Teja (00:00)
one metric that I think that is extremely valuable is tracking.
the growth of branded terms in Google. if that is growing, if there are every month more people who are searching for your company name or your technology name, I think that's very, very valuable because I can
confidently say if those numbers are not growing, the pipeline won't be growing neither.
Joachim Eeckhout (00:26)
Welcome to the Science Marketers podcast. Today, we are diving into a challenge many marketers in science-driven companies know well, building a marketing team from scratch. Joining me today is Teja Sirec founder of Biotheia marketing agency dedicated to life sciences and biotech companies. Teja will talk about what it takes to establish effective marketing from day one, a topic she knows well.
as she's been one of the first marketing recruits in two life sciences companies. Whether you're just stepping into your new marketing role or you're looking to sharpen your strategy,
Teja's insights will help you get clarity on what really matters.
Joachim Eeckhout (01:05)
Hi, Teja welcome to the Science Marketer podcast.
Teja (01:08)
Joachim, really nice to be here. Thank you for inviting me.
Joachim Eeckhout (01:11)
So let's start with the first question. And before we start to dive into today's topics, I would like to ask you to introduce yourself and your company.
Teja (01:20)
Okay, well, my name is Teja and I am a fractional marketing director to life science businesses. And I operate my company, which is called Biotheia. And basically what I do, I support life science businesses. mostly work with startups, which need to activate their rapid growth and therefore they need to
their marketing function so they can start growing their visibility and commercial pipeline, of course. And these companies usually need a senior marketing expertise at a director level, but don't have a need for such a position full time. So this is where I come in. I help them get going with the strategy. I help them
also a little bit executing if they don't have someone in-house just yet while they are recruiting. And then I can keep supporting the in-house marketers with mentoring and coaching just so that they get that marketing support on the longer term as well.
Joachim Eeckhout (02:18)
It's also why I reached out to you for this interview, because I think this topic of early days marketing, especially in life sciences companies is something we see all the time. Like a of people are joining as juniors. They have to build everything, learn everything. So this will be really like what we discussed today.
you yourself have been an early employee in two different companies. you briefly explain those experiences and how it was for you?
Teja (02:45)
Yes, absolutely. So I did work in two companies over the past years and both times I found myself in environments which were just kind of establishing or getting properly started with their marketing function. So my first role when I transitioned from academia where I was working as a postdoc to industry was as a scientific writer.
for a business which was manufacturing biochemicals and then selling them in the format of like they had a catalog sales and e-commerce, but then also a more custom type of business for custom orders and CDMO services. So there I joined at a really interesting time, I think, because the business has just established a proper marketing function.
So we were a team of three and it was led by a very experienced marketing director. So yeah, and we started building from scratch. It was a really, really nice opportunity and it made me fell in love with the marketing, scientific marketing a little bit. And yeah, this is where things started for me.
And maybe I can mention also the second company where I also kind of started and came in quite early. That was a little bit a different business with a different business model. That was actually a startup commercializing new technology for characterization and analysis of biological samples.
there, I came into an environment where the business already had worked out some of the marketing foundations. So I came in an environment where there were several people covering some of the marketing tasks, and then there was also a dedicated marketing person there. So it was an
interesting and very valuable experience there as well because soon after the company entered the rapid growth phase and there we really needed to scale quickly and start generating visible outputs that then were bringing in the leads and helped build the commercial pipeline.
Joachim Eeckhout (04:50)
after those experiences, it when you moved to a consulting role or like was that something in between?
Teja (04:56)
No, after that, after that I moved into a consulting role and now I'm really hoping to offer this experience to other companies because I feel that making the marketing work is not that complicated, but you need to know where to start, what to focus on. And yeah, this is where I'm now.
Joachim Eeckhout (05:15)
Yeah,
sounds good. So talking about where to start, the first thing you recommend to someone alone as a marketer or with a small
Teja (05:24)
Well, I would say, you know, when people come into their marketing role, maybe they are one of the first marketing employees. I would say, first of all, get to know the business really well. So, you know, start with the product, with the technology. You know, you are in marketing, but you really need to understand what people are buying, what are those unique
benefits because this is so important for you then that you know what to talk about. So the second thing, which is really important, I think is understanding the needs of the business. So what does business need from marketing now? you know, oftentimes, this is much more or more complex than that just the leads because you need to a lot of other things before you can get to that.
