Scientist are changing how they consume content

Both personal and professional life gets mingled in social networks and the same is true for scientists (see: Scientists are shifting their attention from traditional to social media). This means that scientists, as anybody else for the matter, consume content in new formats, beyond the paper.

From the marketing perspective, this means that there is no more a clear funnel[@ghanadan2016Catalytic Experiences: Persuading Scientists and Clinicianswith Effective Digital Marketing] but a messy journey. People research about products much before the initial conversation is achieved. This means that companies have no way of identifying potential customers before they have already made a decision.

But this uncertainty also opens interesting possibilities. Fundamentally, companies can still charge ahead and generate the content scientists will be looking for online and dominate the narrative. The important thing to remember is that the medium has changed. Video, audio, interactivity, mobile-friendly content, are gaining relevance at every step of the decision-making journey.

As content developers, we must contend with this ever-changing landscape at a time when most of our existing content is locked up in an antiquated text format – the PDF. [...] Many science companies lag behind, still producing traditional application notes that resemble the scientific paper and distributing them as PDF files, which further locks their content in this static, written format.

But it is not all about just creating content. Brands must establish a relationship with their customers. After all, you'll see an ad right in between the photos of the holidays of your friends. Genuine interactions, transparency, are all elements that play an increasing role on how much time someone will dedicate to us.

I wonder if this is a great opportunity for both open hardware and open source developments in the science-hardware business community, something that software-services have been exploiting for a while (see: why companies fund open source software).

Literature note on Catalytic Experiences - Hamid Ghanadan