Developing the Ideal Congress Strategy - Amazon S3...their current challenges, marketing goals, strategies, and more, the majority indicated that ROI tracking was a large need, and

optimizing your healthcare event investmentDeveloping the Ideal Congress Strategy

© 2018 Freeman. All Rights Reserved.

INSIGHTS / OPTIMIZING YOUR HEALTHCARE EVENT INVESTMENT

Extending the life of your event investment.Constantly being asked to do more, oftentimes with less, is a common theme among

healthcare event marketers. Developing and maintaining a congress portfolio is a significant

investment. Whether you are outlining a new science, launching a new product, or marketing

a mature portfolio, the investment can be justified — congresses are the one place that

healthcare providers like to get their information, and there’s no better way to introduce a

message to a market than with a live, hands-on brand experience.

A multiyear congress strategy, however, is essential to maximize the impact and awareness

of your product — regardless of life cycle stage.

The challenge that many healthcare marketers face is how to adjust the message and

experience based on life cycle. Launch is easy. But what do you do when you have a critical

compound in development, not quite ready for prime time? Or what about a mature product?

How do you continue to pound the drumbeat?

No matter the stage in product life cycle, a well-defined message is key. Without this, they’ll

struggle to get the most out of their congress presence.

The solution is portfolio planning. By taking a step back and examining the total life cycle of

your product, you can optimize your budget and maximize your investment, year after year.

The challenge that many healthcare marketers face is how to adjust the message and experience based on life cycle.

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Raising the Bar on Experiences Today’s event attendees want something different out of their experiences.

The good news is that these expectations are reasonable and achievable.

The bad news? Many marketers keep doing events the same old way and

expecting the same success.

To keep pace with today's audiences, be mindful of what they expect out of their

experiences, according to the Gensler Research Institute's Experience Index:

• Better design

• Multipurpose spaces

• Social spaces to connect in real life

• Integrated technology but also a place to unplug and connect face-to-face1

This can be a challenge in a highly regulated environment like healthcare,

particularly as you want to make sure the experience reflects your branding

and messaging. Luckily, with the hard work done up front, individual activations

can become much simpler… and more effective. We’ll show you how.

1 Gensler Research Institute’s Experience Index

3

Instead of leaping into individual tactics, healthcare and pharmaceutical marketers need to focus on two major questions...

First, Set Parameters

INSIGHTS / OPTIMIZING YOUR HEALTHCARE EVENT INVESTMENT

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What is the purpose?Brands typically utilize congresses in three major scenarios: pipeline/pre-launch/disease

awareness, product launch, and product maturity:

Pipeline/pre-launch: In this scenario, a company is looking to build a

following, to establish a reputation as a thought leader, to raise awareness of

the disease overall, and to educate attendees about who they are and what

they do. This way, when the product is approved, the audience will know

what the disease is, what the product is, and how it will benefit their patients.

Product launch: This is a time to drive sales leads and build excitement.

It’s also a time to show how your brand stands apart from the competition,

and to create a sense of novelty and discovery among your audience.

Product maturity: You may not have anything new on the market, but

this is just as critical of a time to be part of congresses in the launch

phase; otherwise, you risk losing market share and share of minds. Use

congresses to continue to build and differentiate your brand, to seek out

influencer marketing and new relationships, and to position the brand as

aspirational and a leader in its field.

Determining the overall purpose of the congress helps ensure every decision made along the

way serves that purpose, thereby avoiding wasted time, money, and effort.

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What is the budget? Regardless of the size of the budget, it must be used effectively to get

the best ROI. It’s always worth looking for ways to trim costs without

reducing impact.

Example

A lightweight exhibit with removable and interchangeable

graphics can be refreshed for each event without a major

construction investment; it will also cost less to ship.

But no matter the size of your budget, you still need to demonstrate

measurable ROI. To do that, you need to have a clear strategy and

mission in place: the two hallmarks of portfolio planning.

The average trade show exhibit booth budget is made up of:

2 Exhibitor Magazine’s 2017 Economic Outlook

33% exhibit space

14% travel/lodging

13% show services

12% exhibit design/

construction

12% shipping

6% exhibit promotions

6% graphic design/

production

4% other2

Facts and figures

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3 Freeman: Brand Experience and the Healthcare Marketplace

Portfolio planning is a big-picture view that helps you understand how each individual event and the tactics available within the event fit into your larger strategy.