And maybe the third thing that I think it's really great to get into the habit of doing is planning things. Even if you start with a small plan, I think that's so important because a plan will set up what you will do. It will set expectations for what will be the output so the business knows what it will get out of it.
And also you set expectations for the budget that you need or the support that you need.
I think bringing all these things together would set people for a very kind of solid start.
Joachim Eeckhout (06:45)
In one of the LinkedIn posts you've shared about this topic, you were talking about building processes early on in a marketing team. And I found this very, very interesting. So how do you recommend to start creating those processes and what exactly are they?
Teja (07:05)
So yeah, the reason why I brought it up was because I know that, you know, in early marketing teams, people would find themselves caught between things that they want to do as part of their plan. And then there's also a lot of excitement and ideas coming from the team, from all directions and all levels, right? So you kind of...
want to do both, but then you find yourself that you can't really. So you need to balance the two things, which is why I'm saying that establishing some processes is really so beneficial because it helps you as a marketer handle the workload and it also helps set expectations with other people.
and maybe if I can give an example, setting up a process for preparation of application notes. This is usually a project which is really important because customers want to see some data, want to see some proof points, how your product works, what it can do.
and to create an application note you usually need a few different people working on it. Application notes can be produced in-house, so then perhaps you need some bandwidth from scientists or application scientists to produce the data. In other cases, they could be done in collaboration with customers, so you would need someone to kind of start that relationship with the customer and work with them to get the data and so on. So basically,
What I'm saying, it's a really important marketing asset an application note, but it takes quite some time and many people need to chip in to have it produced and then approved. one thing that I would really recommend is to set up that process so you can unfold the production of application notes quickly.
And this is even more important as companies grow because at the beginning there would be a few stakeholders who would help with writing or approving those documents. But as the organizations grow and the product portfolios grow, there would be many people that would need to have a say. I think that the process really makes a difference there.
Joachim Eeckhout (09:07)
And I guess it's also helping with consistency. If you want to release application notes, but you do it only once a year because nobody has the time, it's also helping to make it recurring. And that's what you need for the marketing. there also something...
Teja (09:19)
Yes, absolutely.
Joachim Eeckhout (09:25)
When companies start that they should absolutely do like non-negotiable activities, for
Teja (09:32)
I mean, what I recommend to all companies is really to invest a little bit of time to build a strategy because this is the one way to know what marketing should be doing and achieving, to align with the rest of the organization and also to build some scenarios and expectations how much that will cost.
and how long it will take to get some results in.
Joachim Eeckhout (09:55)
I have seen many companies where the marketer has, as you said, too many
What are the criteria you will use if you work with a startup? How do you tell them, okay, this is more important because of this aspect and this aspect?
Teja (10:10)
Well, it takes a little bit of thinking and we think of the options, of course, because there are some things that are maybe time consuming or even budget consuming, but they are really important on the long term. And there are some other things that will get you some results on a short term. you know, you need to find the compromise between the two. But...
something that, let's say for me, has always been a priority in marketing and I would set it to myself that I would not drop it no matter what, would be the execution. Because
We need to keep showing up, right? People will consider buying from companies that they remember and they will remember whatever they will see several times. So I think this is really important because when you are running a marketing department or even working in a marketing function in a smaller company, you're wearing so many hats and there is a lot of work that you need to do behind the scenes.
that is invisible, I don't know, cleaning the email list, sorting out the CRM, making edits to a presentation, those small things that are important, but customers and prospects don't see that and you need them to keep seeing you with valuable assets and information and events.
And this is what keeps then the business going with the leads coming in. So it's hard, but for me, execution, it's really so important, know, finding time for it and getting in front of the people.
Joachim Eeckhout (11:40)
And when you mean execution, it's for instance, like sending emails, posting on social media, these kind of things, like where you show the company to your audience. Yeah.
Teja (11:54)
Exactly. So
email should be definitely a no-brainer because those, people that you have on email lists, you have already acquired. So you spend dollars on that and they want to be reading what you're doing and how things are going. So that's, it's really low hanging fruits. Then there are socials and then something else.
webinars, you know, I'm sure that in every organization there are many people that can talk about the science or the challenges that scientists have. you know, coming up with those ideas and running those customer-facing or prospect-facing campaigns is really important.
