Essays/linkedin/24-05-15 marketing for scipreneurs

📢 Marketing for #scipreneurs must be one of the hardest skills to master. There's too much conflicting information and very little time for execution.

Sci-tech products (those targeting other scientists) follow a path different from almost anything else. They are in between B2C and B2B. Scientists make decisions thinking about their immediate context, not necessarily the entire ecosystem (with exceptions, of course.)

Lead generation initially will revolve around outbound messaging (connecting one-to-one with potential customers). It will later evolve to peer-to-peer recommendations via paper publications, and natural networking effects. Only much later, with established technologies, inbound marketing will start having a role.

In all these cycle steps, it is important to give a concise image of the company and its offerings. A website is a great place to start, since it can be used not only to transmit a message to customers, but also to potential colleagues and investors.

Building a website is, perhaps, the first step that forces us to think about different value propositions, how to position ourselves with respect to competitors. But it is very easy to fall into the trap of believing we can build a website like the ones of companies with much larger resources.

Although it may seem innocent at first, maintaining a blog, or even a newsletter, is not a minor task. It can consume a lot of mental space while the focus should be building a solution for our customers' needs. And in the end, the value a small company can derive for those efforts is negligible.

A good website will grow as the company evolves. Standard tools such as Wordpress, Squarespace, or Wix will do a very good job, and they'll be easy to update and modify as needed. There are many templates that will give you an amazing starting point for you to take ownership step by step without requiring continuous focus.

Social media can also be a great tool to get the word out. But the rate of growth is much lower than in other contexts. Leveraging the personal accounts of the #scipreneurs can help with visibility, but not necessarily with lead generation.

Social media is a great tool to discover communities, it can help with literature and conference discovery. But it can also drain a lot of energy and frustration when the analytics don't explode exponentially.

Bottom line, marketing has to be consistent. Materials should not contradict each other. And they can slowly be optimized as the company evolves and understands better the context in which it is operating. But it should be created in an unobtrusive way for the people in the company.

-- 👋 Hi! I'm @Aquiles.

I'm a scientist turned entrepreneur. I share insights on the challenges of #scipreneurship

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