The Importance of Marketing for Medical and CME Events

Your continuing medical education (CME) event is more than just a casual gathering; it's an opportunity for physicians and other health care employees to learn new skills and brush up on their patient care. There are hundreds of medical events held every year, and most comprise of lectures and seminars. The best ones have the best marketing, with promotion across various channels. Here are four reasons why it's important to market your next CME event.

1. Generate New Students

Marketing your CME event attracts new students to your course. This is particularly important if you want to attract a specialized audience, such as qualified physicians.

With so many different CME events held every year, you will need to utilize the latest technology to stand out from the crowd. You can promote your event on social media and let people in the medical community know about the course you provide, for example. 61 Sixty-one percent of event planners already use social media to advertise their events, and 61 percent use social media as a marketing tool after their events.

2. Engage With Your Existing Students

Your existing students might be interested in other CME courses you offer. There are a number of ways you can reach out to these students with details of your forthcoming training program. You could use a medium like online video, for example, to spread the word about the event. Alternatively, advertise your CME event during a live seminar or a webinar. This is the perfect opportunity to engage with your students and answer any queries they might have.

3. Contact Local Businesses 

Market your event to local businesses, too. They can publicize your event to a wide audience, resulting in more sign-ups to your course. These companies have the resources to sponsor future events, too, so contacting them makes financial sense.

You can contact local businesses with an email campaign. Send a message to tell them about your event and ask them if they are willing to pass this information onto their customers. Research shows that for every dollar spent on email marketing, the average return is $44.25. Alternatively, visit local business owners in person and see if they want to work with you on a future project.

4. Contact Healthcare Communities Online 

Medical events are expensive to organize. That's why marketing is so important. Remember, the more people who know about your event, the more customers are likely to sign up to your course, helping you recoup your initial investment.

One way to do this to contact healthcare communities online. SERMO, for example, is a website where physicians and doctors interact with each other and share tips and information. This is a great place to market your CME course.

You might also want to reach out to specialist blogs that attract a lot of healthcare professionals. This will provide you with ample promotion for your event.

CME marketing is still the exception rather than the rule. Most course providers just don't have the funds or the resources to plow into marketing, meaning many programs are poorly promoted. Following the steps on the above list, however, proves how easy it is. Don't forget about a good learning management system, either. These programs let you plan and monitor your events from one simple dashboard. Try MedEd Manager today and see for yourself.