There are many elements that go into planning, promoting, and delivering a successful CME conference. Plus, marketing to medical professionals can prove to be a challenge. So, how do you get as many attendees at your medical education conference as possible? Read on to learn everything you need to know to increase the attendance at your upcoming CME event.
It’s important to understand which channels your target audience is using and what type of content they’re interested in to promote your medical conference. Whether you are trying to sell out an upcoming event or create buzz for next year’s conference, these promotion tips can help.
Twitter is a great platform for casual, real-time conversations concerning your upcoming event. By using a branded hashtag in this environment, you can generate a good response out of a regularly scheduled chat. Discussions in a Twitter chat can include topics that are going to be touched on at your medical conference or news affecting your specialization. Try to line up industry leaders to moderate the discussion so you can use the additional name power to attract users.
Using your mailing list to re-engage past attendees is a resourceful way of rounding up attendees for your upcoming medical conference. Ideally, you have been keeping in touch with them since the last event through newsletters, special promotions, follow-up surveys, and more interesting content. By occasionally engaging with past attendees in between conferences, you’re building a relationship over time. Then, once tickets are on sale, they’re that much closer to making the purchase.
There is no doubt medical professionals are busy; so, you need to communicate the value of your conference quickly and concisely. An efficient way of doing this is by asking previous attendees and speakers to provide a testimonial on past events. Are those individuals busy too? Probably. Save them some time by proposing to write a testimonial on behalf of them and getting approval to quote them on it.
Another quick and intuitive way to receive feedback is to offer a short follow up survey to past attendees. With this information, you can improve your processes involved with promoting future CME events. Ask attendees how they found out about your conference and which channels they prefer to be reached through. MedEd Manager allows CME coordinators to send follow up surveys to attendees in addition to access to a myriad of helpful features.
Contact industry leaders within your specialization to ask if they would be willing to post about your medical conference or share your content. By building relationships with industry influencers via their social media profiles, you’ll be exposed to their following. If you decide to pay the influencer for the exposure, be sure to let users know you’re sponsoring the posts.
With LinkedIn’s targeted advertising platform, you’re able to get a clear picture of the audience you are reaching. Find your ideal attendee profile with job title matches and other key demographics to target with your ad campaign. LinkedIn ads are a paid advertising method, however, well worth it for the targeting features.
CME is a requirement for medical professionals; however, this doesn’t mean care providers will magically know about your next medical conference. To increase registrants for a conference or course, marketing efforts need to ramp up. Even if physicians are aware of your offerings, it takes work to help them see the value. Try out the following strategies to boost your conference attendance
Search engine optimization (SEO) has evolved dramatically but has remained a mainstay in digital marketing strategies over the years. SEO in CME marketing can be extremely effective in attracting more attendees and online course takers.
SEO is a collection of sophisticated procedures you can use when creating your CME website and when maintaining it. SEO makes your website more appealing to the algorithms of major search engines like Google. By implementing good SEO strategies, your website will work its way up the results pages. You may be wondering if all the SEO tactics are worth your time and money. As of 2018, organic SEO is approximately 5.66 times more effective than buying search engine ads. Additionally, 75 percent of people only look at the first one or two pages of search results.
While some elements of SEO for CME have remained constant, the majority of techniques are constantly evolving. The facets of SEO are complex, and it’s a smart move to hire a credible expert who can help you take advantage of the latest advancements. A best practice of SEO in CME is supplying original, useful, and well-written content. Your target audience will more easily find your CME offerings if you are giving solutions to their specific problems. Featuring high-quality information will help you build a lasting relationship with your readership and make certain that you are an industry leader. Search engines will reward you for content they deem helpful to searchers. Search engine algorithms never reward plagiarized or unoriginal articles.
An effective SEO plan will begin with a thorough keyword research. Learning which CME-related terms are currently a priority and how many times to use them throughout your content are essential. Keyword stuffing to try and improve your rank among search results will not work in your favor. It’s better to include key terms as a natural part of your copy.
Furthermore, local SEO tactics will help you to promote your CME conference or event in association to where it will be held. There are specific steps that you have to take to make sure you’re taking full advantage of local SEO.
Remember, it takes time for you to reap the benefits of your SEO strategy; but, the organic traffic you will gain from it will justify your efforts.
Medical professionals have the option to take a variety of different types of CME courses. Options include in-classroom, online, and medical conferences. Conferences tend to be popular amongst medical professionals due to the fact they cover a massive amount of information in a short period of time.
Organizing a CME conference, on the other hand, takes time, planning, and preparation. Fortunately, learning management software (LMS) can help streamline the process. Note some of the reasons why you could benefit from an LMS at your medical conference.
Implementing an LMS - especially one that is reinventing the standard of CME facilitation and marketing, like MedEd Manager - will simplify the entire registration process. Attendees can sign up quickly and make payments securely through a reliable interface.
CME conferences tend to generate a massive amount of content for each attendee. Keeping all of the papers, packets, and brochures in order can be a hassle for participants and organizers. The LMS you choose should help eliminate this issue by offering content via any electronic device.
A major benefit you should seek out in an LMS is improved participant engagement. No matter if you’re hosting your CME conference in person or online, an LMS should enable attendees to participate in open discussion forums, email, online chat, and instant messaging.
Your CME manager should be able to provide real-time record keeping throughout your entire conference. Medical conference organizers and speakers need an accurate record of exactly who attended the conference and which portions they attended. Record keeping is extremely important for participants to have documentation of the necessary CME credits.
Hosting a CME conference can be immensely easier with the help of MedEd Manager. Learn how.
For your CME event to be successful, plan to integrate mobile tech into your attendees’ experiences. These five points show why a mobile experience will enhance your medical conference.
Now that you know that a mobile experience at your CME event can potentially improve attendee satisfaction, it’s time to decide if your conference needs an app.
Continued medical education conferences can gain a lot from a mobile app. Look into your options during your next CME planning phase, and map out whether this approach is right for your conference.
CME events can gain a lot from a mobile app. Look through your options during your next conference planning phase, and map out whether an app is the right direction for your event.
If you need assistance with generating CME attendee interest, increasing online presence, or creating public awareness campaigns, hiring a medical marketing agency is an optimal decision. Finding the right medical marketing agency, however, can sometimes be a challenge. Choosing an agency with experience in the healthcare sector and that provides you with the right ROI is vital. Here are some tips for finding the right medical marketing agency for you.
We know that there’s a lot that goes into planning, promoting, and executing a CME conference. That’s why MedEd Web Solutions has created the MedEd Manager. MedEd Manager will organize, market, and streamline your CME offerings, so you can focus on delivering the best medical education possible.
MedEd Manager makes it possible to: