Getting the message right during times of uncertainty – an event summary

On Wednesday 22nd April, ramarketing took part in Bionow’s webinar: Getting the message right during times of uncertainty.

This webinar focused on communication during Covid-19 and was aimed at helping marketing and commercial professionals adapt their focus and gather some insight through these times of uncertainty. The panel represented a broad range of specialities within life sciences (healthcare, biotech, pharma supply chain). 

So, what were the key themes and guidance areas given during the webinar?

1. Communicating your business and focusing on the opportunities

A key theme was communicating your products, technology and/or service, focusing on the opportunities that still exist within the industry and keeping in touch with stakeholders. So many companies are reassuring their customers that safety measures are being taken to protect their team – whilst going into detail surrounding the measures themselves. 

The need to reassure customers is important but think about the real message to connect with customers appropriately. Connecting with them to make it clear that you understand their concerns and current personal challenges is far more effective than overdoing it. 

Finally, there are still opportunities that are available right now. Clinical trial companies could look at virtual trials whilst there’s scope for contract manufacturers to make Covid-19 related products. Don’t underestimate the networks and connections you already have. Take this time to reach out and reconnect and you may be surprised with opportunities that present themselves.

2. Quality over quantity 

Don’t use this situation to start over-communicating with customers. Detail doesn’t always mean clarity. Ensure your outreach methods are relevant, meaningful and purposeful. Similarly, think about the way you’re interacting with your customers and prospects. Don’t be afraid to personalise the way you communicate by picking up the phone, sending them a video or being more personal than usual.

3. Use event cancellations as a way to adapt and be innovative

Well-known industry events being cancelled, postponed or moved to virtual platforms has caused problems for the life sciences industry. But, what about the opportunities this presents? Especially for smaller companies and biotech firms. 

A key theme during the webinar was the fact that events are expensive, difficult to measure, and have no guarantee you’ll meet your target audience there. Covid-19 could be the catalyst to move this trend forward – focusing less on travelling to large industry conferences and using online methods to connect instead. Take advantage. Be creative, think about other more meaningful ways to connect with customers in a virtual environment.

4. What’s working well for other life sciences, healthcare & biotech companies?

Some are getting their house in order in terms of getting their brand foundations (such as website and brand) up to scratch whilst there’s time to be spent with business development teams who are usually travelling to gain valuable insight. With more people spending time online, now is the time to ensure your brand resonates with your audience and that your website is easy to find. 

When it came to tactics for reaching new customers, participating agencies pointed to digital marketing and said that clients were focusing on tactics such as SEO, PPC and LinkedIn advertising to reach new audiences. Content is also still king, creating useful content that resonated with key buyers is crucial right now. Read our latest blog to see what other tactics our clients are adopting right now.

Top areas of guidance 

So that’s it, the summary of the key themes and guidance areas of our recent joint webinar. There’s lots of complexities right now and things are different and strange for a lot of us. All you can do right now is stay positive, be as proactive as possible, use your time wisely and reach out to others as we’re all going through the same thing.