What Is Portfolio Planning?

It requires looking not just at individual events, but looking at how your company,

its goals, and its marketing strategy change over time. Instead of reflexively

attending the same event or buying the same sponsorships every year in the

same way, portfolio planning requires you to take a step back and be strategic.

Start by clarifying your company’s overall objectives and the objectives for

each congress in your portfolio, so you can make sure both sets of objectives

support the other. If they don’t, revisit your strategy to ensure everything is

working in unison.

Next, look at the target market your company wants to reach during each

event. Defining target audience segments was a challenge noted by many

healthcare marketers when we interviewed them in conjunction with HCEA3,

and it’s important to identify the right audiences before your product is even

to market. Drill down deep to engage the proper specialist that matches the

product’s specific indication at launch. Then, as the product matures, you can

change your strategy to focus on the broader, more primary care markets.

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Now develop a profile for each identified audience segment. Be specific;

you want a detailed profile listing your audience’s goals, pain points,

habits, trends they follow, and where they like to hang out (both online

and in person).

From there, it’s time to prioritize your options and determine which event is

likely to provide the most targeted audience and the best ROI:

1. Develop objective criteria that will be used for judging the

merits of the events. Set an objective and agreed-upon way to judge

whether an event will fit with your business goals and your audience.

2. Review the list of possible events, both ones you’ve attended

and ones you haven’t. Look at them with a fresh eye, as even long-

standing events can change over time. This is no time for “We’ve

always gone to this show.”

3. Take the time to really hone in on whether your target audience

is likely to attend the congress. This single step could make all the

difference when it comes to a successful activation. For example, if

you’re trying to reach dental techs, not surgeons, they may not have

the budget to attend large national events, but could be present

in large numbers at smaller, regional ones located in reasonable

proximity to dental tech education facilities. Conversely, dental

surgeons may have the budget and interest in high-end annual events.

Take the time to really hone in on whether your target audience is likely to attend the event.This single step could make all

the difference when it comes to a

successful activation.

INSIGHTS / OPTIMIZING YOUR HEALTHCARE EVENT INVESTMENT

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4. Keep in mind your target audience may also change over

time, depending on changes to the indication, other label changes,

or market conditions, as well as what your business goals and

activities are at the time.

5. Weigh these criteria by importance. Is it more important

that you be in the same space as your competitors, even if the

audience isn’t 100% spot-on? Or should your target audience be

weighted more heavily when you’re considering events?

As these questions are being addressed, events can be ranked into

three tiers, with Tier One being the events that will provide the biggest

impact and Tier Three being the ones that would be nice to attend, but

only if the required investment is minimal.

Once this exercise has been completed, you should have a much better

idea of which congresses align best with your company’s goals — and

just as importantly, why they align. This helps marketing teams position

events as a strategic component of the company’s overall business

growth, lifting it to new visibility and importance within the organization.

But, to firmly cement the importance of events, another vital step must take place —

measurement.9

Once you’ve attended the congress, it’s time to determine whether it provided your company with the best ROI possible.

KPIs for ROI

But before you can do that, you first need to determine how you’re going to

measure success. When we spoke to a number of HCEA members4 about

their current challenges, marketing goals, strategies, and more, the majority

indicated that ROI tracking was a large need, and that even if they had

metrics in place, results were inconclusive and dissatisfying.

Meeting those challenges head-on requires identifying the specific KPIs

you will track from event to event and from year to year. These KPIs will

provide you with objective measurements that can be used to determine

if an event worked, as well as the impact these events are having on your

company as a whole.

The specific KPIs you select will depend on your strategy. If your

company is in a “product maturity” phase, you may not end up with many

new leads from the event. You might, however, increase your digital

engagement and brand lift. On the other hand, if you’re in full-blown

launch mode, leads and sales are king. 4 Freeman: Brand Experience and the Healthcare Marketplace

Brand awareness

Brand affinity

Comparison to benchmarks or competitors

Sales

Leads

Purchase intent

And more

Common KPIs Include:

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The most important thing is to ensure that what you’re measuring

ties back to the company’s strategic goals, so that a clear line

can be drawn to show how the event contributes to those goals.

