Since April 2024, I’ve had the chance to interview some of the sharpest minds in science marketing. Each conversation revealed key insights into what works and what doesn’t when it comes to building effective marketing strategies in the life sciences industry. From branding to podcasting, from agency growth to company positioning, these experts shared lessons that can help science marketers sharpen their approach.
This article is a collection of valuable lessons for anyone dealing with the unique challenges of science marketing. Whether you're launching a biotech brand, scaling a life sciences agency, or exploring new marketing channels, these insights offer practical advice from people who have successfully done it.
Here's what I learned from my recent conversations:
1. Your brand is a recruiting asset
"Most biotechs fail, and often a lot of it is because they can’t build the right team to bring their product or service to life." — Amber Penrose
Most life sciences companies have a major blind spot when it comes to recruiting. They post job descriptions expecting talent to flood in, but fail to build an employer brand that attracts the right people before hiring even begins. This is where recruitment marketing becomes essential.
Amber Penrose, thinks that biotech startups don’t think about recruitment marketing early enough—and by the time they hit 50+ employees, they start feeling the pain. Without a clear strategy, they struggle to attract the right talent, which directly impacts their ability to scale.
Amber recommends using LinkedIn to create inbound recruiting opportunities instead of relying solely on job postings. For biotech startups, founders’ personal brands can also be a recruitment asset. Executives who build an online presence not only attract talent but also enhance their company’s credibility, making hiring easier and faster.
Read my interview with Amber Penrose.
2. Transparency can be a powerful tool
”We've interviewed people and we've asked, ‘Are you applying to work anywhere else’? And they said no, I'm only applying to work with you because I've read your content on LinkedIn. — Steve Harvey
Steve Harvey's approach to building his brand on LinkedIn shows how biotech entrepreneurs can use transparency and storytelling to create brand awareness, attract customers, and recruit top talent. Unlike many biotech founders who hesitate to share their journey, Steve has actively documented Camena Biosciences' growth and story publicly.
It's important to remember that LinkedIn is a huge untapped resource for biotech startups. If you post industry insights, company updates, and personal experiences regularly, you can build credibility and attract potential partners and investors. Steve uses a balanced approach, mixing posts about industry trends with more detailed content about DNA synthesis, to keep his audience engaged without being too sales-y.
While you can't always measure the immediate return on investment from social media right away, Steve's experience shows that having a steady presence can lead to surprising opportunities, like getting new customers and even some high-profile invitations, like a visit to 10 Downing Street.
Read my interview with Steve Harvey.
3. PR and thought leadership are essential drivers for startup success
You don't call yourself a thought leader; you're a thought leader when somebody else calls you a thought leader. — Christopher Caudle
Christopher Caudle's insights show that public relations (PR) and thought leadership aren't just branding tools, but actually critical drivers of fundraising and business growth for biotech startups. His analysis shows that a surge in press coverage usually happens six to seven months before a company raises funds. This highlights the need for startups to invest in visibility long before they actually need investment.
One of the best strategies for getting your name out there is through personal branding. According to Christopher, execs should focus on where their audience is, what their company is doing that's new and exciting, and what their personal values are to figure out what kind of niche they're trying to create. He also suggests bootstrapping your PR efforts in the early days of a company, personally engaging with journalists, and leveraging LinkedIn to get press coverage.
Read my interview with Christopher Caudle.
4. Creativity can unlock growth
There's a lot of pressure on the marketing department to deliver tactics that will deliver leads. And it's really difficult within that environment to keep the creativity going. — Marina Hop
Marina Hop's approach to marketing in the life sciences challenges a common assumption: poor business performance isn't just about economic pressures, but also a lack of creativity. Many companies in this space focus too much on optimization—cutting costs, improving processes—but don't invest in generative growth, meaning new ideas, business models, and marketing strategies. Creativity is essential for differentiation, whether in branding, messaging, or product positioning.
It's not some random "aha" moment, but a planned process. Life sciences marketers tend to fixate on numbers too much and miss the bigger picture — like how scientists actually act, what concerns them, and what influences their decisions.
Another cool point is how marketers can make life sciences more hands-on. Instead of just pushing messages, companies should engage scientists through storytelling, hands-on activities, and interactive campaigns that tap into their curiosity and skepticism.
Read my interview with Marina Hop.
Bonus: you can also read a case study of this campaign designed by Marina for CN Bio.
5. Thought leadership has to be genuine
I do see a lot of slop out there that's passing for thought leadership, and you can clearly see it's been written by AI because it's not original, it's very generic, it doesn't quite make sense. — Kat Arney
Thought leadership in life sciences isn't just about churning out content. It's about coming up with fresh, insightful ideas and setting the standard for conversations in the industry. Kat Arney says that real thought leadership has to be based on true expertise, not just generic, AI-generated content. She defines it as a mix of "thought"—which has to be one of a kind and valuable—and "leadership," which means taking the initiative to share those ideas out in the open.
