What are the most effective ways to build awareness of a biotechnology product?

Market segmentation is key. How you sell lab products and services to accounts in academia is very different to those in industry, and even that's divided up into small/medium biotech and large pharma. Government accounts (e.g., NIH) would be another category. Then within those accounts, you segment further by buyer persona, usually seniority - from technicians and scientists to directors and VPs. Use different messaging, depending on who you're trying to reach. For example, end users (those in the lab running the protocols) usually care about ease-of-use, whereas higher-level decision makers (responsible for signing the PO) care about more data quality. Improve messaging over time, and double down on the best market segments.

You need to be very specific about your communication goals even before identifying your audience. Only then, you'll be able to consider the audience to target in order to reach that goal. In biotechnology, this is sometimes not entirely clear depending on who's taking on these projects. Every biotech company should have either an internal or external communication professional, a marketing, and a biomedical-scientific visualization partner to conduct orchestrated actions.

There are amazing insights within your own data when you dedicate a strategy around market segmentation. It is more than just thinking this way. You have to build your reports and look at the data to really understand how your message and prioritization within your company is hitting each market segment in a unique way. Most companies think it’s too hard to manage but we can get you there.

To build awareness of a biotech product, utilize digital marketing, social media campaigns (e.g., Genentech's Herceptin), industry event participation (e.g., Illumina at genomics conferences), collaborations with experts (e.g., CRISPR Therapeutics), and engagement with patient advocacy groups (e.g., ALS Association partnering with Biogen). Tailor strategies to target audience, maximizing impact and fostering product adoption.

To begin, it's crucial to fully understand both your product and your clients. Identify their needs and pain points. Don't focus on selling a product, instead provide them with a solution. Then, tailor your marketing campaigns to the different client showcasing how you product solve their problems and challenges.

Utilizing visuals is a powerful way to raise awareness of biotechnology products and research. Infographics, videos, and animations can distill complex scientific concepts into easily understandable visual representations, making them accessible to a broader audience. Platforms like social media, websites, and presentations offer opportunities to showcase visuals and engage with diverse stakeholders, including policymakers, investors, and the general public. Incorporating striking visuals into educational materials and outreach campaigns helps demystify biotechnology, highlighting its potential to address global challenges and improve lives. I like to use comics for spreading or educating while using scientific illustrations too

Developing a solid Scientific Platform with the input of critical stakeholders (including healthcare practitioners) is really critical here. Many founders place too little attention on packaging science for external communication. Gone are the days were any "good data" has the impact we want it to. In some ways "educational branding" is critical. Having a solid Medical Communications partner is massively important when it comes time to engage externally.

There is always a duality of opinions when choosing between engaging and educating, in Biotechnology. With engaging, it is often understood that we have to create visuals that deeply impress the audience, with convoluted jargon and Hollywood-like visuals. However, the more those impressive technical features are used, the more companies run into the risk of distancing themselves from the general public and fail to connect. Perhaps, leaning more towards the simplicity of a well-orchestrated educational type of scientific visual communication that helps understand products and research in an effective way, has more power to inspire and educate.

"Influencers" isn't quite the right word for this in the life sciences. Instead, we talk about "key opinion leaders" or "KOLs" who are top experts in their particular field of research (e.g., Jennifer Doudna for CRISPR, Shinya Yamanaka for stem cells, etc.). Now that we're clear on terminology - yes, it's important to leverage these KOLs. See how your lab products could be used in their research. Don't just offer samples and hope for the best though. Provide your R&D, FAS, or tech support team as a resource to make sure protocols work well. Get cited in peer-reviewed publications. Co-present at conferences and webinars. By getting these KOLs to support your product in their own research, other scientists in the same field will follow suit.

Use your own personal social media profile to let researchers know about your lab product/service. Speaking from my own experience, I've built up a dedicated following of 18,000+ life science professionals here on LinkedIn and post biotech content nearly every weekday. That's a powerful channel for brand awareness (marketing) and prospecting (sales). Of course, more traditional methods like email outreach and in-person conferences are essential, but you cannot ignore social selling in 2024, even in the biotech industry.