5 things to know before commissioning your first clinical trial
If you like the idea of becoming a more evidence based brand but you haven't taken the first steps just yet, here are some practical tips to get ready on your evidence building journey
If you’re running a supplement or nutrition brand and you’ve started thinking about running your first trial, you’ve probably already discovered the rabbit hole.
So here are five things worth knowing before you commission anything… aka the stuff I wish more founders had on their radar before they got their first quote.
1. The product you pick matters more than the protocol
Most founders think the hard part is the study design. It isn’t. The hard part is choosing which product to test. Pick the one where a credible positive result would change the most about your business in the next 12 months. Usually, your hero SKU is the one you want to push into new retailers or the one carrying premium pricing you need to defend.
2. Choose your outcome backwards from the claim you want to make
The outcome you measure dictates everything downstream: the population, the duration, the cost, and what you can say on your label and in your ads afterwards. Starting with the end in mind is best practice here. What’s the headline of the press release you want to be able to write when the data comes in? What’s the claim you want on the website? Then design the study to test that not whatever’s easiest to measure.
📍 Quick note: Claims regulation is more nuanced in the UK/EU than in the US. Happy to talk through how to navigate it, just reply.
3. Your population should look like your customer
If your customer is a stressed 45-year-old with poor sleep, your study should be on stressed 45-year-olds with poor sleep. The closer the study population matches your actual buyer, the more useful the data is, and the more likely you’ll see an effect in the first place.
You can pick a population that both fits your ICP AND is also likely to have a larger effect on your product.
4. Think carefully about study duration and where you measure along the way
How long should your trial run for?
Conventional wisdom says long enough to see the effect you’re hoping for, but not a day longer. Every extra week adds cost, dropout risk, and time before you can use the data commercially.
But, in my opinion, there’s a smarter play most founders miss: interim measurements. For example, if you’re running a weight-loss study and expect meaningful results at 12 weeks. Consider adding a measurement point at 6 weeks, too. If your product has already started working by then, you can say “users saw results in as little as 6 weeks“, and customers strongly prefer products that work quickly, because customers are impatient. One extra measurement point, designed in from the start, can unlock a much sharper marketing claim/angle without changing the underlying study.
The principle: design your timeline around when you expect to see effects, and consider adding interim time points to see if you can detect an early effect.
5. Plan your post-study marketing before the study starts
A really useful exercise to do before commisioning a trial is spending a good amount of time considering all of the different options available to you to help you turn the research into revenue.
A few examples below of how you can do this:
Website: a dedicated “Our Science” or “Clinically Studied” page, homepage badges, product page callouts
Press release: distributed through wires (PR Newswire, EIN) and pitched directly to trade and consumer outlets
Trade press and media coverage: Nutraingredients, Natural Products Insider, NutritionInsight and consumer health press
White paper or technical brief: a 4-6 page document for B2B buyers, retail category managers, and distribution partners
Conference presentations and posters: Vitafoods, SupplySide, Natural Products Expo, plus academic conferences if you want scientific credibility
Peer-reviewed publication: slower but enormously powerful, unlocks citations in marketing and gives your claims long-term defensibility
Sales sheets and pitch decks: for retail buyers, Amazon vendor managers, and international distributors
Pamphlets and in-store collateral: particularly for pharmacy and health food retail channels
Paid ads: Meta, Google, Amazon DSP, with claim-led creative built around the data (Easiser in the US)
Podcast appearances: You or your team telling the story, and pitching the principal investigator as a guest
Founder-led content: LinkedIn posts, Substack/newsletter, YouTube explainers walking through the science
Influencer and practitioner outreach: nutritionists, dietitians, and clinicians who’ll only recommend products with data behind them
Retailer pitches: clinical data is often the single biggest unlock for Whole Foods, Holland & Barrett, and major pharmacy chains
Email marketing: a launch sequence to your existing list, including “the science behind it” nurture flow
Investor and partnership decks: clinical data dramatically de-risks the brand for retail buyers, distributors, and acquirers, whilst also increasing the valuation!
I made this list long initially, not to say you should do all of these things, but to say that there are many more ways you can market research than you probably realise.
The Bottom Line
If you’ve been thinking about running a trial and you’re stuck on what it should include, how it should be designed, or what the road map could look like, please do let me know.
I’m working on a document that walks through this in detail, and I’d be happy to share it with you free of charge to help you plan your clinical trial strategy.
Just reply to this email, and I’ll send it over.
— Nathan
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