A Day in the Life of a Science Marketer

Our industry is constantly changing and innovating. As the marketers tasked with helping science companies connect to their audience, we must be quick on our feet to meet the demands of our customers. From back-to-back meetings to SEO optimization, life as a science marketer is fast-paced and never boring. Do any of these daily trials and tribulations sound familiar?

8:00 a.m.
Scan industry news sites and see competitor’s coverage. Curse and forward information to your boss to keep them up to speed.

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9:00 a.m.
Meet with the team and review creative concepts for a new landing page.

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9:15 a.m.
Confirm yes, that chosen stock image of a scientist is in use by another website. Consider changing hair color. Decide that’s not enough. Schedule photo shoot. Determine how attractive is attractive enough to be appealing, but not so gorgeous the person looks like a super model, not a scientist.

9:30 a.m.
Receive draft press release back from legal. Discover that your perfectly worded “this does this” sentence now reads, “93 percent of the time, in optimized conditions (64% titration/48 hour incubation) product X may increase cell culture growth by 42% when used in conjunction with products Y and Z, following the recommended protocol (1).”

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10:00 a.m.
Draft three versions of a media buy spreadsheet in conjunction with your product launch, all using the same budget to show your boss options. Option 1 is narrow in terms of outlet, but deep exposure; Option 2 is super broad in terms of outlets, but with limited frequency; and one that Goldilocks would like because it’s just right.

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10:45 a.m.
Review applications for new communications manager position. Discard first two, as they seem to think PR and marketing requires the nerves of a beauty pageant contestant.

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10:50 a.m.
Do a background search on LinkedIn to narrow down other candidates.

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11:30 a.m.
Proofs come back from the printer with no mistakes! Lunch is happening today.

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12:00 p.m.
Discuss trade show giveaways over lunch. What’s more fun, a stuffed animal antibody or a stress ball? (Then discard both because it has nothing to do with the overall event campaign.)

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1:15 p.m.
Check your inbox after lunch and see that a reporter would like to interview your vice president of R&D for the feature story.

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2:30 p.m.
Sit down for scheduled meeting with the scientists. Alone. Learn for the 50th time that they only leave the lab when you’re offering pizza.

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2:55 p.m.
Google pronunciations for scientific terms (like refractometer, Benzimidazolethiol) so you don’t make a fool of yourself stumbling over words during the sales training presentation.

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3:00 p.m.
Join your sales training meeting. Work to get everyone connected on WebEx, repeating over and over again “Can you see my screen?”

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3:08 p.m.
Technical issues resolved. Start presentation. Debate whether you can skim over and get around pronouncing those terms you’ve already forgotten.

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4:02 p.m.
Despite your best attempts to get to the bottom of your inbox, all of your colleagues decide to email you at once.

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4:15 p.m.
Hear back from your boss that the media budget has been approved; have mental dance party.

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4:36 p.m.
Work on that video idea you were charged with. Your goal is to make it “unexpected yet accessible, emotional but also hilarious… make sure it will go viral.”

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5:30 p.m.
Your colleagues invite you to Happy Hour, but your West Coast product team wants to have an urgent meeting, so you bid them to go without you.

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5:30 p.m.
See that the tweet you posted is getting great engagement.

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6:30 p.m.
Dinner with your spouse and parents. You attempt to explain what you do, but you get the sense that they just don’t get it.

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As fellow marketers, we know that there are many daily ups and downs in this job. However, helping groundbreaking science companies that are sure to improve our future makes them all worthwhile!

So how did we do? Did we nail a day in the life? What are some of the signs that show you are a true science marketer?