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Does the landscape of marketing ever stop evolving? Marketers feel under siege from AI, shrinking budgets, media clutter, and the relentless demand for content. A recent study by Influencer Marketing Hub revealed that 78% of Life Sciences marketers feel overwhelmed by the pressure to deliver consistent, high-quality content with shrinking budgets [1]. This pressure is further amplified by the rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Diving deeper into the challenges science marketers face, we offer practical tips on navigating this era of uncertainty with greater ease.

Some old and some new

Life sciences marketers face a unique set of challenges, some longstanding and others emerging along with the latest technologies. While tight budgets and the ever-evolving media landscape are familiar foes, marketers are now grappling with the double-edged sword of AI.

1. AI’s double-edged sword: The AI Marketing Report Survey 2024 of 1,290 marketers shows the fear of AI jeopardizing jobs has nearly doubled — up from 35.6% in 2023. [1] It’s a mixed picture though. The same report says that almost one-third (30.9%) of marketers have yet to adopt AI and that 35.1% use AI for content production – down from 44% last year. This decline in AI usage for content production, suggests that science marketers are already recognising the limitations of AI in producing content.

The challenge now is to figure out how they can use AI without compromising the quality and authenticity of their content. AI tools represent an opportunity to help streamline and speed up some tasks that previously sapped hours of marketers’ time – CRM-level integrations to speed up data assimilation and processing, email automation, follow-up and nurturing of leads are just some examples.

Without a doubt, many marketers are also experiencing challenges in integrating AI tools effectively and coming up against organisational resistance to adopting the tools in the first place. This is particularly true for companies functioning in highly-regulated spaces.

2. Shrinking budgets: The economic climate has led to tighter marketing budgets, forcing marketers to prioritise their spending. This necessitates a greater focus on having a strategy in place so that every tactic and action is designed to serve the business objectives in the long and the short term.

This economic downturn, especially in the biotech sector over the last 18-24 months has brought with it redundancies at scale. Many marketers and creatives lost their jobs. Some have found new jobs elsewhere, taking their know-how to other companies in the sector thus cross-pollinating and perhaps even leading to innovation and competitive gains for some. Others have become freelancers and consultants. While some companies may have temporarily reported “growth” through mass layoffs, the need to generate leads and drive sales growth remains constant. As the long-term consequences of these cost-cutting measures become apparent, there is likely to be a renewed interest in investing in marketing to revitalise growth efforts. This is true for in-house as well as agency-based marketing support.

3. Fragmented media landscape: All the new channels and platforms popping up are a marketer’s dream come true, as you can now target exactly who you want, and you have so many options to reach them. While it sounds great in theory, it’s also a bit of a nightmare. There’s so much noise out there, that it’s hard to stand out. And with new tools being released monthly, it’s a full-time job just to keep up.

To survive, marketers should think about how they can adapt their content strategies to cater to different platforms and formats. Prioritise platforms that align with your target audience’s preferences and behaviours and develop content tailored to each channel’s format and expectations. At times like these, it is critical to continue to invest in establishing a strong brand identity and being consistent with your brand-building across all your chosen channels. To avoid fragmentation and dilution of focus, dive into your data to understand where your biggest potential gains are likely to come from and focus your resources and time there.

4. Never-ending demand: The constant need for fresh content to engage audiences and maintain search engine rankings can feel overwhelming. It’s a never-ending story. Marketers are always under pressure to keep churning out fresh content. It’s like a bottomless pit – no matter how much you feed it, it always seems to be hungry for more. And let’s not forget about search engines. They’re constantly updating their algorithms, so if you’re not consistently producing new content, you’ll quickly fall behind.

Consider running a content repurposing task force with your team. Get everyone together, audit your existing content and decide how many new pieces you can create with varying format, length and funnel touchpoint fit. For example, a blog post could become a podcast episode, a social media graphic, or a video. For real-life examples of this, check out this blog.

