The latest news, tips and insights from science and marketing

Life after university… it's a challenge every graduate has to face! And something that really sneaks up on you as you approach the end of your bachelor’s, master’s or doctorate degree. After all, choosing the right vocation is a big step, and a predicament we all face at the end of our studies. It’s certainly something I experienced at the end of my PhD.

At that point, all I knew was that I loved science and wanted it to be the basis of my career, but I did not see myself becoming a lab-based scientist in either industry or academia.

So, I asked myself, "what are my options? What’s out there for someone who wants to apply their scientific knowledge and skill, but perhaps not in the lab?" From a kaleidoscope of advice, thoughts and feedback, I whittled down my focus to specific areas within the commercial side of the life science industry.

At some point in their career, every scientist must decide whether to continue in academia, or to step outside the confines of the lab and make a scientific difference in another role. For me, when I finished my PhD, I knew that I'd completed my academic journey, and wanted to use the skills I had developed in another environment.

A career in science writing had always appealed to me, as learning and communicating about new and exciting science was my favourite thing about my studies. However, I had many questions about what being a science writer would actually involve, and wanted to know if I had the right skillset and experience to become one. 

Since I joined life science marketing specialists BioStrata, I’ve been lucky enough to learn about a wide range of interesting scientific topics (and I get to tell the world about it every day through my writing). This experience hopefully also puts me in a more-informed position to answer some of the questions I had before I started down this career path. So, if you’re thinking about a science writing career, I hope this blog will help clear up some queries that you may have!

Ah June, reportedly named after the ancient Roman goddess of marriage, and the month the Romans believed was the most promising for weddings. We at BioStrata also believe June is a good month for a marriage—the marriage of science and scientist! All over the world, researchers are falling in love with new and exciting topics, and making vows to investigate them and only them, forsaking all other distractions, for better or worse, until death do they part (or until their funding runs out). Because this marriage can be a full-time commitment, we’ve hunted down the latest cutting-edge, curious, and comical scientific stories, so you don’t have to. Come with us now, as you are cordially invited to witness this academic union walk steadily down the aisle of progress.

As a life science graduate, I found myself facing a huge decision when it came to my future career: stay in the lab, or foray into the commercial world. After running a number of experiments in my head, and having studied the results with care, I decided to test myself in the world of life science marketing. This was a decision I will never regret.

Perhaps you’re a recent science graduate who is considering making a similar decision? In case it helps you with that process, here are four things I love about working in life science marketing.

As a life science marketing pro, you’re likely to be one of those people who love to share their industry expertise and experiences by attending networking sessions and events. Earlier this year, one of our directors, Paul, was lucky enough to be invited to speak at the Cambridge HubSpot User Group meet-up—a quarterly event for local HubSpot users to exchange ideas, discuss trends and challenges, and learn from each other’s experiences. With the recent content marketing explosion, the last HUG event was focussed on a key industry challenge: how to make your content stand out from the noise.

As a marketer that may specialise in content creation and inbound marketing, this is a challenge you are likely to have faced before. So, what’s the solution? Here are some insights from Paul’s talk at the recent HUG event.

While scientists from LA to Taipei have been beavering away to become the next Michael Faraday, we’re here to give you an action replay from the month of May! We’ve selected a handy array of our favourites to convey the projects that were underway. So, don’t delay, read on to take away the innovations of today. Hooray!

Spring is here! And it’s not just flowers that are in bloom. All over the world, seeds of ideas are being planted, innovative research is germinating, and fresh science is flourishing. To bring you a bouquet of the latest breakthroughs, we’ve pruned the very finest specimens of exciting, novel and funny science stories for this month. So, come take in the aroma of cutting-edge progress!

There is little questioning the value of LinkedIn as a powerful social network for life science marketing professionals. But are you taking advantage of all that LinkedIn has to offer?

Although you can certainly use the platform to connect with colleagues, the real benefit of LinkedIn lies in the vast global networking opportunities it provides. One of the best ways to unlock the social network’s potential is by participating in groups that are highly relevant to your specific industry sector.

Networking through LinkedIn groups can help you position yourself as a thought leader, highlight your company’s expertise and obtain useful industry insights. Here, we’ve gathered a few top tips to help you make the most of the LinkedIn groups’ functionality to boost the effectiveness of your life science marketing programmes.

The best technology, product or service doesn’t necessarily win in the marketplace, and having a great product doesn't guarantee you customers or market share. This is particularly true in the life science industry—but why is this the case? There a number of reasons, but four major factors are:

• People can’t buy something they have never heard of
• People won’t buy something they do not understand
• People won’t buy something if they cannot clearly see how it benefits them
• People won't buy from a supplier they do not respect and trust.

These four challenges all have something in common—people—and unlocking the power of customer-centric marketing has huge potential to generate more awareness, demand, leads and sales. So, how do you put the customer at the centre of your life science marketing activities?

Whether it’s for a blog post or long-form article, headlines are arguably the most important feature of your content. Yet, we are always surprised to see that they are so often dismissed as an afterthought. Overlooking the title of your content means you could be wasting a golden opportunity to grab the attention of your audience!

This is especially true in life science marketing. Scientists have very busy schedules, and so you need to capture their attention quickly or your content will simply fall by the wayside. If potential readers don’t have their interest piqued by your headline, they won’t click to read more. In fact, studies have shown that 80% of readers never make it to the end of the body of text, so an uninspiring title threatens to lose a reader’s attention from the start. Think about it, if this blog post was called something dreary like ‘Headline Advice’ would you be reading it right now?

So, how do you write effective headlines and set yourself apart from the competition? Here, we’ve formulated six top tips which will give your life science content the attention it deserves.