OEN Member NewsStanding Out to Biotech & Biopharma Audiences

In the fiercely competitive biotech and biopharma industries, knowing how to effectively communicate your value proposition to a set of stakeholders as diverse as researchers, investors, regulatory bodies, providers and patients can mean the difference between success and failure. Due to limited time, budget and workforce, emerging companies often pursue rapid market entry and explosive growth by prioritizing marketing tactics and sales initiatives, often at the expense of a cohesive marketing strategy. Yet untethered, spaghetti-to-the-wall marketing efforts are not only costly and frustrating, they tend to stunt growth and jeopardize company valuation. Is your company churning out countless social media updates, technical webinars, and blog posts with little to no impact on your sales funnel? This article is for you.

Whose problem do you solve? Understanding Your Audience To make an impact

At the core of every successful marketing strategy lies a profound understanding of your audience. This means that you must see beyond job titles, and recognize the distinct concerns and motivations that characterize each group of stakeholders. Creating tailored messages that inspire action begins with the fundamental yet overlooked understanding that every stakeholder, including the most dedicated lab scientist, is a human with distinct priorities and state of mind at the time they come in contact with your brand. Here, I lay out some guidelines to engage typical biotech, biopharma and med device company audiences.

“Refine your elevator pitch to grab attention and create excitement within the first few words of your brand story”

Investors

This audience is primarily looking for clarity on the potential return on investment of your venture. They want to understand the uniqueness of your technology, its market potential, and how it stands out against current competitors and perceived alternatives. Strategic messaging for this group should focus on differentiation, needs-driven innovation, and a well thought-out roadmap to market success. To capture investors’ attention, crafting a narrative that charts a clear path to commercialization and profitability is key. This might involve emphasizing your product’s unique benefits, the size of the target market, and your competitive advantages. The catch? You must be concise and engaging. Refine your elevator pitch to grab attention and create excitement within the first few words of your brand story while painting the vision of a successful future.

Researchers / Technical experts

This particular audience is often the one my clients feel the most familiar and comfortable with, at first. After all, it is understood that scientists value precision and empirical evidence. So why not rely on those points alone? Well, features simply do not convey the practical and emotional benefits that will have your audience spring into action. In other words, you must not conflate features and benefits. Features tell your customer what your product can do. Benefits help them internalize how your offering will transform their experience for the better. For example, getting faster, more robust data from each sample may mean that I can be the first to publish groundbreaking findings in a highly competitive field, boosting peer recognition and propelling my career. By making this leap for your audience rather than letting them infer it, your message will spark excitement and prompt them to take action.

Patients and Providers

Interestingly, those stakeholders often have very similar needs. However, it is still important to adapt the language level and benefits to each of them. Take the case of oncologists and cancer patients considering a cancer detection test.They both seek reliability, effectiveness, and outcome improvement. In both cases, your messaging should empathize with patient needs while highlighting proven clinical benefits. However, when talking to patients, you might highlight benefits linked to specific aspects of their quality of life – for example more time spent with their loved ones, whereas messaging directed at their providers would focus more on the operational benefits – i.e. help more patients, increase patient compliance. Likewise, the main proof points should mirror each audience’s language level and expertise to help establish trust and connection.

Regulatory bodies (e.g.the FDA and EMA)

This audience requires communication that is not only grounded in scientific evidence but also compliant with the very strict regulatory guidelines for your field of interest. Here, your messaging should typically focus on the safety, efficacy, and regulatory strategy of your products. Precision and adherence to regulatory guidelines are key. This involves ensuring that all your marketing materials are backed by robust scientific data and presented in a manner that aligns with regulatory standards.

Case Study – Inside the swift go-to-market success of Mavyret®

One illustrative example of outstanding strategic messaging comes from Mavyret, a groundbreaking Hepatitis C treatment launched by AbbVie in 2017. Leveraging laser-focused messaging, Mavyret’s was able to grow their revenue by 249% over their first-quarter total, significantly surpassing all expectations. This success is rooted in their communication targeted at both healthcare providers and patients who were frustrated by long and costly treatments. AbbVie emphasized Mavyret’s key advantages: a shorter treatment duration than competitors—8 weeks instead of the standard 12-weeks—and cost-effectiveness. This clear, needs-based messaging helped Mavyret quickly capture significant market share by appealing specifically to those seeking efficient, economical hepatitis C solutions. Their go-to-market ads included simple yet compelling terms such as “The only 8-week cure”, “Mavyret is covered by most insurance plans”, “Pay as little as $5 per month” and were pivotal to power one of AbbVie’s most successful launches.

Conclusion:

The biotech and biopharma landscape is crowded and competitive, making it all the more vital for emerging companies with limited resources to communicate their value effectively. By taking the time to really understand what makes each segment of your audience tick, and tailoring your strategic messaging accordingly, you will increase your brand awareness and memorability, cultivate a loyal customer base and drive growth. In a rapidly moving market, taking the time to tease out such detailed communication might seem unwise if not impossible. Yet, this nuanced approach isn’t merely optional—it’s a fundamental element of your company’s roadmap to success.

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ABOUT YOANNE CLOVIS, LLC

Yoanne Clovis, LLC, is a science branding and communication consultancy that empowers life science marketing leaders to achieve ambitious KPIs with limited time and resources. Led by Dr. Yoanne Clovis, a PhD scientist with a decade of marketing experience, we specialize in transforming complex scientific information into strategic, results-driven messaging and assets. Our comprehensive, collaborative approach ensures tailored, actionable plans that align with your business goals, enhancing brand awareness and audience engagement. With a proven track record of success for companies like C2i Genomics and MedGenome, we deliver impactful messaging that bridges the gap between science and effective marketing. Visit yoanneclovis.com to learn more.