CDMO Marketing Strategies: Meet Buyers at Critical Stages of Their Buyer Journey 

If you Google “CDMO marketing” one of the key trends in the articles that cover this topic is the following:

CDMO sales cycles are long and require multiple marketing touchpoints.

Truer words were never spoken. So while there are a bunch of articles that talk about identifying your target market, building buyer personas, and leveraging social media, I’m going to assume you have heard all that before. 

This guide cuts through the noise to deliver actionable CDMO marketing strategies that address your most pressing challenges. You want to hear how to compete with Lonza and Thermo Fisher (Pantheon) and drive leads today and tomorrow.

I’ll be covering key aspects of how buyers go through their buyer journey and how you can meet them there, and how you can cover most of your bases by getting a few primary marketing channels right.

Value Proposition & Positioning Before Everything Else

When it comes to defining your value proposition as a CDMO, the temptation might be to lean into the tried-and-true claims of being “better, cheaper, or faster.” However, these messages often fall flat—especially when stacked against industry giants like Lonza. 

Lonza’s decades of trust and reputation make it difficult to compete using generic claims like ‘better, cheaper, or faster.’ Instead, focus on your unique strengths.

Example CDMO value proposition

A good example of a value proposition is WuXi Advanced Therapies which positions itself as a comprehensive partner in the cell and gene therapy space, emphasizing its role as a Contract Testing, Development, and Manufacturing Organization (CTDMO).

They have taken the focus of specificity and differentiation in the cell and gene therapy market.

Other areas for differentiation for your value prop might include:

  • Innovation: Highlights the use of advanced technology (single-use systems), which is a key industry trend.
  • Target Audience Alignment: Speaks directly to mid-sized biotech firms, which may feel overlooked by larger CDMOs but need the same high-quality solutions.
  • Solution-Oriented: Addresses a real pain point—providing tailored, scalable solutions for complex biologics that minimize risk and optimize efficiency—without relying on generic promises.

The good news is that you likely already have a unique selling proposition (USP) similar to the examples above—you just need to uncover it. Often, the differentiator lies in what your company is already doing exceptionally well, whether it’s your niche expertise, tailored solutions, or ability to address specific challenges your competitors overlook. 

The key is drawing that out of your messaging and ensuring it’s front and center in your marketing. When a prospect skims your website—which, let’s face it, is how most initial research happens—they should instantly know what sets you apart and why you’re the ideal partner for their needs.

Your Website as Your Best Sales Tool

Your website is your best sales tool—hands down. For CDMOs, it’s often the first impression prospective clients have of your brand, and it sets the tone for your entire buyer journey. To truly capitalize on its potential, your website needs to be both an educational resource and a lead generation machine.

From an educational standpoint, it’s critical to focus on key areas that address your audience’s specific needs and questions. This typically includes service and subservice pages that clearly outline your capabilities, technology pages that showcase your cutting-edge processes and equipment, and educational resources like white papers, case studies, and webinars. 

These sections not only demonstrate your expertise but also align with SEO best practices, ensuring you appear prominently when prospects search for solutions in your space.

For example, here is a screenshot of AGC Biologics and their service menu dropdown. 

CDMO marketing site architecture example

They have what is called a “mega menu” with sections and dedicated pages for Offerings, Services, and Specialized Platforms & Programs.

This portion of the site build is often SEO-led, meaning that when you work with a specialized CDMO marketing agency like Digital Elevator, we are going to provide research for the site architecture as well as the keywords with commercial intent that have the most volume based on conversations with the client. 

Strong site architecture doesn’t just improve user experience—it also drives organic traffic by aligning with SEO best practices.

Here is a screenshot of some rankings of the services section of the AGC Bio site that showcases some of those rankings for critical keywords like “viral vector services” or “AAV CDMO.”

CDMO marketing rankings example

The above type of site architecture and SEO strategy can be done during a new website build, or post-launch. Regardless of when you do it, it underscores the importance of creating content for your users so they understand your value proposition, but also the depth and breadth of your CDMO services.

CDMO Lead Generation and Brand Awareness

As you’ve probably recognized, the site architecture and SEO best practices discussed above can help set the tone for organic search rankings. SEO (or search engines) is just one channel where prospects may interact with your brand in their buying cycle.

Independent of marketing channels, however, is the deeper principle of buying journeys and how that plays into marketing touchpoints.  

