--- title: Putting the customer first in life science marketing description: Having the next great product or service does not automatically guarantee you market share—you have to adopt a life science marketing strategy that generates awareness, demand, leads and, ultimately, sales. image: https://www.biostratamarketing.com/hubfs/Putting%20the%20customer%20first%20in%20life%20science%20marketing.png --- [![biostrata-white-1](https://www.biostratamarketing.com/hubfs/biostrata-white-1.svg) ](https://www.biostratamarketing.com) - Services ![Arrow](https://www.biostratamarketing.com/hubfs/Blend%202021/Global/Header/Nav/mobile/menu-arrow-down.svg) #### Access a service - [Strategy, research & planning ](https://www.biostratamarketing.com/services/strategy-planning/) - [Science writing & content creation ](https://www.biostratamarketing.com/services/science-writing-and-content-creation/) - [Creative design ](https://www.biostratamarketing.com/services/creative-design/) - [Digital marketing ](https://www.biostratamarketing.com/services/digital-marketing/) - [Public relations ](https://www.biostratamarketing.com/services/public-relations/) - [Paid media & advertising ](https://www.biostratamarketing.com/services/life-science-paid-media-and-advertising) #### Achieve a goal - [Brand awareness ](https://www.biostratamarketing.com/services/brand-awareness) - [Lead generation ](https://www.biostratamarketing.com/services/lead-generation) - [Lead nurturing ](https://www.biostratamarketing.com/services/lead-nurturing) - [Sales enablement ](https://www.biostratamarketing.com/services/sales-enablement) - [Inbound marketing ](https://www.biostratamarketing.com/inbound-marketing/) #### Complete a project - [Brand your company ](https://www.biostratamarketing.com/services/brand-your-company) - [Launch a new product ](https://www.biostratamarketing.com/services/launch-a-new-product) - [Develop a website ](https://www.biostratamarketing.com/services/develop-a-website) - [Tradeshow support ](https://www.biostratamarketing.com/services/tradeshow-support) - Sectors ![Arrow](https://www.biostratamarketing.com/hubfs/Blend%202021/Global/Header/Nav/mobile/menu-arrow-down.svg) - [Biotech ](https://www.biostratamarketing.com/sectors/biotech-marketing-services) - [Contract Manufacturing ](https://www.biostratamarketing.com/sectors/contract-manufacturing-marketing-services) - [Instruments, tools & reagents ](https://www.biostratamarketing.com/sectors/instruments-and-reagents-marketing-services) - [Clinical Diagnostics ](https://www.biostratamarketing.com/sectors/clinical-diagnostics-marketing-services) - [Informatics & Software ](https://www.biostratamarketing.com/sectors/life-science-software-marketing-services) - [Industry associations ](https://www.biostratamarketing.com/sectors/industry-associations-marketing-services) - [Contract Research ](https://www.biostratamarketing.com/sectors/contract-research-marketing-services) - [Fine chemicals & APIs ](https://www.biostratamarketing.com/sectors/fine-chemicals-marketing-services) - [ About us ![Arrow](https://www.biostratamarketing.com/hubfs/Blend%202021/Global/Header/Nav/mobile/menu-arrow-down.svg) ](https://www.biostratamarketing.com/about-us/) - [ Case studies ![Arrow](https://www.biostratamarketing.com/hubfs/Blend%202021/Global/Header/Nav/mobile/menu-arrow-down.svg) ](https://www.biostratamarketing.com/case-studies) - Resources ![Arrow](https://www.biostratamarketing.com/hubfs/Blend%202021/Global/Header/Nav/mobile/menu-arrow-down.svg) - [Blog ](https://www.biostratamarketing.com/blog) - [Guides, tools and templates ](https://www.biostratamarketing.com/resources) - [Marketing budget calculator ](https://www.biostratamarketing.com/blog/how-life-science-companies-can-set-an-effective-marketing-budget) - [Featured eBook: Strategy ](https://www.biostratamarketing.com/marketing-strategy-planning-life-science-companies) - [Featured eBook: SEO ](https://www.biostratamarketing.com/the-ultimate-guide-to-life-science-seo) - [Featured webinar: AI ](https://www.biostratamarketing.com/elrig-ai-marketing-sales-webinar) ![shape](https://www.biostratamarketing.com/hubfs/Blend%202021/Blog/hero-logo-mark%20(1)-2.svg) # Putting the customer first in life science marketing 09 April 2018| by [Clare Russell](https://www.biostratamarketing.com/blog/author/clare-russell) [Marketing](https://www.biostratamarketing.com/blog/topic/marketing) ![Putting