Mobile Marketing to Life Scientists (Part 2): Reasons for Going Mobile

Scientists are voracious consumers of information and information about the products that support their research is especially welcome.

Most life science researchers spend much of their time searching for, creating and organizing data and information. The results of this survey confirm not only that scientists consume information from many different sources, but also that they do so via multiple platforms — desktop/laptop, smartphone and tablet — throughout the day.

By the end of 2011, mobile devices accounted for more than 8% of all digital traffic showing the shift away from the traditional desktop/ web interface. Desktop and laptop sales have fallen sharply while smartphone and tablet sales have increased.

Traditionally, desktops and laptops have been used to create content for consumption. This content can be in the form of documents, images or games for consumers, or papers, presentations, and databases for scientists.

Mobile devices, on the other hand, were originally viewed as devices for consuming content such as reading email, watching movies, listening to music, viewing photos and searching the web. But the ability of scientists to create content on their mobile devices (increasingly through the use of cloud based applications such as Google Drive) will accelerate the shift away from desktop computers.

Currently, however, most supplier-generated content and promotional material is geared for the traditional desktop/web/email interface. Unless a mobile marketing strategy is implemented, suppliers will have fewer opportunities to reach and interact with customers as scientists switch to mobile to consume and create content.

Websites not optimized for mobile devices will appear lower in mobile search results, Google ads and banner ads may not be visible, and emails received on a mobile device may not render correctly. Simply put, life science suppliers without a mobile marketing strategy risk being isolated in a world market moving to continuous connectivity.