Leaving your conference success to chance meetings with prospects at your booth has never been a recipe for success. This was true before the pandemic and is even more true now. To get the maximum value from big healthcare events like HIMSS, HLTH (ViVE), RSNA, etc, marketers need to detach themselves from their booths and take advantage of the hidden opportunities these events offer.
Although COVID is waning (fingers crossed), there is still a lot of uncertainty for healthcare conferences. It isn’t clear whether healthcare organizations will have the willingness or budget to send staff to industry events when there are so many challenges.
Because of this, it is more important than ever for marketers to ensure they maximize their return from their participation at large healthcare conferences.
Here are 6 hidden opportunities that marketers can take advantage of at HIMSS and other large events.
Conduct “hot topic” research
Larger conferences are the perfect opportunity to use your eyes (and feet) to conduct your own research to determine the hot topics in healthcare. Here’s how: just stand at the end of the hallway where breakouts are happening and look for the rooms with the most people entering. When the sessions are running, walk down the hall and make note of the topic in those rooms (or use the handy conference app).
Repeat this for as many breakout timeslots as you can. By the end of the conference, you’ll have a good idea of what is on the minds of attendees. This is extremely valuable information for marketers who have content marketing strategies.
PRO TIP: If there are multiple breakout areas, walk around after the breakouts start and look through the peepholes in the doors to gauge the size of the audience…or politely (and quietly) poke your head in the sessions that are most relevant to your business.
Walk the exhibit hall and take notes
It’s incredible how much you can learn about the flow of attendees at a large conference by standing still. Park yourself at the main entrance or any of the main junction points and just watch how people move around the exhibit hall.
- Which direction do the majority of the people turn when they first enter?
- Are there more people walking N-S or E-W?
- Are people wandering or are they bee-lining it to specific booths?
- What is attracting people to some booths and not to others?
PRO TIP: Identify “anchor booths” – booths that attract a lot of attendees. You might want to be in the same area next year to take advantage of the crowds they draw.
PRO TIP2: Take note of how large booths are oriented. Do they have a giant wall at the back or on the west side? That will be important for future booth selection.
Connect with speakers
This is one of the most overlooked ways of networking – walking up to speakers after listening to their presentation and asking them a question. And don’t just run away after asking your one question, hang around and listen to what others are asking and how that speaker responds. Help them pack up or walk with them in the hallway. I’ve met so many interesting and knowledgeable people using this approach.
Get to know event organizers
Don’t waste quiet time in the exhibit hall by checking email. Instead, wander over to the event office or to where the onsite office for event organizers is and get to know them. Make small talk. Complement them on how everything is running smoothly. At some point during your conversation, ask them their thoughts about next year’s event.
You’d be amazed at the flood of information you’ll get. Everything from the best booth locations to the best restaurants in the area for events to the best hotels to stay at. It’s amazing what people will share when you take an interest in their work and treat them as experts (which they are).
PRO TIP: If you have a complaint or an issue, don’t bring it up in the same visit to the office when you are looking to gain their trust or get them to talk about next year’s event. Use two different visits, preferably a day apart.
Make friends with larger companies with customers who are your prospects
One of my biggest wins as a marketer came when I was able to get our team invited to an after-hours event that a larger company was hosting. The customers of this larger company were our prospects. At that event, we met over a dozen top prospects that we had been trying to book sales meetings with. That party led to an official partnership and numerous closed deals…all because I wandered over to their booth and got to know one of their representatives.
Visit local clients/partners
There have been some events where the exhibit hall has been completely empty for hours during sessions. I’ve sometimes used those times to visit with local clients or partners. This takes a little legwork prior to the event, but it can really pay off.
Most clients are unwilling to take a night away from their families to go to dinner, but a coffee in the middle of the day is much easier.
PRO TIP: show up with a box of cupcakes that your contact can bring back to their team. They don’t have to be fancy, just something that will bring a smile to their faces.
The bottom line – conferences are what marketers make of them. Get stuck in a negative feedback loop and the conference will live up to how terrible you are vocalizing it to be. Break yourself out of that rut by taking advantage of the hidden opportunities to network, conduct market research, and plan for an even better event the following year.
What other hidden opportunities have you discovered tried?
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