A volatile economy leads companies to worry about investor abandonment, and marketing teams in the science and medical industry may react by providing scant news releases and website content that assures investors that the company can respond and grow despite possible downturns. This heavy focus on investors could lead your whole audience to believe that innovation has ceased. Without innovation, value and growth greatly lessen. After all, at its root, innovation means to do something differently for a value.
Your company has so much value; investments in technology, people, ideas, and infrastructure. Here are some tips for leveraging those investments to keep your content fresh, focused, and innovative.
“Insufficient Facts Invite Danger”
This old Spock quote remains relevant in content marketing. Don’t announce ideas without concrete plans. It makes your company look messy, unorganized, and uncommitted. Focus on what your company does, not what it is thinking about and planning unless you have concrete details to back up that messaging. If you want other news wires and websites to pick up on your story, be sure to provide morsels of information that are relevant and timely.
Always Consider Your Client and Audience
When 90 percent of a company’s media site addresses investors only, what about the customer? Focus your content toward key potential clients. How do you reach that client that seems out of reach? Study those clients and their messaging and strategies before targeting your own company’s content. Steer clear of salesy messaging – show don’t tell. Leave sales to the sales team and allow your content marketing team to create concrete content that paints a picture of your latest innovations and why these potential clients/customers need to know about them.
Focus on the Future, Not Just on Current Products
In the heavily regulated medical marketing field, this can be easier said than done. But unbranded content that shows a commitment toward research and development is just as important as the drugs and medical equipment that your company sells. Show a commitment to your customers with clinical medical education, roundtables, and content that focuses on how your company will meet the technical challenges of the future.
The Trend is Your Friend
Pay attention to what content resounds best with your target customers. Also, know your competition and their messaging to understand their strategies, but don’t copy their initiatives. Instead focus on the positive aspects of your company’s innovations. Highlight how what you do is better than and different from other competitors. Most importantly, stay abreast of the top topics in your business and how those topics are changing and evolving: 5G, AI, 3-D Printing, and Sustainability are just some of the relevant topics driving traffic today. If your company has a hand in these topics, broadcast these initiatives and innovations.
Howdy Partner
What partnerships have you formed? List your partners and link back to them on your website. Focus on any news coming from your partners that will affect your company in the future. Keep your customers informed about updates on key partnership projects.
Honors, Awards, and Recognition
Recognize when your team has been recognized. Has an abstract from one of your employees been accepted to a major upcoming conference? Is one of your C-level executives giving a keynote lecture? Share this news. Also, honor outstanding employees that donate their time to valuable causes in the name of the company.
Customer Experience, Feedback, and Social Strategy
Stay tight with your sales team that collects customer feedback, for better or for worse, first-hand. Understand what changes may be occurring to address negative feedback or comments. Ask happy clients if you can post positive feedback on your website and link back to them so they can benefit from the extra traffic. Become familiar with customer experience management tools and use them to implement positive change. Have a social media strategy that not only keeps marketing professionals up-to-date on relevant hashtags and postings, but one that also leverages opportunities to spread the word about your company.
Omni-Channel and Multi-Channel Initiatives
Be sure to leverage your web presence into other print and digital products, where appropriate. Newsletters collecting the month’s content can be sent via email blasts. Handouts and leave-behinds for conferences and meetings should be updated to help drive new traffic and boost your innovative messaging. Collaborate and brainstorm with your team regarding creative initiatives that can support and leverage your digital content.
Commit to Your Marketing Plan
Years ago, marketing teams were the first to go in an economic downturn. Content marketing professionals now have analytical tools to show conversions and return on investment. If you are short-staffed, outsource to ensure that your initiatives move forward. Instead of downgrading your marketing team, create an environment where sales and marketing teams collaborate to enhance content marketing strategies.
Content is Key
Update content on your website every day. Google bots and crawlers are more sophisticated than ever and algorithms change constantly. Although many tools now exist to boost and target digital traffic, the key is content that is original, creative, relevant, and timely. A great content writer won’t just provide Journalism 101 stories for your website. Great writers like great innovators understand the importance of providing value and doing things differently. Choose content directors and managers that not only understand science and medicine trends, but who also write well and convey this information in creative and strategic ways that will capture the attention of your most important investment, your customer.
Have a Strategy. Go Boldly, Not Blindly into the Future of Marketing
Innov8 Content Marketing offers boutique services to the science and medicine industries. Contact Director of Content Strategy, Sandra Wanat at Sandra.Wanat@Innov8Chem.com for a free consultation on strategies to help boost your messaging and your brand.
