Life sciences companies offering products or services directly to consumers face unique marketing challenges in terms of identifying their target audiences and finding an effective means to broadly define their market. Doing both of these effectively, however, is the path to faster adoption of new products or services. Below are a few key points:

Identify and understand all relevant audiences
While selling directly to an individual consumer, you are also indirectly selling to a host of "influencers," those that the individual turns to in gathering knowledge and advice during the decision-making process. Medical professionals and associations as well as "informal influencers" - friends, family, current customers, and the general public - are all target audiences.

Understanding how these indirect audiences influence the consumer decision are a critical part of defining your marketing plan. The sales process is made more productive by striking the right balance between educating various parties and direct marketing.

Research your audience's decision-making process
Purchase decisions typically require consumers to understand a complex set of facts, leading consumers to conduct independent research. Life sciences companies that do their own marketing research (to understand the questions and order of questions that need answering and how customers learn of a product) will be able to develop marketing plans that ensure they are delivering the right message to the right audience at the right time and in the right media.

In a recent client project, we found that in a typical consumer's early stages of exploration, their focus was on understanding the issues about the service, rather than differentiating between companies providing the service. We concluded that marketing copy that touted the company in detail was actually viewed as reducing the credibility of general information messages. Only later in the decision process, consumers became more receptive to company-specific information. This suggested developing a more general overview piece, to be followed by a more company-oriented piece.

Public relations as key education tool
A good ground-level public relations and media effort provides a stronger base to the marketing mix. As in most industries with a complex or new offering, providing a base education to the general public helps accelerate the sales process by creating general awareness, and by positively impacting the opinions of consumers and their influencers alike.

PR activity can be focused on several areas:

• Cultivating relationships with relevant members of the general press
  
• Translating early technical writings into lay terms
  
• Informing editors of the availability and accessibility of company scientists and researchers
  
• Positioning the company as the authority on any issue related to its offerings
  
• Proactively being a source of interesting news - bringing new ideas to editors whenever possible

Over time, an investment in developing these relationships will help establish a company's position as an industry leader, and lead to increased press coverage when there is important news.

The benefits of a well-conducted public relations campaign include generating increased awareness of the product or service, positioning the firm as an industry leader, having third-party endorsement by the media, and ultimately, improved effectiveness of your sales process. With consumers more aware of the product or services, they will be more likely to proceed with evaluating the company and its offering, allowing your sales-people to spend less time on basic issues, and more time closing the sale.

Conclusion
When the science behind the product or service is new to the general public and the underlying issues are not broadly understood, choosing the right balance between market education and direct-to-consumer marketing and sales will pay off. It will pay off in higher close rates and improved effectiveness.

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