the customer first in life science marketing](https://www.biostratamarketing.com/hubfs/Putting%20the%20customer%20first%20in%20life%20science%20marketing.png) [![arrow-left](https://www.biostratamarketing.com/hubfs/Blend%202021/Blog/nav-arrow-down.svg)back to blog](https://www.biostratamarketing.com/blog) The best technology, product or service doesn’t necessarily win in the marketplace, and having a great product doesn't guarantee you customers or market share. This is particularly true in the life science industry—but why is this the case? There a number of reasons, but four major factors are: - People can’t buy something they have never heard of - People won’t buy something they do not understand - People won’t buy something if they cannot clearly see how it benefits them - People won't buy from a supplier they do not respect and trust. These four challenges all have something in common—people—and unlocking the power of customer-centric marketing has huge potential to generate more awareness, demand, leads and sales. So, how do you put the customer at the centre of your life science marketing activities?   ***Blog snapshot: Having the next great life science product or service does not automatically guarantee you market share****—you have to adopt a marketing strategy that generates awareness, demand, leads and, ultimately, sales. Taking a customer-centric approach is one way of demonstrating how your product/service can meet your customer's needs. For more information on **how an inbound approach can support your next product or [science service launch](https://www.biostratamarketing.com/services/launch-a-new-product), [get in touch](https://biostratamarketing.com/contact-us/) with our team today.*****   ## Understanding your customers so you can meet their needs Effective marketing is about truly understanding your customers; their goals, challenges, frustrations and pain points. Effective *positioning* is about understanding how you are able to communicate the fact that you can *solve* these issues for your customers (and more effectively than your competitors). Doing both of these things well requires extensive research and analysis, allowing you to collect as much primary data as possible relating to the things your customers care about. This data should inform everything from tactical selection to communication channels, content formats and messaging. Regardless, it all starts with collecting the data and converting it into insights that will give your marketing campaigns the best chance of success. [The best way to do this is to take a buyer persona-driven approach to your life science content marketing strategy](https://content.biostratamarketing.com/blog/what-every-content-marketer-should-know-about-developing-effective-buyer-personas). [Inbound marketing](https://biostratamarketing.com/inbound-marketing/) is one approach that we’ve helped to pioneer here at BioStrata that aims to put the customer at centre-stage, and finds the best ways to communicate and connect with them. [I discussed this recently with *Chemical & Engineering News *(C&EN)](http://acsmediakit.org/the-mad-men-women-of-science-marketing/).    [![Inbound marketing in the life science industry](https://www.biostratamarketing.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Inbound%20marketing%20in%20the%20life%20science%20industry.png?width=450&height=235&name=Inbound%20marketing%20in%20the%20life%20science%20industry.png)](http://acsmediakit.org/the-mad-men-women-of-science-marketing/)   An innovative, customer-centric mindset has to be woven into the entire sales and marketing process—from strategy through to execution. If we take a lesson from a fast-moving area like [‘software as a service’ (SaaS)](https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/saas-marketing-plan), creating a great product is only half the challenge. Getting to market quickly and building a loyal customer base as quickly as possible is just as important. Science companies tend to be exceptionally good at R&D, but invest less in marketing and sales. This means they are missing the whole other half of the equation— and you need both to be successful.   ## Address your customer first, not your product Successful marketing is not just a case of getting the word out and raising your profile—it’s all about converting the technical features of a given [science product launch](https://www.biostratamarketing.com/services/launch-a-new-product) into customer-driven benefits that will capture attention and drive action. [Putting the customer at the centre of your sales process](https://content.biostratamarketing.com/blog/inbound-sales-for-life-science-companies-how-to-identify-more-opportunities-and-close-more-deals) allows you to build a trusting relationship with them, and is a great way of demonstrating how your product/service can help them solve their problems or meet their goals. Try to avoid talking specifically about product features, and instead opt to talk about the challenges your prospects face, before ultimately positioning your product/service as the solution to help prospects overcome their challenges or achieve their goals.   ## Invest in marketing to succeed It is understandably exciting when a new product or [science service launch](https://www.biostratamarketing.com/services/launch-a-new-product) is ready to share with the market. But I hope you now share some of my excitement with the power of developing an effective, customer-centric marketing strategy. Investing in such critical thinking at the start of any marketing process may seem like a luxury, but can any business really afford to allow a long-awaited product to fail because its potential customers never get to hear about it, don’t understand it or can’t see the benefits it offers them? I’d suggest not. **To find out more about how BioStrata’s pioneering inbound marketing approach and other specialist services could support your next product or service launch, [get in touch](https://biostratamarketing.com/contact-us/) with our team.**   [![Contact us](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/486207/f5f340d4-5ae5-4c52-8ee1-5d6dfbc88046.png)](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/486207/f5f340d4-5ae5-4c52-8ee1-5d6dfbc88046)   **You can also take a look at BioStrata's other contributions to [‘The Mad Men & Women of Scientific Marketing’ issue of C&EN](http://acsmediakit.org/the-mad-men-women-of-science-marketing/) by clicking on the image below:**   [![The mad men and women of science marketing](https://www.biostratamarketing.com/hs-fs/hubfs/The%20mad%20men%20and%20women%20of%20science%20marketing.png?width=600&name=The%20mad%20men%20and%20women%20of%20science%20marketing.png)](http://acsmediakit.org/the-mad-men-women-of-science-marketing/) ## Related Posts [![Dark social in life sciences marketing](https://www.biostratamarketing.com/hubfs/Dark%20social%20%281%29.png) ### Unlocking dark social: An underexplored tool for demand generation in the life sciences Clare Russell Marketing ](https://www.biostratamarketing.com/blog/unlocking-dark-social-an-underexplored-tool-for-demand-generation-in-the-life-sciences) [![Life science SEO agency](https://www.biostratamarketing.com/hubfs/SEO%20agency%20blog.png) ### A guide to choosing the best life science SEO agency Paul Avery Marketing ](https://www.biostratamarketing.com/blog/a-guide-to-choosing-the-best-life-science-seo-agency) [![Stretch your life science marketing budget](https://www.biostratamarketing.com/hubfs/Budget%20blog.png) ### 11 proven ways to stretch your life science marketing budget to achieve more with less Paul Avery Marketing ](https://www.biostratamarketing.com/blog/11-proven-ways-to-stretch-your-life-science-marketing-budget-to-achieve-more-with-less) [![arrow-left](https://www.biostratamarketing.com/hubfs/Blend%202021/Blog/nav-arrow-down.svg)back to blog](https://www.biostratamarketing.com/blog) #### Sign up for our newsletter Subscribe #### Sign up for our newsletter ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Clare Russell", "url" : "https://www.biostratamarketing.com/blog/author/clare-russell" }, "dateModified" : "2023-03-29T14:21:07.582Z", "datePublished" : "2018-04-09T13:52:54.000Z", "headline" : "Putting the customer first in life science marketing", "image" : [ "https://www.biostratamarketing.com/hubfs/Putting%20the%20customer%20first%20in%20life%20science%20marketing.png" ], "mainEntityOfPage" : { "@id" : "https://www.biostratamarketing.com/blog/putting-the-customer-first-in-life-science-marketing", "@type" : "WebPage" }, "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "url" : "https://www.biostratamarketing.com/hubfs/social-suggested-images/BioStrata-Logo-e1395859629330-11.png" }, "name" : "BioStrata Ltd" } } ```