Life Science Content Marketing - Survey Results

As we kick off the new year, you might be curious as to how your situation compares to your peers in the industry. I hosted an online survey in 2013 to find out and have summarized the results here.Keep in mind the survey is hardly scientific. Consider it a snapshot of the state of content marketing in our industry. There are some trends, however that are worth pointing out. If you are interested in seeing the full report, you can download it here.

Content Marketing Planning

If you don't have a real plan, you are not alone. About half of your peers are in the same boat. The good news is that most have defined personas that they market to. In a follow up survey, I'd like to know how detailed those personas actually are. And if your biggest challenge is to keep up with content production to support your marketing, welcome to the club.Social Media UsageLinkedIn and Twitter are the most popular social media channels among the respondents. Facebook is third and ahead of blogging. While it's easier to post small snippets of information on Facebook, it will be interesting to see if blogs, which take more effort, can move ahead by producing more value and more engaged readership.

Marketing Automation

Two thirds of respondents are not using any marketing automation tools such as Eloqua, Marketo or HubSpot. Among those who are using automation, 70% struggle to produce enough content and 40% find automation more difficult than expected.

Hiring Copywriters for Life Sciences

Respondents were evenly split on whether they hire outside help for their marketing writing. Here is what is interesting. Among those who do, the leading reason is lack of capacity internally, but a nearly equal number said they hired writers either because they get better results or need someone to communicate their full value. Among those who don't, the primary reason was that product managers write their own pages, followed by lack of either budget or ability to find writers that understand their business. It sounds like somebody is hogging all the talented writers!

Logic vs Emotion

When it comes to customer purchases, three quarters of respondents acknowledge an emotional component in the buying decision.In this blog, I have only summarized what I think are the most interesting data. To see the complete results in detail, including specific text responses, click the button below.

Thank You for Helping Provide Clean Water

Finally, I want to give a big "Thank You" to everyone who participated in the survey. As a result, we made a meaningful contribution to Water for People to help improve access to clean water and sanitation around the world which has a huge impact, particularly for women and girls in developing nations.I wish you all success in 2014.