by Audrey Jestin
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by Audrey Jestin
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The life sciences industry is constantly evolving, driven by ongoing research and technological advances, and the same is true of scientific marketing – a sector that’s always pushing the envelope to find new and exciting ways to effectively identify, engage with and nurture leads. Of course, there are a multitude of lead generation tactics available to marketing managers, from releasing targeted content and ads to hosting or sponsoring events and webinars.1 But what exactly are the most effective ways to develop new relationships and, most importantly, to convert your potential leads into paying customers?
Navigating key challenges in lead generation
Successful lead generation usually involves collecting the names and details of individuals, organisations or institutions who may be interested in your product or service, then preparing them to talk to a salesperson. While this may sound relatively straightforward, pinpointing and collating authentic leads in the life sciences, healthcare and technical sectors isn’t always plain sailing,2 and companies may struggle to establish regular contact streams that maintain client interactions and feed directly into meeting their conversion targets. Let’s delve deeper into the common challenges that scientific marketing teams face, and look at ways to overcome these hurdles.
- Laying the (digital) foundations for growth
There will almost certainly be an ‘ideal’ target audience in mind with any marketing campaign, but attracting the attention of these individuals can be tricky. Fortunately, simply producing the right type of content can go a long way, and creating high quality, informative and engaging collateral that’s relevant to your potential customers can help to drive suitable traffic towards your company website. However, it’s important to explore various channels and formats – such as blogs, whitepapers, case studies and videos – for this type of personalised marketing, to help cast as wide a net as possible. In addition, keeping on top of current trends, events and any changes in the regulatory landscape will ensure that your pieces remain relevant. The real beauty of a modern content strategy is the ability to integrate a variety of analytical tools to help gain insights into the needs and preferences of any leads that engage with your content.
Believe it or not, this very blog is actually part of kdm communications’ comprehensive marketing strategy, joining the range of insights, research findings and practical marketing tips that we publish on a regular basis. For better or worse, social media is here to stay, which is why we also make sure to cultivate a presence on multiple platforms, posting interesting titbits like industry updates, compelling articles and client press releases. Not only does this increase our brand awareness, but it also expands our digital network to organically create new leads.
- Networking is key
Other tried-and-tested ways to expand your contact list are to attend industry events, join professional groups and associations, and engage with industry-relevant thought leaders. However, before doing so, it’s crucial to establish efficient conversion processes to tend to any new relationships, otherwise these time-consuming and resource-intensive lead generation efforts may fall flat. Additionally, email campaigns targeted at individuals who are already aware of your products or services can really help to keep your company’s name front and centre in their minds, and a range of helpful automation platforms – including Pardot and HubSpot – are available to make disseminating appropriate content to the right contacts a breeze.
- Standing out from the crowd
Even with a thorough content generation and networking plan in place, businesses in the life sciences sector face stiff competition, and this can pose challenges when trying to establish a strong and unique online presence. Fortunately, methods like search engine optimisation (SEO)paid advertising and social media campaigns can be used to reach a wider audience and drum up increased website traffic. kdm’s own SEO experts are constantly optimising the use of keywords, relevant links and calls to action (CTAs) in our technical content to ensure that it ranks highly in search engine algorithms, maximising our potential to generate and convert new leads.3
Evaluating the effectiveness of a lead generation strategy
An effective lead generation strategy will help to draw organic traffic to your website, increase brand awareness, engage potential leads and, eventually, generate sales. During this process, you’ll inevitably amass vast amounts of data, which can be used to help assess the effectiveness of your lead generation strategy via the following key metrics:
- website traffic measurements, which estimate the reach of current lead generation efforts;
- conversion rates, measuring the percentage of website visitors that engage with CTAs or make a purchase;
- lead quality indicators, which determine the appropriateness and value of leads; and
- return on investment, demonstrating whether lead generation efforts deliver a positive return.4
By tracking and analysing these metrics, you can identify the lead generation steps that are working – as well as those that aren’t – to ensure that strategic decisions are data-driven, rather than purely subjective. In much the same way that the life sciences industry is constantly evolving, marketing approaches must be regularly adjusted to ensure success, and implementing the techniques discussed in this blog can give your scientific marketing the edge it needs to achieve sustainable growth and real-world impact.
References
- 2021. Lead generation. Adobe Experience Cloud Blog. Accessed: 03 August 2023. Available at: https://business.adobe.com/blog/basics/lead-generation.
- Mishra, S. 2023. Navigating the complex landscape: Overcoming key challenges in B2B lead generation. Talk CMO. Accessed: 03 August 2023. Available at: https://talkcmo.com/featured/b2b-lead-generation-challenges/.
- Cox, L.K. 2023. Lead generation: A beginner’s guide to generating business leads the inbound way. HubSpot. Accessed: 03 August 2023. Available at: https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/beginner-inbound-lead-generation-guide-ht.
- Raitaluoto, T. 2023. How to measure the effectiveness of your lead generation efforts. Markettailor. Accessed: 03 August 2023. Available at: https://www.markettailor.io/blog/how-to-measure-effectiveness-of-lead-generation-efforts.
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