Suppliers and Scientists Get Cozy

Q. How is a toothbrush like a smartphone? A. No one likes to share them. While you are probably willing to let people watch your TV, and you might be willing to let someone work on your computer, few people freely offer their smartphones for anyone else to use.

Or even touch.

When it comes to smartphones and tablets, to each his own. His own apps, his own favorite sites, his own customized screen interface and his own list of suppliers that have permission to market to him via his handheld device.

Reaching out to scientists through mobile devices is about as up close and personal as you can get with your customers.

And they seem to want you in their hip pockets (or purses) at all times. For instance, in our upcoming report “Mobile Marketing to Life Scientists,” we found that 34% of respondents use scientific mobile apps at least once a week.

Which represents a sizable opportunity for you.

Picture a mobile app (yours) inspiring a discussion about your brand in the lab. Or a “time-to-reorder” alert sent (from you) generating a purchase. And how about a promotion code (yours) embedded in a text that customers can forward while waiting to board a plane or buy groceries?

The challenge is to figure out how to balance entertainment, function and marketing in your mobile device outreach. Through these devices, you can share content (customized for the recipient), collect contact information and leads, automate follow-up, send alerts, send texts and most significantly, drive customers to take action.

For a comprehensive report on how scientists are using mobile devices and how they want you to reach out to them, keep an eye out for our July 31 report, “Mobile Marketing to Life Scientists.”

Hearkening back to the early days of Internet marketing, smart suppliers will be the ones who adopt this platform early.

Report finding: What type(s) of mobile apps do you REGULARLY use (i.e., at least once a week) for work or in your personal life?