more than three years [...]
Marty Fitzgerald Joins Forma Life Science Marketing as Director of Business Development Raleigh, NC – July 20, 2012 Marty Fitzgerald has more than 20 years’ professional experience in business development, marketing strategy and account management, and has spent most of that tenure serving the medical device, healthcare, biotech, and pharmaceutical industries. Most recently, he was [...]
In the life sciences, particularly among CROs, poor differentiation is the cause of many common marketing ills. But once meaningful differentiation has been established, content marketing is the perfect vehicle to reach your target audience. David Chapin is taking this message and others to ExL Pharma's 4th Annual Business Development Strategies for Clinical Trials Service Providers Summit [...]
In this second of a series, we continue our look at return on investment (ROI) for marketing in the life sciences. We’ll outline the five systemic challenges to determining marketing ROI in the life sciences. In our next issue, we’ll outline the conditions and the steps required to determine marketing ROI.
In this first of a series, we look at the return on investment (ROI) for marketing in the life sciences. Can ROI be measured in a meaningful way? If so, what preconditions are required for such a measurement to be valid? We’ll begin our exploration of these complex issues by looking at why marketing is unique among all the major business functions. We’ll explain and examine the ROI Pathway and explore why an overall ROI ratio is not as useful as a series of individual ROI measurements for different components of the marketing mix. We’ll conclude this issue with an examination of two of the five systemic challenges to determining marketing ROI in the life sciences.
Social media provides numerous opportunities for life science companies to interact, engage and educate their audiences. With multiple platforms available, many companies don’t know where to start this process. Thus, many life science companies either avoid social media or spread themselves too thin trying to cover all of their media bases. Unfortunately, neither of these strategies will lead to successful content marketing and social media campaigns in the life sciences. A successful online marketing or content campaign must start with a thorough understanding of the audiences you are trying to reach.
In this issue we continue our examination of the basics of SEO (search engine optimization) for life science and marketing companies. This issue will cover some of the important off-page factors in search engine optimization for life science and biotech marketing.
In this issue we’ll take a look at the basics of SEO (search engine optimization) for life science and marketing companies. This issue will cover some of the important on-page factors; we’ll cover off-page factors in a future issue.
Familiarity with your own marketing messages will lead you to think that consistency doesn’t matter in your marketing; you’ll be wrong.
Keep your biotech marketing communications short. Why? Reason #19. This isn't about you, but about your audience. Talk less, listen more.
Keep your biotech marketing communications short. Why? Reason #17. This should be an introduction for your sales force, not their replacement.
Keep your biotech marketing communications short. Why? Reason #16. If you can’t say it succinctly, you don’t really understand it, do you?
In this issue we give you access to a tool you can use to assess your own marketing-based lead-generation efforts. Take 10 minutes to answer some short and simple yes-no questions about your brand and you’ll receive valuable feedback on your lead-generating efforts. We’ll also look at common patterns in the responses.
Keep biotech marketing communications short. Reason #13. More short messages have the advantage of frequency, unlike one long message.
Keep biotech marketing communications short. Reason #12. Your busy audience will appreciate you if you don't waste their valuable time.
Keep your biotech marketing communications short. Why? Reason #11 Messages should focus on your core differentiators, not every benefit.
Keep your biotech marketing communications short. Why? Reason #10 There is a surfeit of information and a shortage of insight. Add insight.
Keep your biotech marketing communications short. Why? Reason #9: You’ve only got one chance to make a good first impression.
Keep your biotech marketing communications short. Why? #8: The audience just doesn’t care all that much. Not as much as you. Really.
Keep your biotech marketing communications short. Why? #7: You don’t want to be a bore.
Keep your marketing communications short. Why? Reason #6: You want your marketing to intrigue, not completely inform. Marketing shouldn’t answer every question that your prospect has.
Keep your biotech marketing communications short. Why? #5: marketing should not start a monolog (long) but open a dialog (short exchanges).
Keep biotech marketing communications short. Reason #4: Condensing messages disciplines you to say exactly what you mean – succinctly.
Keep biotech marketing communications short and focused. Why? Reason #3: Audience attention spans are shrinking, even among scientists.
Keep biotech marketing communications short. Reason #2: This communication is for early-stage buyers, who need inspiration (short), not reassurance (long).
Keep your marketing communications short? Why? First: There is more noise in the environment. Short messages help cut through the clutter.
In this issue we examine in more depth the ladder of marketing-based lead generation for life science, med-device and biotech companies. We discuss the six uses for the ladder. We outline a process for creating your own ladder, and provide a link to a template you can customize for your own use. Next month we’ll finish our discussion on the ladder of lead generation by discussing some tactics you can use to improve your lead generating initiatives.
Content marketing is like mining. Both involve hard work, finding something of value in the midst of slag, and lots of refining. But there is one key difference. Drilling among the accumulated knowledge within your company yields something you can reuse or repurpose. The themes that started out as a white paper can be reused [...]
