Drug Discovery & Development Week Overview
Week Conference Dates: August 3-6, 2009 · World Trade Center Boston · Boston, MA

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How do you ‘turn on’ social media to achieve your career and business goals? I see many wanting to do this because they see such a great potential to benefit from it. I see individuals and companies begin a social media program and from their actions, sometimes it appears as though they expect to be able to ‘turn it on’ like a light switch. Is this how social media works? Not really.

Social media campaigns rely on an establishment of a network or a group of people who are interested in hearing your message. If a company or individual does not have this network built, the results can be disappointing and even damaging. Take, for example, having a blog. If you don’t have relationships with people, who expect that you will updating your blog regularly, who will read it? You could buy an email list to promote it, but how is that different than spam? You’ll likely get a poor response, and you might irritate those who you ‘blast’ with the information. Etiquette is very important in building relationships.

So, how do you ‘turn on’ social media? There are few shortcuts, but let’s look at what you have to begin with. Many life sciences companies already have an e-newsletter. You can expand upon this content to create a blog, using a ’social media charter’ and learning from other life science company blogs as we discussed in a previous post. If you are an individual, grow and utilize your existing network to point them to your blog or whatever media you’d like. Provide value, and continue to ‘pay it forward,’ and you’ll build a great network. It’s likely you’re already providing something customers or your personal network needs, it shouldn’t be hard to find other things that help them as well (e.g., lists of resources, reviews of conferences and literature). Social media works best when you use different tools together–you’ll reach different people and may find different results. For example, some people love RSS feeds, and some never bother with them–provide links to them, but also rely on other ways to get the word out.

Realize that you need to start ASAP to turn on social media, as building a base requires time. Don’t expect immediate results. Do expect, however, to obtain lots of metrics on your customers’ needs and that eventually you will have tools to use with an audience that wants to hear from you. You may know the feeling of buying an expensive Ad that did nothing for you, and never knowing why. After you’ve ‘turned on’ social media, these mistakes won’t be as costly, and you’ll even be able to test different strategies and tactics quickly. (Hint: this is a great way to sell social media to your management!)

How do you get started? We’ll continue to cover social media in our Biotechnology Marketing 101 Series, and you can always contact us for a free consultation.

Life sciences companies can be divided three ways: those who don’t have a newsletter, those who have one, and those who have one and understand the purpose. Companies often see the newsletter as simply a way to showcase new products, and see it as a monthly chore. As we’ve discussed, this ‘broadcasting’ of your products is much less effective these days, as customers have a lot of ‘noise’ to sort through during their daily routine.

A company newsletter should focus on your customers, not you. If they simply want to see a list of new products, they’ll visit the website. Here’s an example to help understand how to ‘turn around’ your thinking on newsletter content. I have a friend who’s a photographer, and I was trying to talk her into sending her clients a newsletter (yes, I think marketing 24/7). She replied “Why would I want to send my clients information about photography and how I shoot pictures?” She is thinking that a newsletter is about her company. Instead, I suggested that she give her clients information that may be considered tangential to her business, but very relevant to her clients. For example, for her wedding photography clients, send tips on the best locations and times for weddings. Where are the best deals on bridesmaid dresses? For her portrait clients, send couples or family-focused tips on vacation spots, and include some nice photography she’s done at the location. Her clients will start to look forward to her emails even after their pictures are finished, and will keep her in mind for themselves and friends.

How does this translate to developing a newsletter for your life sciences company that will contribute to your bottom line? Think about your customer first. What are their daily challenges, and how can you use what you’re already doing to help them even more? We helped chemistry building blocks and services provider BioBlocks develop a newsletter using this approach. BioBlocks’ scientists are very savvy with several classes of chemical building blocks, and they utilize this know-how to build their collection. Their newsletter focuses on helping their customers understand the research behind their choices, including patents and drug discovery publications. Of course, their newsletter is tied to their products, but it is not simply a listing of what’s new. As a result, they’ve received many compliments on their newsletter and their mailing list has grown substantially.

Want to get started? Contact us for a free consultation today. Newsletters, like other forms of social media, take time to develop, and there’s no time like the present to begin connecting with your customers. In the meantime, check out our Biotechnology Marketing 101 blog series, and sign up for email updates.

Most of the posts here are related to science or biotechnology in some way. We’ll take a bit of a detour here to discuss how songs can be used to understand social media. For someone like me, who thinks about it a lot, it’s easy to see the similarities. I hope you’ll start to see that ‘everything old is new’ and that social media is a natural progression of our culture, involving many of the same ideals and etiquette we are familiar with. Each song title is linked to a version you can play on blip.fm, enjoy!

1. The End by The Beatles

This song sums up social media (SM) very well–the famous line from it is “And in the end, the love you take, is equal to the love you make.” As we’ve discussed earlier, it’s all about paying it forward. You need to enter into SM with the goal of giving back first. Only then will you begin to see that others will gladly return the favor. Unlike the song, however, sometimes I feel as though I may get back more than I put in, if that’s possible! The Beatles taught us a lot about life and it’s not surprising their songs ring true for SM.