To measure these KPIs, a variety of tools can be

used, including:

• Attendee surveys

• E-Detail media

• Post-show lead surveys

• Mystery shopper and competitive analysis

• On-site interviews

• Sales conversion research

• Exhibit design and effectiveness research

• Digital engagement

• Social listening

The more data you have about the ROI

of different events, as measured by

your KPIs, the easier it is to see why

you should be going to these shows.

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At this point, you should know the overarching goal for your congress

strategy and which events will give you the most bang for your buck.

But, what about the congress experience itself? You may be in the

right place at the right time with the right people, but how will you

know what best facilitates engagement?

Similar to the process you went through when prioritizing potential

events, you should also rank the potential impact of your past

congress tactics, as well as any new ideas you may have. What has

worked well in the past? What hasn’t? Were there situations of “right

tactics, wrong event,” or even the other way around? Keep in mind

what audiences now expect from experiences, like good design, multi-

use spaces, and integrated technology.

If You Build It (Wisely), They Will Come

INSIGHTS / OPTIMIZING YOUR HEALTHCARE EVENT INVESTMENT

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Pipeline/pre-launch: Your congress efforts should focus

on medical affairs, establishing your expertise and building

relationships. At this point, you want to learn just as much from

attendees as you want them to learn from you. This is a good

time to establish your deep understanding of your market’s

pain points and the state of the industry, to position yourself as

a company that has its finger on the pulse of events.

Product launch: Now it’s time to make the biggest

splash. Select tactics that encourage participation and

demonstrations, that are educational and provide good

theater. Your company knows what’s needed in the market,

and now you’re solving that problem. Excitement, education,

and a touch of showmanship are the order of the day.

Product maturity: Stay top of mind. Show why you stand

apart from the crowd by giving visitors a one-stop-shop

experience that provides up-to-date industry knowledge and

insights along with an eye on trends and how you’ll meet

them going forward. Selectively build relationships and look

to the idea of potential partnerships.

By being strategic and identifying goals and gaps,

companies can transform the way they think about events

and the effect of the events themselves. Instead of events

being a tangential item that you think you “should” do,

they will be a crucial link in the strategic marketing plan,

contributing directly to the organization’s goals in specific,

measurable ways.

From there, assess how your specific tactics will contribute to the big picture — including whether they’ll appeal to your audience and how much

they’ll cost, so you can prioritize your options. As well, keep your business’s life cycle in mind:

the result:A solid way to boost AND

measure the ROI for your events,

year after year.

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Appendix A: Event Worksheet

Use this handy worksheet to launch your company’s congress strategy planning process.

The life cycle of my product/device is

(select one):

Pipeline/pre-launch

Launch

Maturity/ongoing

My goals and objectives are:

Thought leadership

Education

Building awareness

Education

Driving sales leads

Product differentiation

Brand building

Influencer marketing

Brand differentiation

___________________________________

___________________________________

My target audiences include:

______________________________________

______________________________________

______________________________________

______________________________________

______________________________________

______________________________________

My list of events includes:

______________________________________

______________________________________

______________________________________

______________________________________

______________________________________

______________________________________

Next to each event, indicate which of the

audiences listed above will be in attendance.

The KPIs my company cares

about include:

______________________________________

______________________________________

______________________________________

The tools I will use to measure

success include:

Attendee surveys

Post-show lead surveys

Mystery shopper and competitive analysis

On-site interviews

Sales conversion research

Exhibit design and effectiveness research

Digital engagement

Social listening

___________________________________

___________________________________

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Gensler Research Institute Experience IndexExpectations of today’s audience to keep in mind:

• Better design

• Do everything, everywhere

• Single-use spaces are becoming obsolete

• Social spaces are needed to connect in real life

• Need to unplug

• Technology that integrates into the design

Which of these do you apply to your exhibit booth?

Appendix B: Expectations for Experience Design

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Request a consultation to learnhow Freeman can help guide yourhealthcare event marketing decisions.

STEVE COLDIRON, HEALTHCARE STRATEGY DIRECTOR+1-214-445-1617 | [email protected]

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About FreemanFreeman is the world’s leading brand experience company. We help our

clients design, plan, and deliver immersive experiences for their most

important audiences. Through comprehensive solutions including

strategy, creative, logistics, digital solutions, and event technology,

Freeman helps increase engagement and drive business results.

© 2018 Freeman. All Rights Reserved.

INSIGHTS / OPTIMIZING YOUR HEALTHCARE EVENT INVESTMENT