Most life science companies need to step up their content creation efforts. They don’t have an active program to engage their customers by providing compelling content. Now a recent article points out the trends in this area, and the clear implication is that the time to begin this is right now. Forrester Research Inc. has [...]
Having worked in the life sciences for more than two decades, we have seen a number of marketing errors commonly made by life science companies. As a follow-up to last month’s article about strategic errors, this month we’ll discuss some widespread tactical errors and provide suggestions about how to both identify and address them.
Checklists are a great way to ensure that you cover all the basics. They are used daily by thousands of people in situations where the results really matter (like flying planes and surgical procedures). If you were going to create a checklist, what items are so important that they would appear on your life science [...]
Having worked in the life sciences for quite a while, we have seen a number of common marketing errors made by life science companies. This month we will address some common strategic errors – next month we’ll cover tactical errors.
In the life sciences, many firms’ offerings are often very close to their competitors’ – almost identical in fact. This is due to many things; perhaps most important is the regulatory scrutiny that drives similarity in processes. If you are similar to your competitors, it’s not reasonable to assume that you can stand in a [...]
“Social media” sure is a popular term, isn’t it? It is not hard to find seminars, blog posts, newsletters and all sorts of experts to teach us how to harness social media. People are all atwitter (pun intended) about getting on the social media bandwagon. Social media is the marketing flavor of the month, maybe [...]
In sales, if you are going to hear "No," you want to hear it early in the process, so you can move on from uninterested prospects to qualify someone else – someone who might be a better fit. If you are developing a medical device, you want to develop tests that will bring problems and [...]
To judge from all the poorly positioned marketing in the life sciences, it must be very hard to diagnose your own marketing ills. Otherwise firms would fix what is so obviously wrong. It is hard to diagnose yourself. It can be dangerous too. In fact, they won’t let doctors do it, because the stakes can [...]
For life science companies, diagnosing marketing ills can be problematic. This has many potential causes – maybe the company is run by scientists, who might believe that technological superiority is enough (it isn’t). Maybe the organization just doesn’t have much experience in diagnosis. Maybe the situation has changed recently, and what used to work is [...]
Content marketing is all the rage in some marketing circles. But many life science companies use surprisingly little content marketing. We’ll start this issue by continuing the comparison between content marketing and peer-review publishing begun in the last issue. A diagram will make the comparison clearer. We’ll look at how fundamental changes in the way people access information has driven an increase in choice, which in turn is driving the importance of content marketing. We’ll conclude with a list of changes in attitudes and behaviors that accompany a content marketing initiative. In our next issue, we’ll provide a series of “How to” suggestions for beginning a content marketing initiative.
Content marketing is all the rage in some marketing circles. But many life science companies do not use content marketing – particularly on their web sites. This is surprising because the scientific community has been practicing a form of content marketing for years. In this issue, we’ll look at the similarities and the differences between content marketing and peer-review publishing. In the next issue, we’ll examine both the benefits of content marketing and the attitudes that must change for content marketing to be successful. And in the subsequent issue, we’ll look at how to create and execute an effective, focused, content marketing strategy for your life science business.
Many scientists think they are ‘immune’ to marketing. Even so, companies in the life sciences sectors often resort to standard clichés when it comes to making marketing claims. In many sectors of the life science space companies shout and scream on their web sites and in their brochures – making lots of noise. Unfortunately these efforts are completely ineffective at helping prospects choose their organization. What’s going on?
Positioning is your brand’s DNA. It is private language that acts as a decision-making filter for your public communications. Given the fundamental importance of positioning, how do you go about creating an accurate and useful statement for your life science brand? This article will address the key attributes of such a statement and provide a template for creating your brand’s own positioning statement.
For life science and biotech companies selling products or services to the drug development chain, the market is in tremendous flux. The patent cliff, the contraction of ‘Big Pharma’ and increased regulatory scrutiny are causing huge seismic shifts – a.k.a., earthquakes. How do you compete effectively in this type of marketplace? This article looks at similar shifts in another industry to point the way to an effective competitive strategy for life science and biotech service companies.
Scientists often believe that they are immune to the efforts of marketers. They are not alone; many of us believe that we make decisions from a purely rational perspective and can therefore filter marketing messages out of our decision-making process. Scientists are particularly prone to subscribe to this belief, as their discipline and world-view places a premium on rational thought. Recent research proves that no one is immune; marketing can affect our behavior, even if the messages are only received subliminally. This article examines this research, and looks at its implication for the marketing of life science companies.
Scientific disciplines are often concerned with a complete description of an issue, while marketing is typically concerned with communication. When scientists engage in marketing, their training can lead them to over-communicate, which can be detrimental to their marketing goals. This article explores this phenomenon, identifies the ‘big mistake’ that most companies make, and provides guidance to avoid that mistake in marketing efforts.