2. With a Little Help from My Friends by the Beatles

SM is all about using the power of the community, also known as crowdsourcing. Have a question? Send it ‘out there’ and you’ll be amazed at how quickly it can be answered. Wondering what your colleagues in a particular area think about a topic? Poll them–places like FriendFeed science groups are a good place to start. You’ll also start to identify experts in certain areas, or ‘channels‘, who will help you to understand the wealth of information we are all trying to sort through these days.

3. Respect by Aretha Franklin

Now that everyone can easily self-publish, how do you know who and what information to trust? It’s all about an author’s ability to garner R-E-S-P-E-C-T. To achieve this, you must consistently provide valuable and credible information to your peers, and be careful not to abuse relationships or be a bad citizen. Sound hard? On the bright side, respect can be contagious–if you receive it from your inner circle, it will be evident to others. Don’t be afraid to put a little flair on your blog to show your standing in the community. People appreciate cues to help them learn who to respect. In the words of Aretha, it’s a way to “find out what it means to me.”

4. What Have You Done for Me Lately by Janet Jackson

This goes along with getting a little help from your friends. Let’s say you have a press release you’d like to promote. Who will help you by using their precious ’social media capital’ to promote it? Likely the people you most recently have helped promote THEIR news, blog, etc. Social media moves fast, and if you haven’t ‘paid it forward’ to me recently, I’m not as likely to notice you need help. What have you done for me lately? It may sound selfish, but our professional circles are getting larger and it’s easy to forget those who we don’t hear from or about recently. Stay visible and help others–something we covered in our recent ‘Connect, Don’t Collect’ post.

5. Easy by Barenaked Ladies

The more influential a person is in SM, the busier they are maintaining their networks, staying on top of the latest news and tools, etc. Most are more than willing to help out others, in the spirit of SM, but you should realize you’ll get the best results if you make it easy for them. A few months back someone I didn’t know kept messaging me on twitter to ‘link with them on LinkedIn.’ This would have entailed: 1. Looking up the person’s name on twitter 2. Searching for the person on LinkedIn 3. Inviting them to connect. All for someone I don’t know. Long story short, we didn’t connect until they made it easy for me by sending me the invitation which I simply had to click on to accept. Make it easy for people to help you. Use short, ‘friendly’ URLs for your news. Send LinkedIn requests with a short note explaining who you are and why someone should help you.

Now that you’ve seen the parallels between songs and social media, maybe you’ll start seeing them too in other places–tell us where you’ve ’seen’ them below!

We’ve talked a lot about customer-facing marketing in the Biotechnology Marketing 101 Blog. As we’ve discussed, it is vital these days to understand who your customer is so that you can build a relationship with them, rather than relying on the old-school methods of broadcast marketing. This relationship will benefit more than just your bottom line–you’ll find that you will get much more feedback from customers who you engage.

The first step to building a relationship with your customer, so that you can meet their needs, is to truly understand who they are and what their daily challenges are. One way is to create a customer ‘persona’ which describes the age range, occupation, education level, and other qualities important for ‘putting yourself in their shoes’ to understand their needs. In addition, most social media strategies should start from the customers’ perspective, so it’s a good way to get started. You may also find that after you start, you’ll realize that more than one persona is needed.

We’ve created a template (.PPT file) to help you define your customer personas. The template will guide you through the process of defining each of your customer types, from their demographics to their daily challenges, including how your products fit. An important part of making the personas ‘come to life’ and easily referred to is assigning each a name such as ‘Suzy Scientist.’ In addition, a picture can be used (sites like this can help).

A fun and useful way to get everyone involved in thinking about your customers is to create custom avatars, or computer-generated graphical representations of them. Yahoo has probably the most relevant avatars, with the most scientific accessories, but you can also have some fun and create a Simpsons or South Park character (and if you want to go all out, you can even create 3D characters in Second Life and even interact with them ;). Some of the sites will let you print out a PDF, or you can simply create a screen capture and put it in the template we’re providing. I suggest creating the personas and avatars as a group so that you can brainstorm and hash out differences. Feedback from departments outside of marketing, such as customer service and sales, is also useful, and you can also conduct or refer to market research that you or others have done.

How can a persona/avatar be used? Everywhere from product development to marketing tactics. While developing products, the persona will help R&D to remember customer needs when developing products–how will Suzy Scientist use the product and will it meet her needs? Market drivers may also be gleaned during the process as you begin to look at the different groups represented. Also, tactics may change based on your results. For example, if most of your customers are younger, perhaps they are not relying at all on the tried and true print journals, using online sources instead. Also, the personas can help define the messaging of marketing materials by making sure they speak to the challenges or ‘pain’ and how your products will help. The whole organization can benefit and feel involved in the process when can talk in the ’same language’ about the customers’ personas and think more about their needs.

Need help getting started? We know your customers both personally and as a whole and can guide you through the process. Contact us for a free consultation.

