The future of digital marketing for the life sciences

5th May 2023 - Last modified 14th September 2023

By Ashley Hayes PhD and Bree Foster PhD

Digital technology has drastically revolutionised marketing over recent decades; and continues to do so at an incredible pace. Today, some of the most effective marketing tools for companies to use are online channels, including search engine marketing (SEM) and social media.

Digital marketing is a lucrative business with global spending reaching over $500 billion, and expected to increase to $800 billion by 2026! [1] With the competition set to become even tougher, and digital technologies changing by the day, it is more important than ever to plan your marketing campaigns with future digital marketing trends in mind.

To help your campaigns reach their maximum potential, we have described our top five predicted trends for the future of digital marketing in the science and healthcare industries.

1 Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence (AI) is possibly the biggest upcoming digital marketing trend, with the undeniable potential to transform digital marketing. Modern AI is far faster and more accurate than humans at processing vast volumes of data and making predictions.

But what about writing content? The promise of AI platforms like ChatGPT is that they will write your content for you, whether it be for promotional emails, technical white papers, or educational blog posts. However, AI programs are definitely not flawless. For example, ChatGPT isn’t aware of any events that happened after 2021, doesn’t cite its sources, and regularly fabricates information without disclosing the degree of accuracy. So, instead of thinking AI tools have the ability to write content from start to finish, it’s a better idea to use these tools to assist you in creating quality content; helping to brainstorm title ideas, pick up on trends, and to find interesting facts and research.

AI’s larger impact will be in complementing and augmenting human capabilities, not replacing them. Experts can utilise AI tools to help personalise their content, measure the success of their approach, and to find the best resources for their needs. For scientific companies, it’s still important to use people who are experts in their particular fields to create scientifically accurate content that is creative, personalised, ethical, and free of plagiarism. While AI continues to evolve, we should use it to continue to improve and advance our own services.

Learn more about the role of AI in the future of digital marketing

2 Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)

Since the first search engines began cataloguing the early Web in the 1990s, it has been important to optimise websites to increase the quality and quantity of website traffic. This process, known as search engine optimisation (SEO), ensures that your website ranks highly for relevant terms on search engines and is more important now than ever before.

Although the bread and butter of SEO has always remained the same – websites must demonstrate expertise, high-value content, and webpages – search engine ranking algorithms are constantly evolving and updating. Consequently, businesses must stay up to date with the latest SEO practises to ensure their website continues to rank more highly than their competitors.  

This raises the question: What are the projected SEO trends for the foreseeable future? User experience on websites continues to play an increasingly important role in SEO success, especially in light of recent changes to Google Analytics. Google’s algorithm increasingly favours sites that provide a positive user experience, including fast loading times, mobile responsiveness, and clear navigation.

High-quality, relevant, and engaging content will remain a cornerstone of successful SEO strategies. As Google’s algorithm continues to prioritise content that provides value to users, it will be important for life science marketers to focus on creating content that answers questions and provides insights to their target audience. Consistently producing high-quality, targeted content will establish your business as experts in your field and allow you to reach a larger audience of relevant customers.

Discover more benefits of producing high-quality, relevant, and engaging content

3 Social media

Social media has become an increasingly important marketing channel in recent years, and its importance has only grown in 2023 [2]. While B2C companies were early to adopt this approach, B2B companies – especially in technical fields like life sciences – have been more hesitant. However, there are huge benefits in getting ahead of the trends. For science and healthcare companies, social media can be an effective way to engage with your audience and build relationships with potential customers. By responding to comments and messages, asking questions, and running polls or surveys, your company can demonstrate that they care about the customers’ needs and are committed to providing value.

The most effective way for companies to develop a strong social media presence is to regularly post engaging content. In addition to posting informative content, social media gives brands a chance to demonstrate their commitment to diversity, inclusivity, and equality by sharing relevant content that aligns with these values. This can include sharing employee stories, showcasing diverse leadership, and highlighting diversity and inclusion initiatives within the company. This approach allows B2B companies to promote the “human” side of their brand and connect with customers in a less formal way, building trust and brand awareness.

4 Short-form video content

The use of engaging video is an effective technique that is becoming increasingly popular in the life sciences industry. Videos provide a great platform for not only showcasing products and services but can also be used to educate and inform viewers on complex topics such as new research findings, scientific techniques and methods, and medical breakthroughs.

Short form videos are a great way to increase brand awareness and establish personal connections with potential customers. A life science company might use short form videos in a variety of ways to boost engagement, including showcasing innovative services, highlighting client use of products, and producing behind-the-scenes footage of the company team and their values.

There is a growing shift towards short forms of media, especially in younger generations. Therefore, it’s a great idea to repurpose existing content, such as blog posts, webinars or white papers, into a more engaging and easily consumable format. This can help to reach a wider audience and provide a new way for viewers to engage with the content.

For more ways to repurpose your content, check out our “5 rich easy content wins” blog

5 Multi-channel marketing (and making the most of data!)

Multi-channel marketing is a strategy that involves using multiple channels to reach customers and promote products or services. The future of marketing will undoubtedly involve more sophisticated and integrated multi-channel marketing strategies that incorporate a range of digital and non-digital channels.

Most importantly, the future of digital marketing will depend heavily on the use of metrics and analytics to measure the effectiveness of campaigns across channels. Data-driven approaches offer the ability to track customer behaviour and campaign performance so that marketing teams can optimise their efforts and make informed decisions about how to allocate resources.

With a team of scientists at our disposal, you can be sure that at least some of us are crazy about data and keen to share this passion with our clients! This could include using data to create a seamless customer journey across multiple touchpoints, such as online and offline channels. By integrating channels, marketers can provide a more cohesive and consistent brand experience, which can improve brand perception and increase customer loyalty.

Take advantage of the bright future of digital marketing

There is no doubt that the future looks bright for digital marketing, with AI, SEO, social media, short-form video content and multi-channel marketing continuing to be trends to look out for. However, with the technologies relating to these trends advancing so quickly, it can be difficult to know how to keep up.

So, if you’re wanting to implement the latest digital marketing trends into your next campaign, we can help! Here at Alto, we offer a full range of marketing services to support science and healthcare companies, from consultancy, to content marketing, SEO, social media marketing, email marketing, and more.

Get in touch to find out more.

References:

(1) Digital ad spend worldwide 2026 [WWW Document]. Statista. URL: https://www.statista.com/statistics/237974/online-advertising-spending-worldwide/ (accessed 29.3.23).

(2) The Top Marketing Channels, And How They’ll Change in 2023 [+Data] [WWW Document], 2022. URL: https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/marketing-channels  (accessed 29.3.23).