Engaging Thought Leadership Activities in B2B Pharma
“Thought leadership is not about being known. It’s about being known for making a difference.”
I think this quote from Denise Brosseau, CEO of Thought Leadership Lab, Thought Leadership Lecturer at Stanford Business School, really resonates with the pharma industry. Which other industry in the world can really claim to make a difference in such a clear way – improving people’s lives through finding solutions that directly affect end-users physical and mental well-being. Becoming a thought leader and sharing expertise in the pharma industry helps to lead the way in finding new solutions and cures, and that’s really what makes a difference, which is what the pharma industry is all about.
Subscribe for marketing insights via email
WHAT IS THOUGHT LEADERSHIP?
Thought leadership is the communication of your ideas and thoughts as an expert in your industry. The key here is to focus on the word communication – it’s all fine being an expert but if you don’t tell others no one knows about your expert status. You need to find the right places to get your message across in the industry – you need to be able to reach the people in your industry who you wish to inspire, challenge and influence.
WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?
Thought leadership builds your credibility and influence in the pharma industry which is why it’s so important. Your company wants to be the company the industry trusts, listens to and ultimately aspires to be like. You want to be the “go to” company - whether it’s in drug development, formulation, lyophilization, drug delivery, drug repurposing or packaging.
HOW TO BECOME A THOUGHT LEADER?
This does not happen overnight. Establishing yourself as a thought leader in the B2B pharma industry takes time, the right talent, experience, the right ideas, a good reputation and finally, you need to have a thought leadership communication plan which is where a specialist marketing agency such as Orientation Marketing can step in. We can help you find the right avenues to communicate your thoughts, ideas and views within the industry and get you in front of the right audiences to share your ideas, ask your questions and challenge the status quo.
HOW TO COMMUNICATE YOUR THOUGHTS IN THE INDUSTRY
Here are some ideas and avenues for starting on your journey to becoming an industry expert via engaging thought leadership, with examples relative to B2B pharma
1. PARTICIPATING IN PANEL DISCUSSIONS – VIRTUAL OR PHYSICAL EVENT
There are many opportunities over the year to participate in panel discussions, specific to your industry, at a wide variety of events, whether they are face to face or virtual events.
2. PARTICIPATING IN ROUND TABLES
Round tables are often thought leadership pieces, included in industry specialist magazines, and as an example, American Pharmaceutical Review (APR, a Compare Networks publication) and Pharmaceutical Technology (an MJH Life Sciences brand) offer these kinds of opportunities in many of their issues. APR has roundtables that focus on Drug Delivery, Microbiology and Biopharmaceuticals/Biosimilars amongst other topics. Pharmaceutical Technology, on the other hand, offers virtual roundtable interviews where their editors interview your Key Opinion Leaders (KOL’s) that provide insight about key issues affecting your industry.
3. PUBLISHING SCIENTIFIC ARTICLES IN KEY JOURNALS (PEER REVIEW PROCESS)
Publishing more scientific articles that are peer-reviewed can take a lot more effort and time, however, if you end up being published in one of your industry key scientific journals it is well worth it. The peer-review process is very thorough and can be time-consuming, plus there is no guarantee that your article will be published in the end. It goes without saying that scientific articles cannot be promotional and must be clearly referenced. Some journals also require authors to have for instance an ORCID ID to be considered. Please do reach out to us if you would like to discuss these options more in detail. Orientation Marketing has also a network of scientific writers who can help you write more scientific content – please just ask!
4. WEBINARS
Webinars are a trusted and familiar way to increase your profile within your industry as a thought leader. There are lots of great webinar opportunities available, with a number of publishers who will also take care of marketing the webinar to their audience on your behalf. All you have to do is to choose your topic and speaker and we will take care of the rest with the publisher of your choice. We recommend a minimum of 6 weeks lead time to ensure you have enough time to prepare and market the webinar. These days, most webinars tend to be prerecorded with a live introduction at the beginning and a Q&A session at the end, however, you can of course also opt for a live webinar.
5. AWARDS
As part of your thought leadership activities, it’s also good to look at various awards within your sector. Many of these are linked to specific industry events, such as Pharmapack and CPhI WW Awards, however, there are also other awards such as the annual The Medicine Maker Innovation Awards, with nominations closing in November each year. Winning an award can get you that well needed and deserved extra exposure and acknowledgement for the solutions that you provide.
6. BLOGS
Writing a regular blog is a great way to get your messages, ideas and thoughts across to your target audience. We recommend building a regular blog schedule for your Key Opinion Leaders (KOL’s) and Subject Matter Experts (SME’s), with blogs included in your regular newsletter, on your website as well as sent out via social media.
7. PODCASTS
Podcasts are becoming more and more popular within the B2B pharma industry and there are now a number of third-party vendors who also offer podcasts as part of their offering. For instance, Pharmaceutical Technology, Drug Discovery World and European Pharmaceutical Review offer podcasts with marketing packages to their audiences
8. SOCIAL MEDIA
Social media can be a powerful tool in communicating your ideas, thoughts and questions (for instance creating a poll) as part of your overall thought leadership activities. You can do this via your own social media channel (organic) and/or paid for social media campaigns, or ideally, a combination of the two. Orientation Marketing can help you create a social media strategy, social media assets and content as well as schedule, run, manage and report on social media campaigns. Just reach out to us and we can create a bespoke plan for you
9. VIDEO CONTENT
Video content, whether it’s live footage, 2D/3D animation etc is an engaging and eye-catching way to communicate your expertise within the industry and can be distributed via various channels, such as social media, website, e-newsletters, e-blasts etc. Orientation Marketing can help you with video concepts, scripts, animation and distribution – just let us know what you would like to talk about and we can get a video project put together for you that fits within your budget and timescales. Please have a look at some examples of videos here.
10. WHITE PAPERS, TECHNICAL THOUGHT LEADERSHIP ARTICLES
Content such as white papers and articles is the key to communicating your expertise in your field. We can help you create various types of content, such as white papers, Q&A’s, case studies, more technical scientific papers, blogs etc. Orientation Marketing has a network of scientific writers with expertise in a number of pharma industries who can help you with all your content creation needs.
THOUGHT LEADERSHIP IN B2B PHARMA
Achieving status as a thought leader in your industry takes time and patience and most importantly you have to have a plan and a strategy to get your message in front of the right people within your industry. We hope the above activities give you an idea of what types of opportunities are available to you to raise your thought leadership profile – our team here at Orientation Marketing would be happy to help you with creating a thought leadership communication plan – please reach out to us to put the wheels in motion!
For more on thought leadership and strategic content marketing in the pharmaceutical sectors, and how we can help you, visit our section on content.