Joachim Eeckhout (12:32)
Let's go back a bit to what you mentioned earlier with the strategic plan
Can you describe your process with this? What are you looking for? What are the important parameters companies should keep in mind to establish this plan?
Teja (12:49)
Okay, so for me, what is absolutely the most important thing is understanding the needs and the ambitions of the business. So when I am building a strategy or marketing plan for a company, I would first spend a day with them.
really digging very deeply into, again, what are their needs? What is their vision? Where are they now? Really understanding their technology, really understanding deeply, why is it different? Will it make a difference in the future? the key, because if you don't understand that,
your plan and the strategy just won't be bringing in the right things. So then as a second part, I do my own research. So I look at the organization from my marketing perspective and I look at what is their marketing readiness when it comes to the assets, the capabilities they have in-house
And basically this is where things start. I do nice solid piece of research on them as our organization, but then also on the market, the competitors and so on. And I also make sure that we answer all of the key questions that need to be answered for marketing to be effective. And in my experience, there are 11.
So we work through the process and make sure that we cover all of those.
Joachim Eeckhout (14:11)
Are you to customers, for instance, like to have an idea why are they buying this type of product
Teja (14:19)
Yeah, I also run interviews with the customers and I do this just to hear their own perspective and their own words, but also to validate the assumption that company has because they usually know people think this and that about us and our technology and I do go back and validate if that's...
accurate and also to explore a little bit what's their overall feedback, what kind of risks do they perceive, what is exceptional about the product or the service that the company is offering, that kind of thing.
Joachim Eeckhout (14:52)
How long does it take in general to do this kind of research and plan?
Teja (14:56)
Well, usually the whole process takes two to three months. And in the meantime, yeah, we do run two workshops with the core team. The first one is at the beginning and then the second workshop is halfway through the project when all the research is done. And, you know, I have already an idea of what kind of tactical approach I would recommend. There we have another workshop where we really
talk things through and make sure that the conclusions and the approach make sense for the business as well.
Joachim Eeckhout (15:30)
it's quite fast if you think about it. You spend maybe two, three months on this, but then you have a basis for the mid-long term. So I think it's a really good investment also for companies to do You said also earlier that this plan is useful to align with the rest of the team, so beyond marketing, like the rest of the company.
So can you talk a bit more about this? Why is it so important to align the marketing plan with the rest of the company?
Teja (15:58)
Well, two key reasons. The first reason is because marketing should be bringing in things that will be useful to the business. it needs to, know, the activities and the outputs needs to link directly into what business needs to achieve, right? So that's number one. And number two is a marketing function or a marketing
just person will never be able to deliver everything by itself. So it should really align with other should kind of work out how marketing would work with sales to make that process efficient and the handover between marketing and sales. People need to align on how they would share the information both ways because marketing should be learning from
sales who is very customer facing, what's going on, how conversations are going, what are customers asking about. It should align with the scientific teams, with the product management teams. So having that plan and then sharing it across the organization, it really brings people together really
helps align everyone so that things can actually happen.
Joachim Eeckhout (17:05)
Now let's talk a bit about measuring the success of marketing, which I think is also a big topic, especially early on. What indicators are you looking at at the beginning when a company starts their marketing?
Teja (17:21)
Well, you know, usually I build these indicators based on the key objectives and key challenges that the organization has. However, small and new businesses need to start focusing on building their visibility in a market space, which means people need to know about them and remember them.
And after this happens, they will maybe start researching them and then maybe buy from them. So when I'm talking about early indicators, I'm really talking about how do we know that we're doing a good job and the more and more people know about us so everything else can happen downstream. And one metric that I think that is extremely valuable is tracking.
the number or let's say the growth of branded terms in Google. So if that is growing, if there are every month more people who are searching for your company name or your technology name, if it's unique, if you're the one who is bringing to the market, they are probably looking just at you. I think that's very, very valuable because I can
confidently say if those numbers are not growing, so the pipeline won't be growing neither.
Joachim Eeckhout (18:33)
That's really good advice. I didn't think about it, but it's actually very obvious. Yeah, good point. And what if this doesn't happen? So like you said, if this is not growing, what do you recommend to do?