Effective lead generation and brand awareness for CDMOs require a deep understanding of your prospect’s buyer journey. 

This journey typically unfolds in three key stages: 

  1. problem identification, 
  2. solution exploration, and 
  3. requirements building. 

Each stage represents a unique opportunity to connect with potential clients, but it also demands tailored strategies to address their evolving needs.

  • Problem Identification: At this stage, prospects are just beginning to understand their challenges. They’re looking for educational content that validates their pain points and introduces them to potential solutions.
    • Blog posts, white papers, and webinars that address common industry challenges—such as navigating regulatory hurdles or scaling complex biologics production—can position your brand as a trusted authority.
  • Solution Exploration: Once prospects know their problem, they start researching specific solutions.
    • This is where your service pages, case studies, and technology overviews become critical. Prospects are comparing vendors, so it’s essential to highlight your unique capabilities and demonstrate how you solve their exact challenges better than the competition.
  • Requirements Building: By the time prospects reach this stage, they’re narrowing down their options and defining what they need from a partner.
    • Detailed resources like RFQ guides, downloadable specifications, and comparison tools can help prospects align their requirements with your offerings, positioning you as the obvious choice.

Accompanying this framework, the infographic below visually breaks down each stage, showcasing how your content and outreach strategies should align with the mindset of your buyers at every step. By understanding and addressing these stages, you can drive not just leads, but the right leads—those who are primed to engage with your brand and convert.

Worth noting, the website lies at the core of most of these buying processes. While there may be some external channels such as LinkedIn and industry publications mentioned, the bulk of the marketing channels point back to or are derived from your website. 

In the perfect scenario, your CDMO would have processes in place for all of these buckets. However, a good starting point would be the build out of the website itself, the site architecture and SEO mentioned above, and Google Ads and LinkedIn Ads running in tandem.

Online Presence and Content Marketing for Your CDMO

At Digital Elevator, we approach biotech content marketing from a repurposing point of view. For example, if the goals are to create assets like white papers, blogs, and LinkedIn posts, we’d first determine the topics that our CDMOs want to talk about and the subtopics that provide value to their prospects.

From there, we’d create a white paper that could then be repurposed into three or four blogs as subtopics, and then our clients could repurpose elements of the blog or white paper into another 10 or so social media posts. For example, a white paper on viral vector manufacturing could generate blog topics such as regulatory considerations, scaling production, and emerging trends in viral vector technology.

The white paper, in addition to being a downloadable asset on their website or something to distribute to their prospects via email, could also serve as a lead generation and brand awareness asset for a LinkedIn Ads campaign. 

From our point of view, the blogs would be SEO-driven and focused on keywords to drive organic traffic while the white paper could help garner visibility via LinkedIn Ads to an audience that may have limited visibility or awareness of the brand. 

Thus, we are driving brand awareness, pushing prospects down a sales funnel, and establishing trust based on the ways we know prospects buy. Combined with bottom funnel service pages, this encapsulates most of the buying journey.

However, to reinforce the way we know people build trust with brands, we may also promote the creation of case studies. Case studies are invaluable for CDMOs. They’re proof you can deliver, whether it’s scaling complex biologics or navigating regulatory challenges. Pair these with thought leadership content like white papers, webinars, and conference presentations to establish your credibility. This kind of content resonates with decision-makers and builds trust over time.

Here’s an example of benefit-driven case studies from AGC Biologics, with one topic about cost savings and the other about an upgrade from a well-known competitor. 

CDMO Marketing Has Many Layers, Focus on the One’s Most Important

When we work with CDMOs on their marketing, our process is often the same. We look to see where we can provide the most value the quickest based on the client’s goals of speed or weakness in marketing. 

For fast results, a paid media strategy – using Google and LinkedIn Ads – is what we recommend. For establishing touchpoints earlier in the sales cycle that are more sustainable than paid ads, we recommend SEO and content marketing. Both approaches can work in tandem, and that is the most effective way to get in front of CDMO prospects in all stages of the buying process.

For help with your CDMO marketing strategy across all stages of the buyer joruney, reach out to Digital Elevator today.

Author Image

Daniel Lofaso

Daniel E. Lofaso is the Founder and CEO of Digital Elevator. He loves classic Land Rover Defenders, surfing, and is a BBQ master. Connect with Lofaso on LinkedIn

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