Marketing
Getting to know your customers
The role of marketing in Life Sciences depends upon the nature of the service and the needs of the customer. Services of lower complexity and sales price (e.g., well understood standardized protocols) may be supported with a B2B eCommerce approach and little interaction with sales personnel. Buyers of more complex services with a higher sales price are likely to conduct their own research about a potential solution before engaging in a conversation with a sales representative. This is the stage in the buying process during which potential customers are forming their hypotheses around the best way to solve their perceived challenge. The role of marketing under those circumstances is to support potential customers through an extended buying process until they are ready to engage with a sales professional.
Align with your customers
Successful marketing starts with understanding customers and aligning with how they buy the services offered. From that informed base of knowledge, sophisticated techniques can be used to deliver relevant, objective, and engaging content.
Branding
A brand is a set of ideas your company stands for in your customers’ minds, a bit like your personality. It is shaped by your company’s actions and is recognized by a visual and verbal style, known as your brand identity. Defining your brand identity can be approached through a five-step process.
01. Understand
Get to know you, your business, customers, and competitors
Position your service - uncover your opportunities, challenges, and gaps
Set objectives for the project and define success
02. Define
Establish what we want your brand to represent in peoples minds
Agree upon the brand’s core idea, benefits, differentiators, narrative, image and overall personality
Write a brief for the creative phase
03. Create
Interpret the strategy and core ideas using compelling design
Create an attractive, distinctive, and resonant look and feel that works across all channels and media
Develop a message, narrative and tone of voice
If necessary, create a name and logo
04. Implement
Design all touch-points in the customer’s world to express the new brand
Ensure that each application clearly communicates the brand idea, positioning and story
Launch the new brand with care, sensitivity, and consistency across all applications
05. Monitor
Audit and review brand for consistency, relevance and effectiveness
Ensure that the brand is fully understood internally and externally
Refresh or re-vitalize dated ideas as your company grows
Investor communication
Investor communication often takes a back seat to running the company and that can be a costly mistake. Very simple, clear and compelling communication with existing investors creates a solid platform for “no-surprise management” at the Board level for multiple purposes.
Creating a common vision
Value proposition
Differentiation in target markets
Progress-to-plan
Attracting new investors
Expansion opportunities
Exit potential
Effective investor communication can be approached with a number of issues in mind
Pre-empt questions with prepared materials
Express technical and scientific concepts in ways that non-subject-matter-experts can absorb and discuss
Link technical and scientific concepts to business outcomes including market size, growth and profitability
Present concepts visually