Teja (18:47)
you know, I recommend, you know, just doing it. Because, no, the fact is that, you know, we know there's a lot of science behind buyer behavior, how it happens, how it works in B2B. And it is just the fact that people want to learn and research options and technologies.
Joachim Eeckhout (18:51)
Ha ha.
Teja (19:10)
by themselves before they get in touch with a salesperson. So the fact is that you need to build that authority online and also perhaps in live communities, events and so on, so that people can find you and that they can research you because these are really two important things.
for being able to sell downstream.
Joachim Eeckhout (19:33)
Yeah. So being patient, maybe is a good advice for marketers. Are there any channels where you focus more than others? So I think you mentioned search, maybe building authority on Google is one thing. Is there anything else?
Teja (19:50)
Well, know, small companies, I recommend focusing on the three marketing channels that they own for two reasons. The first reason is because they are in control of them. So, you know, there's nothing stopping them of doing it. And the second reason is because they are very effective and powerful. And these three channels are their website, their email list and their social accounts.
So I think, you know, if they can start building authority on those channels and get them going, this already brings very, very solid results. And then people can start building on that.
Joachim Eeckhout (20:27)
And what about press relations, for instance, in the early days of the company?
Teja (20:32)
So I think PR is good and it's useful and I do recommend small companies pushing to four press releases per year. It's just because it exposes you to a wider that's very helpful.
I do recommend it, but I think the focus for small businesses or businesses marketing innovative products should be on.
building those proof points and touch points so people can find information about the technology. And the good thing is the early adopters and the innovators who buy the first products are usually very excited about something new and they love talking about it. So I think there is a lot of scope into
you know, preparing application notes with them, running webinars, interviews, because, you know, they also want to tell the world that they are kind of making a huge leap in how something is now done or analyzed or manufactured or produced. So I think this is where the biggest leverage is in early days. And PR is for me a part of the marketing strategy for early times.
But working with early customers is what I would say is most important and impactful.
Joachim Eeckhout (21:53)
If you could go back to your early days in marketing, what would you do differently?
Teja (21:58)
What would I do differently? Well, thinking about it, I think I would probably more proactively look for more customer facing time. So when I was in different marketing roles, I would be joining conferences, for example, where I think they are so valuable from someone from marketing to, you know,
interact with customers, see how they react to your assets and things that you have on the booth, see what other companies in your space are doing. It's just so valuable. But yes, if I went back, I would probably be proactively looking for more opportunities to be in front of the customers. And here,
you know, how they talk about the technology, products, what they ask and things like that.
Joachim Eeckhout (22:45)
Do you have any resources or books you would like to recommend to someone within science marketing?
Teja (22:52)
Well, yes, there is a book that I recommend to everyone who is working towards commercializing a scientific product or service. And this book is called Crossing the Chasm from Geoffrey Moore. I think it's a fantastic book. Probably everyone has heard about the theory of diffusion of innovation, which says that
innovative products are adopted by innovators, which is a very small percentage of population, and then early adopters and so on, so on. Everyone knows that, but this book is the best resource I found that really dissects and analyze and really goes in depth into all these profiles and I have found it so, so useful. I do work a lot with
as I said, startups who are bringing something innovative to the market. And really it helps you wrap your head around what the messaging should be, what kind of messaging will land with these people, but also what kind of tactics to use because innovators will be hanging out and looking for information in completely different places than people who are perhaps early majority.
when it comes to this buying behavior. And I truly feel that this is not useful just for the startups, but also people who are working with more mature technologies, because the book talks about those segments in the majority brackets as well. So yeah, go read that book and it will be eye-opening.
Joachim Eeckhout (24:20)
Yeah, thank you very much. We are at end of the interview. Thanks a lot for sharing your insights.
Teja (24:25)
Yeah, thank you again for inviting me. And yeah, I hope that these insights will be helpful to some of the people who are listening.
Joachim Eeckhout (24:32)
It will be definitely
a... Where can people reach out to you if they have more questions?
Teja (24:38)
yeah, so I'm quite active on LinkedIn. if people have any questions or would like to get hold of any resources that I produce, feel free to get in touch with me and message me and I'll share with them. Yeah. Thank you.
Joachim Eeckhout (24:53)
That's great. Thanks a lot.
Joachim Eeckhout (24:55)
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