The Power of Messaging for Successful Life Science Ventures
Statistically, you have less than 5 seconds to make a difference.
Messaging is one of the primary strategic stages of your content-led
life sciences website project, that sits with all of your communications
We hear a lot about the importance of website content. We also know that content helps to drive a business towards its goals. But we seldom hear about messaging. A content-led approach to a website project can often miss a crucial step. Without the right message, it is possible your content and design lack greater meaning.
- But what do we actually mean when we talk about messaging?
- How does messaging differ from content?
- Why is messaging important?
- And how do we at Arttia Creative ensure your messaging leads the content development and design in your website project?
- To understand messaging, let’s first recap what we know about life sciences website content.
Website content is more than just words on a page
Content helps your business build trust, develop relationships, generate leads, and improve conversions. Content sets you apart from the competition; it’s how you deliver your message into the hearts and minds of your customers.
In an online marketplace, website content becomes truly valuable to your audience. It can be strategically communicated in many engaging formats, from blog articles, infographics, photography, catalogues, videos, whitepapers, and more.
The mistake is to say content is important and then start writing under various headings or topics. What message are you trying to get across?
We’ve all landed on professional and personal websites with a fresh, modern design, fantastic imagery, and well-placed copy. But you’re left wondering what the business actually does, or what value their product or service has to you as a customer. In fact, most visitors would have formed an opinion and left the site within the first few seconds.
This type of website fails to resonate with its audience because the message isn’t clear and more often than not doesn’t even exist.
For content to help develop relationships and drive your business goals, we need to embrace three central ideas:
- Website content must deliver your core messages.
- Content must be relevant, focussing on topics that your audience has a genuine interest in, thus providing reasons for people to continue interacting with you.
- Strategic content needs planning, ensuring it consistently aligns with your messaging
So, what is messaging, and why is it important for your life science business?
Headings, subheadings, pull quotes, callouts, calls-to-action.
Succinct, carefully composed, consistent messaging across all of your communications is a superpower for business growth.
You are probably already realising that the message is not the customer-facing content or copy. It’s the subtext. The overall impression that you want your customer to take away from your content and design is more than information; it’s a feeling and expectation that resonates with your audience. It’s memorable and consistent and is the essence of all your communication as a biotech or healthcare business.
But just a minute. How often have you heard executives talking about the importance of powerful messaging? Surely your life science business already has clear messaging. Not necessarily. The difference here is that they often refer to the company mission statement and not the messaging behind content creation.
Messaging should align with but is not the same as your corporate vision, mission statement, and brand values. Your corporate vision and mission statement tell you why you exist, what your organisation is here to do, and your future aspirations; your brand values say what you believe in or stand for.
Good messaging is about you but through the eyes of the customer. It explains and amplifies why you should matter to them.
If you take your mission statement and brand values and pass them through a customer filter, tap into their emotions and pain points, and add a storytelling or conversational style, you would be on the right track to identify your core messages.
Let’s have a go.
Try to answer the following questions from the perspective of a potential customer:
- What does your life science business do?
- Who are you offering your service or product to?
- What are the benefits of your service or product to the customer (buyer persona pain points and your solutions)?
- As a biotech or healthcare company, what do you believe in or stand for?
- What sets you apart from the competition?
Now answer the same questions without using jargon or complex scientific terminology in a storytelling or conversational format that speaks to and engages all of your potential audiences.
If you found this a little difficult, you are not alone.
Further complications arise when you are trying to showcase a product or service to multiple stakeholders, a variety of target audiences, including investors and potential partners. Each audience has different pain points they seek to address and potentially contrasting values they are trying to find in your product or service. Strategic messaging is even more critical since messages need to address the different personas in the buying process.
Messaging is essential for everything from internal business communications to external customer-facing content.
Companies that don’t have a written messaging framework risk creating internal chaos and external mistrust.
Your website is part of your customer-facing communication and a 24/7 365-day marketing platform that helps generate business, sales, leads and increase your brand value. It helps you build credibility and showcases why your products or services are valuable to potential customers.
First-time visitors to a website arrive with many questions and unknowns. It’s the job of the messaging, via your content, to address the most important of these. Messaging can make the difference between moving a visitor further down the conversion funnel, thus gaining leads and conversions and a bounced visitor.
When your audience is clear about the value you can provide, a level of trust has been established, and they are in a much better position to consider and evaluate your products and services.
Where does messaging fit in a new or redesign website project?
After your mission statement, corporate vision, and brand values, messaging is your website project's first and last strategic stage. Without messaging, nothing else makes sense. As you can see, messaging leads to content creation and design.
Effective design works in harmony with your content; it supports your messaging, strengthens, and delivers it with maximum impact in a visual, easy-to-grasp manner, allowing your customers to connect with your website more deeply.
The Takeaway.
How do we at Arttia Creative ensure your messaging leads the content development and design in your life science website project?
We at Arttia Creative understand that your time is precious as a dynamic start-up or growing life science business. You know you need more robust messaging, but you may not have the in-house expertise or know where to start.
Our experienced team can help your website deliver more for your organisation with our knowledge of your market and hands-on approach. We help you meet your business goals through clear messaging, focussed content, relevant resources, dynamic features, reaching new audiences and attracting investment.
Belinda White | Creative Director
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