What are the most useful takeaways that our team learned in 2021?

1. Integrated marketing

The importance of using an integrated marketing approach cannot be overstated. ramarketing has seen clients, who previously only used one marketing tactic, explore different activities with great success. By exploiting our agency expertise and our in-house specialists, clients have initiated fantastic campaigns that generated impressive results by leveraging a variety of channels and tactics. 

Integrated marketing is achievable to everyone – all you need is a unified message and to tactically choose channels to reach existing and new audiences. Simply expanding from one to two channels is a positive step towards adopting an integrated approach.

2. Short form content

At the start of the pandemic, our team saw companies investing more heavily in long form content as a means to demonstrate credibility and experience, whether in the form of eBooks, technical white papers or other in-depth materials. These pieces are great, but their content shouldn’t only be used in this way. Throughout 2021, we focused on the clever repurposing of deep-dive content into various, and often more easily consumable, formats to make the most impact. 

A good way to repurpose content is to take some key learnings from your eBook and communicate them using bite-sized blogs, infographics, social posts and even videos. You can even, where appropriate, skip the costly and resource-heavy commitment that long-form content requires altogether, and provide your insights through these shorter mediums entirely. These tactics take less time and often generate as much, if not more, impact. We believe that short form content is very much here to stay, and compliments companies’ use of integrated tactics.

3. Adapting to the ‘new normal’

As a direct response to the pandemic, the ramarketing team adapted and responded quickly. Throughout 2020 and 2021 our team was ‘always-on’; they literally worked day and night (partly because there was not much else to do!). However, as we re-set and adjust back to life with fewer restrictions, our whole team has realised the importance of taking time out and ensuring they keep a strong work/life balance to give themselves space to breathe, gain perspective and work smarter rather than harder. 

ramarketing adopted a Swedish concept called ‘Fika’ which often translates as “a coffee and cake break” where our team gets together to pause, take a break and make time for each other by reflecting and having a little chat. In a fast-paced environment like ours, we think it’s really important to down tools regularly and Fika breaks are here to stay! We’re also a social bunch that likes to get together for food and drinks, and we prioritise wellbeing and creative time in addition to professional development. It’s all about balance and ramarketing definitely knows how to work and play hard.

4. Research strategy

Having a robust research strategy integrated into digital marketing campaigns has become increasingly important. Sure, we can work on your ads and your SEO, but if you don’t know your client personas or what you are aiming to achieve, you’re simply not going to get the best results. We value taking the time to do the right research from the get go so that our efforts to support you are optimised and your campaigns generate the best results.

All of our services are rooted in research. We love workshops and really value stakeholder feedback. Without understanding your business and the marketplace in which you operate, or grasping your customers’ pain points, your campaigns will struggle to gain any traction.

5. Learn the landscape

Hand in hand with your research, it’s really important to understand the competitor landscape, in addition to the different things that your customers are saying and doing, and to use this knowledge to inform your strategy.

We appreciate that, working in such a fast paced sector, it can be tricky to keep on top of industry updates. So, in addition to signing up to newsletters, browsing trade press and following competitor channels, you might find our weekly news summary a helpful addition to your inbox! ramarketing created ‘This week in pharma’ to summarise news from the global outsourcing space – you can find the news via our website or subscribe to receive the weekly email roundup. If you prefer to listen to thought leadership, learn more about the companies and people in our space or to get the inside track on trends, our podcast Molecule to Market makes the ideal companion for your commute, workout or free time. Hit subscribe and receive each podcast episode ahead of anyone else – direct to your device.