Strategies for success

1. Know your North Star: Before diving into content creation, establish a clear vision for your brand. Define your target audience, their pain points, and the value proposition your brand offers. This will guide your content strategy and ensure that everything you produce aligns with your goals.
2. Use AI strategically and responsibly: Use AI tools to streamline tasks like content ideation, keyword research, and audience segmentation. However, always maintain human oversight to ensure that the content is accurate, engaging, and aligned with your brand’s voice.
3. Prioritise content quality: It’s better to produce a few high-quality pieces of content than a lot of low-quality material. Focus on creating content that is informative, engaging, and valuable to your audience. This means investing time and money in research, writing, and design. While quantity may be important, quality should always take precedence.
4. Optimise for SEO: Search engine optimization (SEO) remains crucial for driving organic traffic. It is no longer a nice to have, but an essential element of your content strategy. Conduct thorough keyword research and optimize your content accordingly. Pay attention to on-page factors like meta descriptions, headers, and image alt text. AI tools can be used effectively here to help with many of these tasks even allowing you to analyze competitor’s content to improve your own with just a simple prompt. Also, various features within tools like Semrush are incredibly powerful. If you want to know more about what they are, reach out to us at: hello@qincade.com
5. Embrace personalization: Tailor your content to your leads’ behaviour and attributes. Use data analytics to segment your audience and deliver personalized messages over time using some automation and integrations or AI tools to help. This will significantly improve engagement and conversion rates.
6. Spend time planning: It pays dividends in the long run, as opposed to just winging it. Create a content calendar that outlines what you’re going to produce and when. This will help you stay organized, avoid gaps and ensure a steady stream of content as well as alignment with the overall business strategy.
7. Measure and analyze: Track the performance of your content using analytics tools. Monitor metrics like website traffic, engagement, and conversions to identify what’s working and what’s not. Use this data to refine your strategy and optimize your content.
8. Look for opportunities to collaborate: Trying to do it all yourself is a bad idea. Work with your team, other internal teams (like sales and product managers), freelancers or agencies, and even your audience, to generate content ideas and create content together.
9. Invest in content marketing tools: Explore tools that can streamline your content creation, distribution, and analysis. Consider options like content management systems, social media scheduling tools, and analytics platforms if you haven’t already.
10. Keep an eye on trends: Remember to come up for air, from your day to day and spend time reading about the latest trends and best practices in content marketing. Attend industry conferences, read blogs, and follow thought leaders to stay informed. This is important to help you stay energised and motivated, invest in your own personal growth, and also learn and borrow ideas from competitors.

Who’s running fast enough to keep up?

Let’s take Illumina as an example…

The company is a leading provider of high-throughput (NGS) sequencing platforms, software and bioinformatics tools and has over the years employed a strategic content marketing approach that has helped establish it as an industry leader. From the outside looking in, the key elements of their content strategy are technical content, industry insights, social media engagement, customer stories and partnerships and collaborations. Their blog “Sequencing Facts,” offers detailed articles on genomics, sequencing technology, and related scientific topics. They produce a wealth of educational resources, including webinars, whitepapers, and case studies, to help researchers understand and apply Illumina’s products. In terms of thought leadership and expert interviews, their content team clearly understands the importance of providing commentary and insights into emerging trends and challenges in the Life Sciences industry. Illumina also partners with other organizations, such as academic institutions and research institutes, to co-author publications and conduct joint research. The team participates in industry trade shows to showcase its products and network with potential customers. The recent case study Ilumina released about a partnership with the Broad Institute is a great example of how the company can demonstrate the use and application of their technologies to help promote both themselves and their customer. Another recent example of this type of content focuses on Illumina’s collaboration with Q2 Solutions, a company based in Edinburgh, Scotland, showing how Q2 Solutions became the first to validate a specific Illumina test for comprehensive genomic profiling (CGP) in Europe.

Influencer marketing doesn’t work for companies in our sector. Right?

Wrong, says GSK.

GSK is a global healthcare company that has adopted a comprehensive content marketing strategy focused on patient education, storytelling, and successfully leveraging influencers. The key elements of their content marketing strategy are patient-focused content, storytelling, influencer partnerships, thought leadership and of course social media engagement. The company pours effort into highlighting its corporate social responsibility initiatives, demonstrating its commitment to making a positive impact on society. Because GSK’s audience is not just its commercial partners, but also ordinary people – all of us who are or will be patients, storytelling is a very powerful way to create an emotional connection with the audience. It serves to highlight the human impact of their work, helping to build a strong brand identity and to differentiate. Working with influencers can help them provide a more authentic perspective on health-related topics.

For instance, have you come across @DiabetesDad?

@TheDiabetesDad is a father living with type 1 diabetes, who shares his personal experiences with GSK’s diabetes medications and devices through a series of Instagram posts. He discusses the benefits of these products, their impact on his daily life, and how they have helped him manage his condition.

And what about when the company teamed up with gamers for their Excedrin brand [2] or worked with Magic Johnson to raise awareness about Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) specifically in seniors and those at high-risk for contracting a severe form of the virus? [3].

I remember reading a story about the development and journey of a vaccine on GSK’s website recently. From the initial research and development phase to the final stages of manufacturing and distribution, the story highlights the challenges and triumphs faced by scientists and researchers, as well as the impact that vaccines have on public health. This approach not only builds trust and credibility with the audience, it creates an emotional connection with the audience while also showcasing GSK’s commitment to public health.

The landscape of content marketing feels like a torrent in a fast waterfall, and Life Science marketers are having to pick up the pace and skill up just to stay relevant. AI is in large part the cause but by embracing and using it strategically, prioritising quality, focusing on personalization, and leveraging data, marketers can still navigate the challenges of this era and secure a strong position for their brands. GSK and Illumina serve as prime examples of companies that have successfully implemented fresh content strategies to achieve their marketing goals. By following their lead, science marketers can continue to drive significant growth and success for their brands, focusing on high-hitting areas for best impact.

References

1. Artificial Intelligence (AI) Marketing Benchmark Report: 2024 (influencermarketinghub.com)
2. GlaxoSmithKline’s Excedrin teams with video game influencers to target screen-time headaches | Fierce Pharma
3. Magic Johnson tapped by GSK taps Magic Johnson to raise RSV awareness ahead of Pfizer faceoff | Fierce Pharma