Challenge the Funnel Approach

Monday, April 11, 2016

Engaging Life-Science Customers in Today’s Interactive Buying Journey

The consumer-buying journey has evolved significantly, and it’s impacting the way companies interact with prospects. Gone is the old funnel where prospects gradually narrow down brand options until they purchase from one company.

Consumers in the life sciences or really any sector, no longer walk a straight line from consideration to purchase. Instead, the buying process is more of a “roundabout” in which consumers (like a motorist on a roadway) enter and exit at various access points as they progress in their journey. It’s comprehensive marketing with an awareness approach that continuously engages all parties and guides them at all points along the process.

So, how do you promote your product or technology to life science researchers in this new marketing age, when there are so many voices competing for business—and so many media platforms uniquely providing information to curious buyers?

First, you have to understand the touch points in today’s buying journey, and there are many: email campaigns, videos, enewsletters, online reviews, product comparisons. That’s why effective marketing efforts are integrated, meaning they address the multiple media channels that buyers interface with in their daily lives.

Then, align messaging with those touch points in the buying journey. There is a right message and best way to “talk” to a consumer for every touch point in the buying process. Content is king, but context rules the kingdom. In other words, savvy marketers will put out the right message at the right time—to the right audience.

Biocompare explored this further in a study conducted through Martin Akel & Associates, called The Role of Media in the Adoption of Life Science Research Products & Systems. The goal was to learn how researchers use different content to move from one phase of the buying journey to the next.

Here’s what we learned and how you can apply it to your marketing strategies.

Don’t Get Stuck in the Old Funnel

The traditional marketing/sales concept of a funnel suggests that buyers systematically move from awareness to consideration and eventually a purchase. In the beginning, the funnel is larger with lots of brands competing for the buyer’s business. By the end of the journey, the customer has whittled down the options to a single choice.

Those days are over. While the idea of a funnel still applies in terms of steps/large concepts that outline a buying process, today’s decision journey is more alive and interactive. It’s not linear. Prospects may enter the process in the middle of the “funnel” after already ruling out competitors because they’ve done their research online by reading articles or reviews. Buyers may skip stages in the process entirely. Rather than prospects being guided by companies through the process, they’re blazing their own trails and setting the pace.

So, in essence, the funnel is not shaped like a funnel at all. It’s more like a loop or circle, which overtime, can be entered or exited at any given point in their journey.

At Biocompare, we identify researchers’ buying journey comprising of these 4 steps as 1) Awareness 2) Exploration; 3) Evaluation; and 4) Decision. What helps drive and repeat the cycle is their experience along the way, which determines brand loyalty and preference. This loyalty and experience drives whether or not the cycle gets repeated for a particular product or service.

The Marketing Circle

Engagement and experience redefine the old funnel into today’s 3-D modern approach to immerse potential customers in the buying journey. Generic information no longer resonates with buyers, who want information that answers their questions. That requires companies to understand what customers want and when they want it and personalize as much as possible. Content must be strategized to speak to customer’s needs at the various steps in the buying journey.

So, how exactly do you align content with the touch point tools researchers experience as they move from evaluation to final decision? Biocompare has over 16 years experience interacting and serving researchers that buy from life science companies like yours. Here are some fundamental tips for optimizing your marketing efforts to better attract and engage buyers through the purchasing journey.

#1 Answer Questions. According to our research, during the awareness and exploration phases, researchers consume articles and webinars on technologies and products as well as videos that show how they work. They’re learning about what makes your offerings stand out above the competitors. Investing in automation that will allow you to personalize the experience as they consume this content will help ensure they continue to engage with you.

#2 Help Them Drill Down. Once they have identified a need for a product, researchers continually seek and crave details and supporting data. Your messaging during this stage should include links to product reviews and citations, to show third party validation and usage of your product. Comparison data is also key during this phase, so any information you can provide that compares the features and benefits of your product or service vs. your competition will be most impactful. This detailed information assists researchers to move forward in the decision-making process.

#3 Provide Practical Tips & Protocols. During this final phase of the purchasing process, researchers have gathered and understand the features and potential benefits you have shared about your products. They now want to experience and determine how their experiments will excel with your product. Providing guidance, tips and protocols enables them to hypothesize and predict the results they will obtain. This can be a tipping point to their adoption and purchase of your product or technology. It can also be a great first step in building customer loyalty, which is key for any business growth strategy.

Brian Solis (www.briansolis.com), digital analyst, anthropologist and author of the best-selling book, X: The Experience When Business Meets Design

Revamp Your Marketing

In today’s buying journey, successful integrated marketing campaigns involve getting close to customers through engagement during every phase of the decision-making process.

We all struggle to continually engage and educate researchers through the various phases of the buying journey. Utilizing the tips described above, here are some actionable solutions to employ if you experience a drop-off of your customers through the different steps of the purchasing journey.

Phase	Actionable Solution
Awareness to Exploration	Provide more information marketing-articles, videos or webinars
Evaluation	Increase consideration with product reviews/citations, application notes, and interactive tutorials
Evaluation to Decision making	Focus on product comparisons and also share protocols and practical tips to strengthen their confidence in the technology and to build loyalty.

We know that researchers are more likely to want to interact during the buying process vs. receiving “push” messages from companies. There’s a shift away from one-way marketing to consumers to two-way conversations, so give customers an opportunity to respond and share.

The best news, you don’t have to do all of this alone!

Biocompare is the leading resource for up-to-date product information, product reviews, and new technologies for life scientists. We are focused on what your customers really want because we know the life sciences industry in and out.

We understand what type of information customers in your field need at every stage of the buying cycle so you can usher them toward a sale and retain them for the long-term.

Our team is ready to help guide you through the process. To learn how Biocompare can help you along every step of the journey, contact your sales executive or email us at sales@biocompare.com