The 4 easiest ways to find new clients online

The world has changed! Some people like change; others don’t. But the fact is that we have to embrace changes and adapt to them. After all, that’s what mankind has been doing for centuries, right?

Let’s take a closer look at the pharmaceutical industry. Companies promote their business through offline marketing channels like advertising in magazines and being present at exhibitions and seminars. That will change, that’s for sure. In fact, it is changing already.

The people who were chatting on MSN messenger during their school years are now between 30 and 40 years old. This new generation of people that were born behind a computer, have become decision makers in their professional career, and they’re in the pharmaceutical industry too.

Not convinced yet about the changes? What about the COVID pandemic, traveling is not that easy anymore, and nobody knows how long it will take for the pandemic to be over, if it ever will…Global warming, another one… people and companies need to reduce their global footprint and will look more critically if taking a plane is necessary.

Website

Many people will say: “A website is basically your digital business card.” I don’t like to hear that. That’s the biggest understatement there is! If you ask me, every company should have a company website not older than a couple of years. This is why:

Imagine that a potential customer will visit your company tomorrow. You will want to make a good impression. So you’ll make sure that the entrance and the meeting room are looking good, everything is clean and that the plants are looking healthy. On your website however, you will receive loads of potential customers every day, including the one that will visit you tomorrow. So, make sure your website looks good, clean, and that the plants are looking healthy;).

In the first place, checking your website is the easiest way for a potential client or partner to check who is behind the company, what you do, what you sell, and how to contact you.

If I ask someone. What does your company stand for? They might give me an answer about their lovely company vision about improving the lives of patients and so on, but I’ve heard that before. When your company vision is just in words, it goes in one ear and out the other.

A company website is a huge opportunity to not only share your vision or culture but also where you can prove it. Especially in the pharmaceutical industry, a company vision can be pretty abstract. It’s not only about the text; this is your opportunity to prove it with the right tone of voice, style, design, and visuals. You can share stories, testimonials, pictures, videos, etc. If you’re doing this right, you can make someone else enthusiastic about what your company does and why they should work with you. It will help you prove that you’re a reliable partner.

The b2b pharma market is all about personal contact, one-on-one relationships. I believe that that will always remain very important. However, some people believe that the opposite of being personal, is digital. And that’s a misunderstanding; the opposite of personal is “not personal”, whether it is digital or not.

An example of not being personal is using stock photos. These are general pictures of models that you can buy for a low price. They are used on many pharma websites. Unless you have something to hide, I wouldn’t recommend using them.

Instead, use your website to introduce yourself and make your company more approachable. Showcase your actual amazing team. And again, the style of the photos you use says a lot about your company culture. As a potential client, I would want to learn more about your company and your people. In this stage, I’ll judge if I trust you and if I want to invest more time in getting to know you.

The development of a custom built, complex website can be very, very expensive. But, most companies just need a straightforward and good-looking website, and that’s actually cheaper than you probably would expect.

Content

The internet is great. If I want to learn how to play guitar or make an apple pie I can easily find a tutorial online. Or I can use translate tools when I want to say in Korean: 안녕하세요, 새로운 블로그에 오신 것을 환영합니다.

These are mainstream topics that are relevant to everyone. But for businesses, sharing content can be a serious marketing strategy. It’s used to attract and engage an audience by creating and sharing relevant articles, videos, podcasts, and other media.

But let’s slow down a bit. I’m not saying that you need to start an entire content marketing strategy. You could start off with publishing a couple of articles a year.

For example:

Your purchaser can share some insights about what is important while finding a qualified supplier.
Your Head of quality can share how a GMP-certified company deals with complaints from start to new procedure.
Your pharmacist can explain Why collaborating with clients is so important.

All very relevant topics for your clients, potential clients, students, and other relevant people.

I know, the first step can be a bit scary. You probably don’t see yourself as a blogger or vlogger but believe me, this is something else entirely, and people are interested in these topics. Focus on the quality of the content and don’t try to sell things.

LinkedIn is a social networking website designed for business professionals. People use it to find jobs and candidates, connect with business relationships, or to check out industry news and content. Fair enough, some people on there do seem to confuse this platform with Facebook.

But let’s focus on your company. Every company should have a profile on LinkedIn. Like a website, it’s a kind of proof that your business exists. It takes just a couple of minutes to create, and it’s free of charge. Once your profile is ready, the people who work for your company can also select the it as their employer. So, other than just seeing some general information, people checking out your company can also see that there are for example 500 people working there. And people can also start following your company.

So, in case you have anything to share such as a press release, an introduction of a new employee, a picture of your new ping pong table, or your blog about how to deal with complaints, your followers will get notified by it.

Platforms

As a consumer, you’re familiar with using platforms. Whether it’s for ordering food, booking a hotel, or buying stuff on Amazon, it’s all on platforms that are dedicated to consumers But these days, investors focus on B2B platforms because they are expecting a similar transition in the business world. Also, more and more people are using online platforms in the pharma market, whether it is for buying and selling APIs like we do with Pharmaoffer, but of course also other pharma products like packaging, finished formulations and audit reports. I recommend being present on multiple platforms within your field, as it will improve your brand awareness, and allows you to find new clients.

While selecting the right platforms, make sure you know exactly which markets they serve, how many users they have, and that you have specific information about the active users on their platform.

As I said, try a couple of different platforms at the same time, use them for about a year. Then evaluate which platform fits best to your company and continue with the platforms that meet or surpass your expectation.

Conclusion

Online marketing is a huge opportunity to grow your pharma business. I believe these are the most basic steps, but also the most important ones. Working on a higher ranking for your website or spending a lot on advertising doesn’t make sense if you haven’t put the time and effort into the basics first.

So in short: make sure your website is set up well and that it fits your company. Engage with new clients by sharing content once in a while. Put some effort into your LinkedIn company page, and last but not least, make sure you are present on pharma platforms.

Hopefully, it can help you! Thanks for reading.

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