How to incorporate content marketing without rewriting your life science marketing strategy

Let’s play a game.

Imagine you’ve come up with a life science marketing strategy for the year, complete with budget allocations, plans and all the trimmings.

But now, seemingly out of the blue, you come across a new approach to marketing (like, say, content marketing) that seems likely to benefit your business. And, considering your competitors are already on board with it, it feels like you need to get in on the action as soon as possible to remain ahead of the game.

Do you do away with your marketing strategy and steer blindly into potentially treacherous uncharted territory, or do you seal yourself and your company in an airtight capsule, safe from the terrors of a changing world?

Trick question. The correct answer is neither.

It might sound difficult to incorporate a new aspect into your marketing strategy without disrupting everything or having to re-think your entire game plan, but with content marketing, it’s actually much easier than it sounds.

Here are some pointers to help you along the way to content marketing success:

Successful content marketing needs a comprehensive strategy.

One that you already probably have! The bread and butter of content marketing is ultimately the same as in general life science marketing – raising awareness, creating demand, generating leads and turning them into happy customers – so it’d be a waste to raze everything to the ground and start from scratch. Your life science marketing strategy should structure and inform your content marketing efforts so that when your content starts doing its job, everything’s in place to guide your prospect along the sales funnel effectively.

But what makes content successful, you’re asking? Great question.

For successful content, you need to know your target personas incredibly well. You should know what they read, how they speak, what their pain points and interests are, as well as how to convey your product info without being too technical or sales-y. As CMO, you are the best person in the company for this, as you already have thorough knowledge of the company, its industry and your customers.

Chances are you already have some aspects of content marketing in play.

Any life science marketing strategy is bound to have at least a few elements that align with content marketing and can be incorporated into your new or updated approach. If you have social media profiles for your company or brand, any posts are an integral part of both content marketing strategy and planning. The same goes for any internal videos you might have, or even dedicated marketing materials like brochures and case studies. These are all perfect candidates for being repurposed into new content and converted into a long-term content strategy. In fact, when working with companies on a content marketing programme we usually insist on performing a content audit. And in most cases, they have oodles of content that we can cost-effectively repurpose for the campaign (even though they had initially informed us that they didn’t have anything they thought would be of use!). The lesson? Don’t plan your content marketing programme until you’ve audited your current content first.

Incorporate campaign or event-driven content marketing.

Content marketing can act as a great supplement to your existing life science marketing strategy, especially if you’re already planning a specific campaign or event that could use some extra marketing oomph. Consider creating content like blog posts, podcasts, videos, social content and guides to continually promote the campaign and spread the word. To better address the scope of the campaign, you could create a series of 16 blogs, do a series of podcasts or even a webinar series. Just make sure it’s suited for your target personas in both language, subject matter and reach. And be sure to allow adequate time for planning and production before the rest of the campaign is already in full swing.

What’s stopping you from getting started?

Many life science marketers are put off by the “all or nothing” aspect of adopting the content marketing approach and ethos. But this is largely a misconception, as content marketing is most effective when used to play to your company’s existing strengths. All you need is a strategic person who’s able to identify what can be used for content marketing in your existing marketing strategy and across your current asset list, and someone who can turn your current materials and messaging into beautiful, targeted content. Easy as π.

If you’d like to learn more about how content marketing fits into a life science marketing strategy, download your free guide here.

Or, if you’d like to know more about the benefits of a content audit for your company, request a consultation with one of BioStrata’s expert life science marketers.