Content strategies for complex science

Developing your content strategy for complex science

Many of our clients face the challenge of communicating highly complex scientific content in an easily accessible format, and this can be for a number of different reasons:

• the individuals in marketing teams are often not scientists themselves, so they may struggle with some of the more technical jargon
• sometimes the scientific concepts are so complex they are simply not easily explained in a few short paragraphs
• marketing teams will often only consider developing written content when there are many other highly effective digital tools that can be used

In the context of life sciences marketing, there are two key factors at play when developing an effective content strategy:

What you say and How you say it.

What you say

As scientific marketing experts developing technical content, we need to cover all bases, however we present it.

1. Create headline benefits of your solution.
2. Summarise the solution and how it can be applied.
3. Go into the technical detail of how it works and support this.

The starter-for-one here is to keep your headline content simple and focus on user benefits, such as improved workflows, faster turnaround times, higher sensitivity or specificity, reduced margin for error, time saved, better sustainability, etc. Put yourselves in the shoes of your customers and really think about the three or four key reasons why they would buy into your product, service or solution.

Once you have engaged your target audience with the headline benefits, it’s time to flesh out the story – this is where you can get a little heavier with the content, for example, you might discuss different applications.

The third level of content will have a technical steer, but it’s important that any technical content making specific claims is well researched and well referenced. You must make sure that your writing really delivers on the scientific front; this is where you prove your claims and supply evidence to support them. And, if it’s complex science or technology that you are communicating, you will almost certainly need a scientific writer, or someone with a suitably technical background, to develop the content for you.

How you say it

At kdm communications, we are advocates of saying it in several different ways! It is crucial to develop different touchpoints for your target audiences as some will tap into, for example, social media channels, others will search online for written content on your website, and more still will look at YouTube. There are studies out there showing that people retain more information when presented with video format versus text but then, on the flip side, other research contradicts this with entirely different results. The take-away point from this is that we all choose to access information and understand concepts differently, and this may even vary on a daily basis. For example, the same individual after a bad night’s sleep may choose to watch a short video or animation to better understand a scientific concept instead of reading a technical paper on it. The following week, however, they would rather dive into a white paper on the same topic with well-researched and well-referenced evidence. Why We’re More Likely To Remember Content With Images And Video (Infog (fastcompany.com)

Infographics

Visual storytelling in an infographic – such as the one in the link above – is an excellent way to communicate to a scientific audience. Key benefits as well as supporting factual information can be easily incorporated into an infographic in a way that is quickly digested by the observer. Infographics also allow for some creative input and use of colour to bring your subject matter to life.

Video content

Short scientific explainer videos and animations can help deliver highly technical content in a very accessible manner. A good script – whether delivered as a voiceover or in subtitles – and storyboard will break down complex information, starting with the basics and setting out the ‘story’ in short concise chapters which can increase in complexity, taking the viewer on a scientific journey of discovery. The less technical among us can then hop off at any point, having digested what we need from the earlier easier-to-grasp chapters! Our clients are often pleasantly surprised at how cost effective it can be to produce an explainer video or animation that brings to life a key concept around one of their solutions.

Written content

Again, follow the rules! Start with the basic benefits and build out your technical writing.

A headline will draw a reader in, a short summary paragraph or two will then explain in more detail, and access to longer technical pieces will give some readers what they really want. The key is to make sure the writer of this scientific content fully understands not just the subject matter but also the target audience. At kdm, we are usually scientists, communicating with other scientists, so the audiences that we write for don’t need a lesson in a specialist area of science – they already know it inside out. They need the headline benefits, a short summary and the supporting evidence! And remember to keep that reader engaged visually too by using images, graphs, charts etc. to illustrate and highlight your points.

Different styles of piece engage with your target audiences in different ways, for example:

• Use blogs to really tease out a specific aspect or application of your technology.
• White papers will give someone with a technical or scientific background a detailed non-promotional overview they need around a particular theme or best practice.
• An e-book might be a complete how-to guide.
• Case studies will showcase your customer advocates who are happy to tell their stories.
• Application notes will guide users through how they can make the most of a specific product.
• Short posts on social channels can take the reader to a longer-form piece, a video, animation, infographic or…
• Ensuring adherence to a website content checklist is crucial for maintaining consistency and maximizing user engagement on your digital platform.

Podcasts

Ever more popular, a good podcast allows the listener to multitask while assimilating knowledge or enjoying a good debate.

Destination digital

Finally deliver your content across digital channels – this will include:

• your website – or campaign landing page, including videos, white papers, animation, podcasts, ebooks, case studies, technical summaries, application notes, blogs, etc..
• your social channels – we recommend LinkedIn over and above anything else for a scientific B2B (or S2S) audience, pointing to all that rich scientific content on your website or campaign landing page;
• YouTube;
• third party sites – publishers and other scientific and technical platforms that host third party content.

In my experience, our clients are more than capable of developing a sound scientific content strategy and producing high quality technical content for their target markets themselves. They simply don’t have the time or the internal resources. At kdm, our team of scientific writers, video producers, graphic designers and marketing experts will ask the right questions at the outset, understand what it is you want to say, and then deliver it in a range of formats. This will provide your prospects with highly engaging touchpoints that explain your scientific complexities, products and solutions in a way in which your audiences want to receive them, never dumbing down, just what they need to know, when they want to know it, delivered in a format of their own choosing.