B2B Marketing in a Pharma Landscape
Think of the most memorable post that you’ve seen online recently, or if you’re not a social media lover, think of a TV advert that has stood out to you. Good marketing has a way of keeping an image of a brand stuck in your head (ideally for all the right reasons), and that is no different within the Pharma market.
B2B marketing in the pharma landscape is nothing less than an art form. Finding the perfect balance in an industry with such a rapid pace of growth and heightened competition is vital to keep your brand on top. But knowing where to get started can be a bit of a tricky one, especially with such a specialist subject. So, if you’re having a bit of a mind blank, keep on scrolling…
Branding Consistency
At the top of your list should be developing your brand. As the pharma market grows and more new businesses open within it, differentiation will be the key to success. You want to be easily recognisable across to prospective clients, with an aesthetic that is unmistakably yours.
Once you’ve got your look nailed down, ensuring that you have branding consistency across a multichannel approach is key. Branding isn’t going to work if you have a one colour scheme on your website and another on your socials. So, keep it consistent.
And the best way to do so? Style setters. A creative team’s greatest asset is style setters for clients. Having set templates for how social media assets should look for each client means their social posts are on brand every time. Style setters can be developed using the same colour hex codes and aesthetic as the rest of your online branding to keep your posts harmonious, whilst standing out from the crowd.
Create Value-Driven Content
One of the reasons that the pharma market is seeing consistent large-scale growth is that the sector is constantly upgrading and evolving with new advancements and technologies. And you need to make sure that potential customers know that you are keeping up with those advancements and really know your stuff. The best way to demonstrate this is through hosting value-driven content on your site.
Value-driven content not only shows that you are in the know but can also lead to your domain becoming a knowledge hub for those looking to learn more about upcoming advancements in the sector. Potential new customers can peruse your library of knowledge and see that you have all the required know-how before you begin your first conversation.
The best way to get going with value-driven content? Building a portfolio of target audience personas. Putting together documents which visualise each individual that you are targeting, what their pain points are, their FAQs, and their industry-based interests will help you pinpoint exactly what content will be most valuable to them.
Next stop is to decide on where is best for you to host this content. Blogs on your site are a great way to set yourself out as being thought-leaders within the pharma sector. And another way to get this content out to where it needs to be is through PR, especially when it’s published in leading healthcare magazines like Healthcare Global or Pharmafield. Thought-led, ground-breaking articles placed within the right industry press can put your name in front of a brand-new audience and show them that people within your company have an extensive breadth of knowledge.
Nail your USP
The communications message of your branded materials is just as important as the brand aesthetic that you choose, if not even more!. It is often the message that is the driving factor in the success and ROI of digital marketing, especially within the pharma landscape.
The best way to ensure that your marketing materials are hitting the right spot is by really nailing down your USPs. What is it that makes your product/service so special and why do you stand out from the crowd? In B2B pharma, the competition is stiff, so each and every message that your target audience sees needs to really ring true to exactly why they should choose you.
Engaging Healthcare Professionals
Healthcare professionals are the people that will ultimately decide whether your product/service is a hit or miss, so collaborating with them will be a core element to your success in the market. Having dedicated strategies to help you engage with healthcare professionals on subjects around your product/services will be a big help in keeping ongoing engagement with healthcare professionals. Some ideas on engaging content could be:
- Simplification of the latest data and clinical applications of your product/services
- How you can benefit their patients
- News sharing on the latest developments
- Data-driven infographics
- Conversation starter posts
- Collaborative blog content with healthcare professionals
Engaging with healthcare professionals is likely to provide long term benefits for your business, so having a concrete strategy in place is key.
Not to mention the potential for online networking. Platforms like LinkedIn have meant that a connection request is the new handshake. Utilising your social channels to discover new business leads has the potential to lead you to a networking goldmine.
Events and Roadshows
Events and roadshows throughout the year are a big thing in the pharma market. They get you in front of new potential customers and even those at the top of their game need to make sure that they have a presence at the biggest expos.
Getting your event stand nailed down is the first port of call. You want to be eye-catching and really stand out from the crowd, because what’s the point in showcasing at a roadshow for attendees to feel bored by your stand and walk on by? Branding is important here; your stand should be undeniably and obnoxiously you.
Next up, merch. What can you do to ensure that attendees leave the event remembering your name; besides having a show stopping events stand of course. Take-away merchandise is a great way to keep your company name in the minds of the people you have spoken to that day.
But maybe think a bit more outside of the box than your standard notebooks, because we all have a desk drawer full to the brim of branded notebooks (although I have to admit that I am a sucker for a free pen – but aren’t we all?). A personal favourite bit of merch that I’ve picked up from an event recently was a little electric fan that can be plugged into your phone’s headphone port- brilliant idea for a summer event!
Making sure your merch takes sustainability into consideration is also now a top priority, with many events and exhibitions taking up strict no/low waste policies and attendees having sustainability at the forefront of their mind.
Sponsorship
Big pharma companies should be getting involved in big campaigns to match. And when it comes to sponsorship, the opportunities really seem endless!
Events are a great opportunity to get your name in front of the world, and we’re thinking b-i-g events. Imagine seeing your name as the sponsor of Formula One racing, or if that’s not quite your thing, check out the opportunities available to sponsor a charity ball. Having your name in lights for an event and featured across brochures and other marketing will likely get you seen by all the right people.
A love for specialism
We absolutely love getting stuck in with new industries, and the pharma landscape is no different.
If you’re looking for a group of marketeers that really know their stuff when it comes to pharma marketing to give you an extra boost with your strategy, then look no further. Get in contact with a member of the team and we’ll get right on it.