Most Canadians associate public relations with influencers, celebrities and consumer brands. However, having a strong communications strategy is crucial to all businesses, including non-consumer facing ones such as BioTech.
Canada’s BioTech industry is booming, particularly in Southern Ontario, as investment from the Ontario government and its accessibility to other biotech markets (such as Boston and New York) drive the sector. Despite this success, the industry is having a difficult time translating their ground-breaking discoveries into commercial success, despite a growing need for domestic pharmaceuticals.
A good communications strategy that is tailored for the BioTech industry will help bridge the gap between itself, its stakeholders and the general public. Here are a few PR strategies that BioTech companies can use to step up their PR game:
1. Media Relations
A strategy to increase earned traditional media coverage can be to focus on placement in local news outlets by telling patient stories. Recontextualizing the importance of your research by sharing patient stories is an effective way to communicate impact to stakeholders, including the general public, who may not understand the ins and outs of the industry. Canada has a significant number of local outlets – many of them owned by PostMedia – that are often looking for stories related to their specific communities. PostMedia often syndicates their stories across their different outlets, which further increases the story’s coverage.
Another way to earn media coverage is by hosting press events, led by a few key spokespeople and personally inviting key media to the press event. These spokespeople, in preparation of the event and other speaking opportunities, should be media trained by a public relations team. A public relations team can also help with event organization, speaking notes and on-site media relations to ensure that the event is a success.
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2. Thought Leadership
BioTech companies can gain additional media coverage by publishing Op-Eds which should be related to and published on specific health promotional periods (such as Alzheimer’s Awareness Month and Brain Health Awareness Month). These articles are created with the help of a PR team and are published under a key spokesperson. Op-Eds raises company awareness and positions the published company as a leader in their space.
3. Owned Channels
Earned media hits, including published Op-Eds can be collected onto the company’s website to show their reach. BioTech companies can also leverage traditional media hits by sharing highlights of articles or patient stories on social media to further amplify their messaging. Consolidating your messaging into one space – both online and in press kits – will also help communicate your key messages to external stakeholders such as journalists.
Conclusion
While the BioTech industry has been a consistently strong sector in health sciences, companies need a strong communications strategy to showcase its impact to international investors to accelerate their research and help bolster Canada’s pharmaceutical industry.