Kat always starts by asking five key questions: Who's the audience? Why does it matter to them? What do they need to know? How will they be reached? And what action should they take? Then, she suggests using a structured approach with consistent publishing schedules, editorial meetings, and project management tools to keep things moving.
Read my interview with Kat Arney.
6. People want to hear from real people
If you really want to make your marketing more effective, especially on a platform like LinkedIn, you've got to get your executives involved. People are looking for genuine insight from executives. — Benjamin McLeod
If you're a biotech company trying to get leads and build credibility, you can't just rely on your company's LinkedIn page. You've got to have your executives posting and engaging. Benjamin McLeod says people trust individuals more than brands, and LinkedIn's algorithm favors personal accounts over company pages. CEOs and executives have built-in social capital, which makes their insights more valuable and their posts more likely to get engagement.
McLeod's strategy is all about the 90/10 rule: 90% of your posts should be valuable insights without selling anything, and only 10% should promote the company's offerings. His own experience at Virica Biotech showed that this approach works. His LinkedIn activity became the second-largest source of inbound leads for the company, outperforming most traditional marketing efforts.
Read my interview with Benjamin McLeod.
Bonus: read more on how Benjamin uses LinkedIn to maximize his conference attendance.
7. Your brand name should tell a story
If you can't tell the story of your company name and get it to be memorable, I think there's a missed opportunity with cohesiveness, a really strong first impression and really showing that you are about what you say — Allison Satterfield
A lot of biotech founders mess up by choosing names that are too technical, hard to spell, or impossible to pronounce. That makes it hard for investors, partners, and potential employees to engage with the company. Allison Satterfield, says that a biotech brand has to be easy to remember and pronounce, and it has to fit with the company's long-term goals.
A strong biotech brand should also think about its long-term positioning. Adding terms like "Therapeutics" or "Biosciences" can reinforce the company's vision but may also limit future expansion if not carefully planned. Satterfield says founders should avoid overly generic names (like "Cell Bio Labs") or overly complicated ones.
Read my interview with Allison Satterfield.
8. Marketers should understand the science
If you want to be good at marketing, you probably should understand quite well what you're marketing and I think it's pretty much impossible to do that unless you actually probably have a PhD or have studied and used the products and the services. — Sheldon Zhai
In the life sciences, it's hard to market to scientists, researchers, and biotech executives because they expect a level of technical depth and credibility that most marketers don't have. According to Sheldon Zhai, even the best digital marketers struggle in life sciences if they don't really get the subject matter. Putting together messaging that hits the right notes means understanding the nuances of a technology, its applications, and how it fits within the broader scientific landscape.
This is especially important for SEO and paid media, where technical know-how makes sure that keywords, ad copy, and content match up with how scientists actually search for info. So, for science marketers looking to really shine, the takeaway is clear: being fluent in science isn't just a bonus, it's a must-have.
Read my interview with Sheldon Zhai.
9. Podcasting is an untapped opportunity
When people think about podcasts, they think it's like brand awareness, it's all top of funnel. Actually, we believe that you can create something that sits across the entire customer journey. But you have to be strategic in terms of how you approach it. — Jason Bradwell
A podcast is only as good as how you get it out there. Jason Bradwell said that a lot of B2B podcasts fail because companies focus too much on how it's made and not enough on getting the content to the right audience. The first 48 hours after launch are key, and brands need to treat their podcast like any other big campaign—building anticipation, getting their networks on board, and promoting it in lots of different ways.
Jason said that starting with at least three episodes helps new listeners binge content and get hooked early. It's also important to feature guests who have influence in the industry because their networks can help you reach more people.
Jason also said that podcasting isn't just for brand awareness. If you plan it right, a podcast can be a part of the whole sales process, from getting people interested to building relationships with potential clients.
Read my interview with Jason Bradwell.
10. You should build an educational hub
"Nobody wants to look at a feed full of self-promotional content. It’s a missed opportunity if you’re not educating the market on the specific problem you’re solving." — Ariel Kramer
One of the most important things Ariel Kramer learned through her career is that it's not enough to just promote your products. You've got to show people what you're doing and why it's important.
A lot of founders get caught up in talking about themselves, but Ariel says that if you want to really connect with your audience, you've got to educate them about the problems you're solving. This means using industry research, highlighting patient stories, and showcasing third-party credibility instead of making promises you can't keep. Ariel also says that PR is a long-term reputation-building process, not a quick fix. Many startups wrongly assume that PR will immediately drive investment or partnerships, but in reality, credibility needs to be built over time.
You also need to be careful about exaggerating how great your biotech developments are or making promises you can't keep, because investors and media pros might stop trusting your company.
