Key takeaways
- Start marketing six months before launch, not the week of it. Positioning, proof and a working website take longest.
- List every claim you plan to make and check it against your evidence and regulatory status before anything goes public.
- Build an audience before you need one: a few scientists posting regularly beats a launch post to nobody.
- After launch, judge success on qualified conversations, not likes or traffic.
Most life science startups spend years on the science and weeks on the launch. The result is familiar: a website that explains the technology but not why anyone should buy it, claims that need rewriting after legal review, and a launch announcement that reaches the founders' own networks and nobody else.
This checklist is the order we work through with early-stage biotech, MedTech, diagnostics, lab supply and agtech companies preparing for a first launch. It has 34 tasks across six phases, from six months out to 90 days after launch. It is written for a small team, often a founder and one marketing hire, so every task is something you can actually do.
How to use this checklist
Work through the phases in order, but don't wait for one to finish before starting the next. Many tasks run in parallel. Give each task an owner and a date, and review the list as a team every two weeks.
If you launch sooner than six months from now, compress rather than skip: do positioning, the claims list and the website first, then as much audience building as time allows. How you market a biotech company changes again once you have a product, so treat this as the bridge between the two stages.
Six months or more before launch: positioning and audience
Everything later depends on this phase. If you skip it, your website, deck and launch posts will each tell a slightly different story. Our guide to positioning a biotech company walks through the framework in detail.
- Write your one-sentence positioning. What it is, who it is for and why it is different. If your team describes it five ways, fix this first.
- Map the buying committee. The user, the decision-maker, the budget holder, procurement and anyone who can block the purchase.
- Interview 5 to 10 target customers. Ask how they solve the problem today, what it costs them and what would make them switch.
- List every claim you plan to make. Note the evidence behind each one. Remove or soften anything you cannot support yet.
- Confirm regulatory status and intended-use wording. For example research use only, CE marking or FDA status, for each market you will sell in.
- Check names, trademarks and domains. For the company and each product, in every launch market.
Four to six months before launch: proof
Science buyers don't take your word for it. Decide now which evidence you will have on launch day, and what you will need permission to share. Proof takes longer to gather than anyone expects.
- Plan the data you need at launch. Validation results, application data and early user results, with dates for when each will be ready.
- Recruit early-access users. Agree up front how their results, names and quotes can be used.
- Get permission for logos and quotes. In writing, before you design anything that depends on them.
- Draft a technical overview. A short evidence summary or white paper that technical buyers can review.
Free download. Want this as a printable tracker with owner and due-date columns? Download the free PDF.
Three to four months before launch: website and search foundations
Search engines and AI tools need time to find and trust a new site, so build the foundations months before you need the traffic. See life science website design best practices for the page-by-page detail.
- Plan the core pages. Homepage, product or service pages, applications, evidence, about and team, and contact or quote request.
- Publish specifications and data as web pages. Not only as PDFs, so buyers, search engines and AI tools can read them.
- Set up analytics. Google Analytics 4 with key events, Google Search Console and a compliant cookie banner.
- Research the words buyers use. Product terms, problem terms and method names. Build pages around them.
- Add structured data. Organization, Product or Service, Article and FAQ markup where it accurately describes the page.
- Write three to five cornerstone articles. Answer the questions buyers ask before they talk to sales.
Two to three months before launch: audience building
Launching to nobody is the most common pre-launch mistake we see. Start building an audience while the product is still being finished. Our LinkedIn guide for life science companies covers the setup and a 90-day plan.
- Fix your LinkedIn company page. Clear tagline, about section, custom button and pinned proof.
- Choose two or three spokespeople. Usually a founder and a lead scientist, posting from their own profiles.
- Post two or three times a week. The problem, the science behind your approach and the people building it.
- Start an email list. Offer a genuinely useful resource in exchange for an address.
- Build a target account list. Named companies and roles you want to reach at launch.
- Pick launch channels. Conferences, webinars, communities and publications where your buyers already are.
- Prepare an announcement kit. Release, images, founder and scientist bios, and a one-page fact sheet.
Launch month: launch
Launch is a sequence, not a single post. Plan who hears first, what each audience gets and where inquiries go.
- Equip sales. A one-page product sheet, a short deck, an FAQ, objection handling and a clear quote process.
- Announce in sequence. Press release, LinkedIn post series, email to your list and personal outreach to target accounts.
- Run one focused paid test. One audience, one offer and one landing page, with conversion tracking working.
- Host a live session. A webinar, demo or technical Q&A that gives people a reason to engage.
- Test every inquiry route. Forms, email addresses, phone numbers and auto-replies, on desktop and mobile.
First 90 days after launch: learn and improve
The first 90 days tell you which channels and messages work. Measure quality, not just volume, and check whether AI tools have started to mention you. Our guide to AI search for life science companies explains how.
- Review inquiries every week. Volume, source and quality, with sales feedback on each.
- Collect first customer stories. Problem, approach and a measured result, approved by the customer.
- Update the website. Add launch data, real FAQs from sales calls and new proof.
- Check Search Console. Make sure key pages are indexed and see which searches bring people in.
- Test AI tools monthly. Ask ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google the questions your buyers ask, and record whether you are mentioned.
- Decide what to scale. Double down on the channels that produced qualified conversations, and stop the rest.
If you only have time for five things
- A clear positioning sentence that your whole team uses.
- A claims list checked against your evidence and regulatory status.
- One strong product or service page with real data, specifications and a clear next step.
- A tested inquiry route, so no early lead disappears into an unmonitored inbox.
- Two or three people telling the story on LinkedIn in the months before launch.
Common pre-launch mistakes
- Writing the website last. It is the place every other channel sends people. Start it early enough to fix it after review.
- Launching with only one call to action. "Contact sales" is a big step. Offer a sample, a data summary or a technical call as well.
- Overclaiming. Early data is exciting, but statements that outrun the evidence damage trust with expert buyers and create regulatory risk.
- Announcing to nobody. Without an audience, a launch post reaches colleagues and investors, not buyers.
- Measuring the wrong things. Impressions and followers feel good. Qualified conversations pay for the next round.
- No owner after launch day. Marketing stalls when the launch project ends and nobody owns what comes next.
What to prioritize on a small budget
If budget is tight, spend it where it compounds. In our experience, that means clear positioning and a strong website first, because every other activity depends on them. Organic LinkedIn from real scientists costs time rather than money. Paid campaigns can wait until you know which message and offer convert, and our guide to life science marketing costs can help you plan what to spend when you are ready.
Frequently asked questions
When should a life science startup start marketing?
Around six months before launch is a realistic minimum for positioning, evidence, a website and an early audience. Earlier is better if you are also raising money or recruiting early-access users.
What marketing does a pre-revenue biotech need?
Usually a clear positioning statement, a credible website, a claims list checked against your evidence, a small number of thought-leadership articles and two or three people building visibility on LinkedIn.
Can we market a product before regulatory approval?
You can usually raise awareness of your company, your science and the problem you are solving, but you must not promote an investigational product as safe or effective or make claims beyond its status. Check the rules for each market with your regulatory team.
How is this different from a go-to-market plan?
A go-to-market plan decides who you sell to, how and at what price. This checklist covers the marketing tasks that make that plan work on launch day.
Want a second pair of eyes before you launch?
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