SCORR Marketing, a global health science marketing and communications firm, has released its seventh annual survey on marketing trends in the life sciences industry. This free, 30-plus-page report delivers evidence that marketers can use to drive strategic planning, budgeting, and brand development decisions in 2020.

“In marketing or leadership, it can be a challenge to prioritize initiatives and configure spend without knowing what strategies other companies in the life science industry are using and are proving to be effective. We provide professionals crucial evidence to help them reach their business and sales goals”

“In marketing or leadership, it can be a challenge to prioritize initiatives and configure spend without knowing what strategies other companies in the life science industry are using and are proving to be effective. We provide professionals crucial evidence to help them reach their business and sales goals,” said Krystle Buntemeyer, president at SCORR.

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For instance, according to the report, companies are allocating smaller proportions of their marketing budgets to trade shows than they have previously. The percentage of drug development services companies devoting more than 40% of their budgets to trade shows dropped from 51% in 2018 to 29% in 2019. Nonetheless, this remains the biggest line item for most companies: Managing this spend for optimal ROI is imperative.

Despite the clear need to strategize for success, in 2019, only 69% of all companies we surveyed reported developing annual marketing plans and only 45% created annual communications plans. Thus, annual marketing and communications planning may convey significant competitive advantages to those who do it.

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Also, 67% of companies reported using analytics to gauge performance and make marketing decisions. The takeaway? Those who are not investing in analytics expertise for performance analysis and SEO may fall behind, especially considering the thousands of algorithm changes Google makes annually.

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