Three Reasons Biotech Businesses Need a Communications Strategy

When you’re running a biotech company, your to do list is never short. Whether you’re midway through a study, procuring new lab equipment or trying to raise investment, there’s never time to take a moment to breathe. 

But sometimes, it’s important to stop and think. 

Building a communications strategy can seem like a low priority given everything else you have going on. I can already hear the cries of exasperation from people reading this: what’s the point? Isn’t it a waste of time? We’re not in market yet and I’ll never look at it anyway! 

Whatever stage of development you’re at, there is always value in taking stock and establishing short, medium and long-term plans for growth. This is because even if you’re not in market, you still need to reach and influence others in order to commercialise your IP – investors, researchers, regulators, and clinicians to name a few. 

It’s also personally beneficial. Although biotech can be extremely unpredictable and a high risk endeavour, having a strategy can ensure some stability by outlining principles and activity which should remain constant while accounting for different outcomes. It will also help improve your team’s focus and understanding of what you’re doing and why, increasing productivity and satisfaction.

In the first episode of our new podcast, Turning Up the Volume, we discuss what a strategy is and why it’s important. If you want to find out more about what you should put in a strategy and how you can build one, you can listen here.

So, here are three reasons why a strategy is a must-have for biotech businesses.

For Your Sanity

Yes, building a strategy is time consuming. However, in the long term you will thank yourself for carving out time to make one. By establishing what you want to achieve and how you’re going to achieve it, you reduce time spent thinking about this later down the line, when your attention may be on  recruiting for clinical trials or conducting additional studies.

You also mitigate time wasted on ill thought out and ineffective campaigns. If you have no strategy, it’s not always clear what you’re trying to achieve through your communications. This can lead to a trial-and-error approach, meaning poor, sporadic ideas get implemented and fail as soon as they make contact with reality. This is very damaging for your credibility.

Having a strategy prevents this type of damaging approach, as it provides direction for your communications and outlines what form your campaign tactics should take.  

So, while building a strategy takes a substantial amount of thinking, time and energy, it will save you time in the long term. 

For Focus

A strategy should set out short, medium and long-term objectives which are realistic and measurable. 

If you set these and stick to them, it becomes harder to get distracted by other ideas. 

This isn’t just beneficial for you, it will help your team to understand what you want to achieve and how they can help to deliver it. This clarity is great for motivation and productivity, as everybody knows what they’re working towards and why. 

There’s also greater coherence within teams, as everybody is clear what their role is in relation to others in the group. 

A motivated and productive team will only save you time and make your life easier, so providing clear roles, goals and accountability through a strategy is a no-brainer from this perspective.  

For Credibility

Whether you want to raise investment or build your profile, presenting yourself as a credible organisation is non-negotiable, especially in biotech where the stakes are higher than in most industries: nobody wants to be associated with failed or harmful therapies.

Having a communications strategy automatically professionalises your business and proves to stakeholders that you’re a trustworthy partner who knows what you want to achieve, and what you need to communicate to achieve it. 

This importance of credibility when trying to secure investment in particular cannot be underestimated. Without it, you will not be taken seriously, and you will not convince stakeholders to work with you. This will reduce the opportunities available to your business and stunt your growth.

You know why others should back what you’re doing, but having a clear communications strategy will help you  explain why to investors, regulators and other critical stakeholders. 

Tom Horn is an Account Executive at Tarleton Communications, a specialist life sciences public relations agency that works with Bionow members to help them raise the profile of their innovations. Find out more and get in touch via www.tarletoncomms.com/contact