A friend told me she saw a story on NPR about gaps in coverage of events in Afghanistan because so many news organizations are suffering and can’t afford as many reporters in the different regions. Hopefully, this is just a temporary situation, and changes in the media landscape will eventually mean more coverage, but it made me stop and think about news in the biotech and life science industry. With fewer resources, some news organizations have resorted to simply reprinting press releases rather than adding value by selecting truly newsworthy releases, and/or editorializing to put the information in a broader context. I have watched this firsthand as the San Diego Union Tribune’s biotechnology section has changed significantly over the last year, as changes in personnel have taken place.

The result? A sea of press releases, each told from the company’s perspective, touting their company or new product as the best thing since sliced bread. Who will listen or care? Fewer than you think, as we all are confronted with much too much information these days. Anyone can send a press release these days, and that means that everyone does. Comprendia monitors the web and social media activity for the major life science brands, and has found that these verbatim press releases make up a significant amount of the online ‘news’ from these companies.

What is the solution? If you’ve been reading the Biotechnology Marketing 101 Blog, you likely know what’s coming next, as it’s a common theme (some would say it’s our soapbox ;). Today’s environment requires that you build a community that will care about your news or product launch. A newsletter is a great first step, but let me ask you: how much of your newsletter is simply focused on your company and products? This limits your reach substantially. For example, let’s say you sell columns for protein purification, and your newsletter reflects this very narrow field. Your customers will see you in this small area, stifling your opportunities for growth. Think about the potential to grow by creating a general protein purification blog or newsletter, providing tips and resources that are not always directly related to your products (as we’ve discussed earlier). Besides widening your customer base, you’ll get feedback from customers not only about your core products, but also about upstream and downstream applications, allowing you to move into new product areas. Becoming the resource for a more broad area also helps you to be found by search engines, and your readers may even be so zealous that they pass the information on to colleagues.

The community you build will feel as though they are a part of the product development process, and will truly care about your product launches. While this type of marketing appears to take more time and effort, you’ll find that not only does today’s environment require such an approach, but that it is more beneficial for all involved. In effect, the crowd has spoken and, they want and need this type of interaction from you. Need help? We’d be more than happy to help you get started, sign up for a free consultation.

August 29- September 1, 2009

Amsterdam, Netherlands

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By now you likely know that I am a big fan of Seth Godin. Seth started talking about the principles of ‘Permission Marketing‘ ten years ago, before the rest of us caught on, and he continues to lead and give us great food for thought. In his book Meatball Sundae, he describes the current marketplace as one where large organizations, or ‘gatekeepers,’ no longer control what we see and do. For example, the ‘big three’ US TV networks can no longer dictate what we watch every night–there are myriad choices on cable TV and the internet. To stand out, your product needs to be remarkable in order to be noticed and remembered in this marketplace.

To me, a good analogy is that great burger that you’re thinking about right now. You remember it because the restaurant took the necessary steps to make it taste better than the average burger, to make it remarkable (your mouth is watering right now, isn’t it?). Perhaps they even took a risk to make you remember it–there’s a local joint that serves a burger with peanut butter and bacon, and it is good and certainly memorable (from what I remember, I’m a vegetarian now ;).

Don’t get me wrong, restaurants and other companies have always tried to make great products that are differentiated. Now, however, it’s not as easy for the bigger companies to retain customers with the same old, same old, simply relying on distribution channels and branding to succeed. In addition, this means that smaller companies can now have a greater reach by using new tools and having remarkable products.

How is this relevant to biotech and the life sciences? I’ve seen a few larger life sciences companies rely on the fact that they have the resources and the distribution channels to reach customers. Why be remarkable? However, even 5 years ago, these companies started to see the effect of the smaller, internet-savvy companies, who could sell research tools directly to scientific customers, eating into their market share.

How have the big life science companies responded? As with other industries, mergers and acquisitions appear to be the current focus, and I have not heard much buzz about a particular product or technology lately (feel free to prove me wrong by leaving a comment below). However, in the biotech/life sciences news category, there is something remarkable: new entrant Xconomy, who consistently provide insightful news focused on the biotech/tech clusters.

To compete in this new marketplace, I would challenge you to consistently ask this single question throughout product development: Is It Remarkable? What qualities does the product have that will make customers remember it and even talk to their colleagues about it? Does it save them loads of time? Give them clearer results? Give them information they couldn’t access before? All are ways to be remarkable in the life sciences.

Of course, as with anything else that will yield great results, it takes more time and creativity, but you’ll find that a remarkable product pays you back many times over, as it becomes something that your company is known, sought out, and remembered for. I was recently at a talk in which the introduction of Topo cloning products, which were truly remarkable, was presented as a major milestone for Invitrogen/Life Technologies, even though this happened more than 10 years ago. For life science companies, being remarkable often requires acquiring unique technologies from small companies or universities, and with the slow economy, the time may be right to get some gems.

Need help determining whether your products are remarkable? With years of life science experience, we can help you determine that, and help you to acquire the new technologies you need to create and position your products in this new, more competitive landscape. Sign up for a free consultation, and start being remarkable!