Most businesses know that content marketing is important for growth. But do you know how important it is in hastening the adoption of your products in the market?
In this article, I present 10 benefits of using education-based content in life science marketing.
Simply stated, educational content is founded on the principle that your business should adopt a customer-focused strategy ... where you educate your audience before attempting to sell to them.
In a digital world that revolves so heavily around the internet, it only makes sense that users are looking online to learn new things. But as advertising noise increases, consumers are using technology to block ads.
And Life science buyers are no different. They hate to be sold to and have become numb to sales pitches. But they respond better to content that provides them with information. They perceive educational content as an added value that helps them become more informed consumers.
So the best way to grab their attention is by integrating education into your marketing arsenal ... rather than focusing on pitching and pushing for a sale.
Here?s why ?
A successful content marketing strategy maps content to the buyer?s journey.
Considering the rapid pace of technological advancement ... and the disruption it can cause in the life science sector ... your company must continuously engage with consumers. And give them the right content at the right time.
With many seemingly identical solutions coming up ... if you want to remain competitive ... you must offer a helping hand to your end users rather than bombard them with sales pitches.
Show empathy. Help them understand new applications or therapies and how to use devices as you roll them out.
Why?
When you educate your leads, you transform them into valuable prospects with a high likelihood of converting.
And if you implement your marketing strategy correctly, you will hold onto your prospect's attention throughout the entire sales funnel ... from top to bottom ... without relying on sales-heavy pitching that deters their interest.
Now that you understand why educational content is a necessity in life science marketing, let us look at its specific benefits.
But before starting your campaign, make sure you have a clear idea of where your prospect is in the buying process. And then set the goal you want to achieve at that stage.
1. The Benefits Of Education-Based Content In The Pre-Purchase Phase ... Before Your Prospect Enters The ?Buying Window?
In the pre-purchase phase ... when your audience is at the top of the sales funnel ... you can use educational messages to expose a need they have but are unaware of.
Why?
Because every purchase decision-making process begins with an unmet need.
Once your prospects recognize their problem, the next thing they will do is start looking for solutions.
While life science buyers hate to be sold to ? and like every other consumer ? they love to buy. But they are generally unaware of where to find the best solution to their problem. So it?s your responsibility as a marketer to show them.
At this early stage, they are agnostic about information sources. They don?t necessarily care what company they choose, as long as they get answers to their questions.
But you want to position your brand as a resource.
The truth is that consumers care more about themselves than they do about your products or services. So before you start selling your products, your initial content cannot be about you. The information you share should be all about what?s in it for THEM ? adding value that fulfills their needs.
Your content at this stage should have nothing to do with your product. Or anything about convincing them to choose your company over other competitors. It must purely focus on showing them how they can solve their problem.
This is where you are laying the groundwork to shape their opinion. You are building authentic business relationships that will keep them loyal to your brand. And if you do it right ? in the long run ? they will choose you when the time is right.
Let?s look at five benefits of using education-based content in the pre-purchase phase ... before your prospect enters the ?buying window?.
Benefit #1: It Attracts Quality Organic Traffic To Your Site
The best way to drive more organic traffic to your website is by sharing SEO-optimized content that matches their search intent.
So when your prospects type in a search query, Google will give them the most relevant results based on the keywords they used. Your content will rank well if those keywords are present in your text.
Not only are you sharing content to help, but you?re also introducing them to your brand.
Benefit #2: It Increases Brand Awareness And Positions You As A Thought Leader In The Market
Creating brand awareness is about being a ?resource? in your industry. A common goal, especially in niche markets. You can quickly reach a relatively large audience if you show how your company can help.
As an information center, you become a valuable participant in your prospect?s decision-making process. And establish your brand as an industry leader, essentially setting your brand apart from the competition.
Benefit #3: It Builds Trust And Increases Brand Affinity
Life science equipment and technologies are often complex, expensive, or both. And on average, your buyers spend a little more time doing pre-purchase research before buying.
6 months, 12 months, or even longer.
And as a rule of thumb, the higher the ticket value, the longer your sales cycle will be.
While educational marketing builds awareness, warm messages will help you build brand recognition ... which leads to customer trust.
Trust increases the likelihood of them buying.
Benefit #4: It Dramatically Shortens The Pre-Purchase Phase Of The Customer Journey
Knowing how the buying decision-making process unfolds can help you anticipate your prospect?s needs. And guide you to tailor a continuum of SEO-optimized content that matches their Google search intent at each stage.
This will progressively nudge them forward and move them further down your sales funnel ... while limiting their need to source information from your competitors.
Benefit #5: Lead Generation
A lead magnet is a high-value content asset that promises immediate gratification and focuses on the problem. But it comes with a condition ? that they share their contact information before they can access it.
The most effective lead magnets are the ones that have a perceived high value and promise an irresistible instant reward.
