The power of listening: why VoC should shape your marketing
By Lucy Thorne, Associate Director, Marketing
Good marketing should not start with your product. It should start with your customer.
That can be surprisingly difficult to hold onto, especially in life sciences. When the science is complex, the technology is novel, or the service is highly specialised, it is natural for teams to lead with what they do: the platform, the method, the data, the features, the technical differentiation.
And sometimes, the product really is excellent. It may be scientifically robust, technically advanced, and genuinely capable of solving an important problem. But a strong product does not automatically turn into leads and revenue.
If the right people do not understand why it matters, how it helps them, or why they should choose it over another option, the value can be missed. Customers may not use the same language, prioritise the same benefits, or immediately see why a feature you are proud of translates into an outcome they care about.
This is where persuasion matters. Marketing is not about simply describing what you have built. It is about helping the right audience understand why it is relevant to them. That means speaking in their language, addressing their priorities, and connecting your scientific or technical strengths to the problems they are trying to solve.
Marketing is not about simply describing what you have built. It is about helping the right audience understand why it is relevant to them.
Customers do not always buy for the reasons you think
In our experience, we’ve seen strong products struggle to gain traction when the value is not recognised in the way the company intended. A message may be technically accurate, but if it does not speak to the customer’s most urgent need, it may not persuade. We have also seen customers choose products they know are not technically the strongest because other factors carry weight: trust in the company, a positive service experience, confidence in the representative, or alignment with what the brand stands for.
The uncomfortable truth is still useful truth
This is where there can be an uncomfortable truth. Customers may not understand your value proposition in the way you hoped. They may value a different attribute from the one you have placed front and centre. They may be confused by the language being used or reveal barriers to adoption that the internal team has underestimated.
But information is power. Understanding the drivers, moderators, and barriers behind customer decisions gives teams the evidence they need to respond. It helps marketing speak more clearly, sales handle objections more confidently, product teams prioritise more effectively, and leadership make decisions with a stronger connection to the market.
From assumption to evidence
That is why customer understanding matters. People do not respond only to what you have built. They respond to what they value, trust, understand, and need. And that’s where Voice of Customer, or VoC, becomes so useful.
VoC is the structured process of listening to the people who matter to your business: customers, prospects, users, buyers, partners, stakeholders, or market influencers. Done well, it helps you move beyond internal assumptions and towards evidence. It shows you how your company is perceived, where your value really lies, what motivates decision-making, and whether your current messaging and strategy are aligned with the market.
In other words, VoC helps you move from “we think” to “we know”.
Every organisation carries assumptions about its customers. Some will be right, while others may be incomplete, outdated, or shaped by internal perspective rather than external evidence. A leadership team may believe the brand is known for one thing, while customers value something else. A product team may assume one feature is the strongest differentiator, while buyers are more interested in workflow, risk reduction, support, or speed.
VoC gives you a way to validate, challenge, and refine those assumptions. It can confirm what you already believe, reveal what you have been underplaying, and highlight language, themes, objections, buying triggers, and unmet needs that are difficult to see from inside the business.
That matters because marketing strategy should be grounded in truth. Not just internal truth, but customer truth.
Marketing strategy should be grounded in truth. Not just internal truth, but customer truth.
Example 1: Finding the essence of a company
In one project, we spoke to existing customers of a client delivering highly bespoke work. Internally, the company knew it created value, but because every project was different, it was difficult to articulate a simple, consistent message.
Through the conversations, clear themes quickly emerged. Customers were not only describing the outputs of the work, they were describing how the company solved problems, how it adapted, how it built trust, and why the relationship felt different.
Those insights became the foundation for a messaging framework built around authentic brand pillars. The framework did not impose a story onto the business. It captured the story customers were already experiencing.
Since then, the client has used it to communicate more consistently and align internal teams around a clearer central message. That is one of the most powerful outcomes of VoC. It does not only improve external marketing but can create internal clarity too.
Example 2: Understanding how different audiences behave
In another project, a larger VoC study explored buying behaviours, brand awareness, decision triggers, and market perceptions. Before the research, there was a feeling that customer behaviour might vary mainly by geography. The research showed something different.
The most meaningful differences were segment-dependent, not location-dependent. Biotech, pharma, and academic audiences behaved differently, with different priorities, decision triggers, and information needs.
That insight changed the strategic lens. Rather than building marketing around geography, the company could think more intelligently about personas, segment-specific messaging, and the best ways to reach and influence each audience.
This is where VoC becomes more than a research exercise. It becomes a practical strategy tool, helping organisations avoid overgeneralising their audience, assuming one message will fit all, or investing in channels and content that do not match how people actually make decisions.
Example 3: Testing whether product-market fit still holds
VoC is also valuable when a company needs to test whether its assumptions about product-market fit still stand.
In one project, we went out to the market to understand whether what the client was developing the product to do still aligned with customer needs and expectations. The aim was not simply to test whether people liked the positioning. It was to understand what the market genuinely valued, what requirements mattered most, and whether the current direction reflected the problems customers were trying to solve.
The findings were revealing. An attribute that had not been front and centre in the company’s messaging emerged as one of the most exciting aspects of the product for the market.
That insight had value well beyond marketing. It fed into ongoing product development, helped sharpen the market positioning, and gave the team a clearer basis for messaging. Rather than leading with what the company assumed was most important, they could build the story around what customers actually found compelling.
For life sciences companies, this is a valuable reminder: the market may value a different aspect of the product than the one being emphasised internally. Listening helps reveal that gap before too much time, budget, or strategic energy is committed in the wrong direction.
VoC does not need to be all or nothing
Despite the value, many organisations hesitate before starting VoC work.
They may worry it will be expensive, time-consuming, or too formal. They may be unsure what to ask, concerned about approaching customers, or feel they are not ready because their positioning is still evolving.
Those concerns are understandable. But VoC does not have to be all or nothing.
The right approach depends on the question you need to answer, the stage of the business, and the budget available. Sometimes, a focused set of customer interviews can reveal enough to sharpen messaging and identify recurring themes. A larger study may be appropriate when you need to understand market segments, buying behaviour, awareness, or decision triggers. Targeted message testing can help validate a proposition before investing heavily in campaign activity.
The important thing is that the work is designed around a useful decision.
What do we need to learn? Which assumptions need testing? Whose perspective matters most? How will the insight be used?
At Minnac, we approach VoC pragmatically. We work with clients to design studies that are proportionate, focused, and useful, whether that means a small number of in-depth conversations or a broader research programme. The goal is not research for research’s sake. It is to generate insight that can be translated into clearer messaging, sharper positioning, better segmentation, and more effective marketing.
Because the best marketing is not simply louder or more active. It is more relevant.
And relevance starts with listening.
Want to build marketing around what your customers really value?
Minnac helps life sciences companies use voice of customer insight to move from assumption to evidence.
As a pragmatic strategic marketing partner, we help you listen to your market, identify where your value truly lies, and turn those insights into practical messaging, positioning, and strategy that support growth.