Visibility Without Discoverability: A Life Sciences Marketing Challenge
By Daan Inghelram
Life sciences organizations invest heavily in marketing visibility. Most maintain a website, actively use LinkedIn, and participate in industry events. These efforts signal credibility, momentum, and presence in the market.
Data from the State of Life Sciences Marketing Report 2026 highlights a consistent pattern: while visibility-driven channels are widely adopted, far less emphasis is placed on discoverability-related activities such as SEO and content optimization. Organizations clearly articulate ambitions for revenue growth and access to new markets, yet investment in the mechanisms that make digital assets discoverable remains limited.¹
This points to a structural imbalance rather than a performance issue. Visibility and discoverability are not the same. Visibility reflects presence, discoverability determines whether information can be found when stakeholders actively search for solutions, validation, or potential partners.
Based on insights from 52 professionals across 23 countries, the 2026 report shows that life sciences organizations make extensive use of websites and LinkedIn, while consistently rating SEO and content marketing among the lowest in perceived ROI.¹
This article examines discoverability as a scalability challenge for life sciences organizations. Drawing on data from the 2026 report and relevant academic research, it explores where opportunities for improved discoverability exist and how these relate to growth ambitions.
What Growth Means For Life Sciences Leaders
The State of Life Sciences Marketing Report 2026 shows that growth in life sciences is primarily defined in commercial terms. 63% of respondents define growth as revenue expansion, while 48% associate it with access to new markets. Only 31% define growth as generating more leads.
At the same time, organizations operate under significant constraints. 58% of respondents cite R&D delays as the biggest obstacle to growth, followed by 52% who point to limited budgets. Strong competition (40%), lack of talent (31%), and regulatory complexity (31%) further shape the environment in which marketing and commercial teams operate.¹
These figures suggest that marketing is expected to contribute to growth ambitions within tight operational boundaries. In such conditions, organizations naturally prioritise channels they perceive as reliable and controllable, particularly those that support direct interaction and relationship building.
Visibility Bias In Channel Adoption
Channel usage data in the report reveals a strong emphasis on visibility-driven activity. Websites are used by 71% of respondents and LinkedIn by 60%, making them the most widely adopted marketing channels. Events and trade shows remain popular (54%), alongside direct sales (46%) and email marketing (46%).
High-touch, relationship-driven channels are also perceived as delivering the strongest returns. Direct sales provide the highest perceived ROI (35%), followed by B2B events (33%) and websites (31%).¹ Email marketing and referrals follow at 25%.
By contrast, SEO and content marketing rank lowest in perceived ROI (10%). The report does not suggest that these channels are ineffective. Instead, it notes that organizations often underinvest in the systems required to make digital assets discoverable, which may contribute to their lower perceived impact.¹
The result is a visibility bias: channels that signal presence and support direct engagement dominate adoption, while discoverability-related mechanisms receive comparatively less attention.
Discoverability As An Organizational Opportunity
Discoverability extends beyond publishing content. It relates to how technical infrastructure, content structure, and internal coordination influence whether digital assets can be found when stakeholders actively search for information.
The State of Life Sciences Marketing Report 2026 shows that, while most organizations invest in visible digital channels, less emphasis is placed on the mechanisms that support discoverability, such as SEO and content optimisation. As a result, discoverability is often not approached as a clearly defined, organization-wide capability.
Rather than framing this as a shortcoming, discoverability is better understood as an area of untapped potential. Most life sciences organizations already invest in visible marketing assets. The opportunity lies in strengthening the underlying mechanisms that allow those assets to be found and reused more effectively across the buyer and partner journey.
What Research Tells Us About Adoption And Findability
Academic research reinforces the importance of purposeful dissemination. In A Marketing Plan for Scientists, Ojo and colleagues describe a persistent disconnect between the creation of scientific outputs and their uptake by intended stakeholders. They argue that scientific quality alone does not guarantee adoption and propose a 4Ps + 1 framework (Product, Promotion, Price, Place, and Partnerships) to guide more effective communication.
The Promotion and Place components of this framework emphasise the need to make research accessible and findable, aligning messages with the channels and contexts in which stakeholders actively search for information.²
Research by Mishra and Agrawal on competitive intelligence in biotech startups complements this perspective. The authors show that organizations operating in highly dynamic and competitive environments benefit from systematically capturing and applying market insights. Search behaviour and information discovery form part of this intelligence, helping organizations anticipate needs and adjust positioning accordingly.³
Together, these studies support the idea that discoverability is a prerequisite for adoption, not a tactical add-on.
Scalability Implications Of Limited Discoverability
As organizations pursue growth and geographic expansion, the implications of limited discoverability become more visible. High-touch channels perform well because they build trust and enable detailed technical dialogue. However, they are inherently dependent on human capacity.
Direct sales and events typically require increases in personnel and resources as organizations expand. Discoverability, by contrast, enables stakeholders to access credible information independently, before direct engagement takes place.
Many organizations aiming to access new markets continue to rely primarily on channels that are difficult to scale independently. Strengthening discoverability offers an opportunity to better align growth ambitions with the realities of limited budgets and operational capacity.
From Visible Organizations To Discoverable Systems
The State of Life Sciences Marketing Report 2026 presents a nuanced picture. Life sciences organizations are highly visible and active across established channels. At the same time, discoverability represents an area of untapped potential, one that relates directly to scalability, international expansion, and long-term growth ambitions.
Academic research confirms that producing high-quality science alone does not ensure adoption. Without deliberate dissemination and market intelligence, even strong innovations can remain difficult to find.
Addressing discoverability is not about replacing proven, high-touch channels. It is about complementing them with systems that allow existing marketing investments to work harder and more consistently over time.
About The Author:
Daan Inghelram is the founder of DauntlessDonkey, a marketing agency focused on life sciences companies. Over the years, he has worked closely with biotech, medtech, and pharma teams to help them communicate complex scientific innovations in a way that resonates with real-world stakeholders. With a background in digital strategy and data-driven marketing, his work centers on bridging the gap between scientific output and market adoption through clear positioning, strategic content, and thoughtful, audience-centric communication.
References:
- DauntlessDonkey (2026). State of Life Sciences Marketing Report 2026.
This report is based on a survey of 52 professionals across 23 countries in biotech, medtech, pharma, and research institutions. It analyses how life sciences companies define growth, which marketing and sales channels they use, and how those channels perform in terms of perceived ROI. Key findings include the dominance of websites (71%) and LinkedIn (60%) in channel usage, the continued importance of high-touch channels such as direct sales (35% ROI) and B2B events (33%), and the consistently low perceived ROI of SEO and content marketing (10%). The report highlights a structural imbalance between visibility-focused investments and underinvestment in discoverability mechanisms.
https://dauntlessdonkey.com/ - Ojo, C., et al. (2018). A Marketing Plan for Scientists: Building Effective Products and Connecting with Stakeholders in Meaningful Ways. Solutions. The authors describe how many research products fail to be adopted by stakeholders and recommend marketing methods and a 4Ps + 1 framework (product, promotion, price, place, partnerships) to help scientists align outputs with user needs. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6011750/
- Mishra, A. K. V., & Agrawal, A. (2024). Competitive Intelligence in Biotech Start-Ups: Strategies for Capturing and Leveraging Market Insights. Journal of Informatics Education and Research.
This study examines how biotech startups operate in environments characterised by rapid technological change, intense competition, and regulatory uncertainty. The authors argue that systematic competitive intelligence, collecting and analysing external market signals, including competitor activity and emerging trends, is critical for strategic decision-making and long-term sustainability. https://jier.org/index.php/journal/article/view/1799