2. The Benefits Of Education-Based Content During The ?Buying Window?
Up to this point, you created content to support your prospects by helping them along the way so they could convert once the time came.
The ?buying window? is the time to seal the deal. But how will you do that?
Your engagement with them at this point is mostly transactional. So you want to publish content that will maximize your conversion rates and close more sales.
Since you have accumulated goodwill from all the value you put into the earlier stages, you can now drop the call to action requesting a purchase.
So this is where your content must address the most common sales objections likely to arise. And seamlessly usher them toward a sale. It will help your case to also have content that answers "Legal and Compliance" questions about your offer.
So, let?s look at two more benefits of education-based content during the ?buying window?.
Benefit #6: It Helps You Overcome Common Sales Objections
Buyers tend to be suspicious of marketing claims ? in ads, websites, emails, and other communication forms. They?re not impressed by vague claims of ?outstanding quality? or ?months of uptime between maintenance periods?.
They want evidence. Facts. Specifics. Proof.
The best way to handle their objections is to integrate belief-builders into your message ? by providing social proof.
Benefit #7: It Improves Conversion Rates And Boosts Your Sales Volume
Early-stage content significantly influences the likelihood of your prospects purchasing from you. And according to a 2022 study by Conductor, consumers are 131% more likely to buy from your brand after they consume your educational content.
3. The Benefits Of Education-Based Content In The Post-Purchase Phase ... After The Customer Has Purchased Your Product Or Service
Unlike the classic sales funnel that ends your buyer pipeline at the sale, you want a post-purchase relationship with your clients. You want to grow your loyal customer base over time and create a modern sales funnel that looks more like a megaphone.
So your content marketing approach should factor in an after-sales strategy.
And since you already paid the acquisition cost, why not capitalize on your customers to scale your business?
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You want to use educational content to support the growth of a loyal customer base in two ways ?
- By influencing your buyers to make repeat purchases.
- Through word-of-mouth referrals that your customers make to their peers.
Why is this important to your business?
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Benefit #8: It Flattens Your New User?s Learning Curve And Hastens The Adoption Of Your Products
Every product has a learning curve. But the last thing a life science professional wants is to put aside their daily tasks to try and understand how a new tool works.
The one question you must ask yourself is ? How long will it take your customers to learn to use your product and include it in their workflow?
People want a hassle-free solution to their problems. So your goal is to help them get through the learning curve and make progress by providing the right value.
Educational content!
Your first-time buyer may not know how to use your product. He may consult your resources for help. Make sure you are prepared.
Benefit #9: It Encourages Customer Retention And Increases The Customer Lifetime Value (CLV)
Sometimes, as a marketer, you might focus more on new acquisitions than pushing tactics that keep your existing customers.
However, in addition to acquisitions, continuing to provide educational content creates customer loyalty. This will increase the chances of turning your one-time buyers into long-term repeat customers.
The other advantages of an after-sales content strategy that emphasizes customer retention include the following ...
First, according to BIA/Kelsey LLC, for many businesses, 50% of annual revenue comes from repeat customers, who spend 67% more than new customers.
Secondly, a Gartner ?Marketing Technology Survey? found that 80% of the future profits of a company like yours will likely come from 20% of your current customers ... through repeat purchases and referrals.
Third, according to Bain & Company ... a management consulting firm ... repeat customers bring in 50% more word-of-mouth referrals than one-time buyers.
Benefit #10: It Increases Customer Loyalty And Encourages Advocacy
According to the 2015 Global Trust in Advertising report by Nielsen ... which surveyed more than 28,000 online users from 56 countries ... 92% of potential buyers trust word-of-mouth recommendations over traditional advertising.
The 2020 Local Consumer Review Survey by BrightLocal confirmed this. At 93%, almost all consumers read product reviews before buying. This reveals the growing importance of online reviews in purchase decisions.
And ?
Referral Marketing Statistics by Review42.com reported that leads referred to a business by happy customers are 4 times more likely to convert ... compared to those from other sources.
What that means is that referred customers are more profitable. To be exact, they have a 16% higher Customer Lifetime Value and 18% less attrition ? as per Verfacto.com.
According to another study by Bain & Company and Earl Sasser ... of Harvard Business School ... small increases in customer retention rates (such as a 5% improvement) can mean big wins for your company (profits between 25% and 95%).
Conclusion
Educational content marketing is an up-front investment that will transform your leads into valuable prospects with a high likelihood of converting.
Visit our website to learn more about the Educational Content Marketing Plan.
About The Author
Juliette Ongus is a B2B copywriting specialist and author of "Teach Don?t Pitch". She is an Associate Professor of Virology at JKUAT with 17+ years of experience as a biomedical scientist, researcher, and university-level academic. She is also the CEO and Founder of Life Science Copywriter.