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For most healthcare IT companies, trade shows are an important component of any marketing strategy or go to market strategy. But trade show exhibit hall participation is expensive, so it is important to pick the right shows to attend. This is where healthcare IT trade show planning comes into play. Companies should reassess their trade show strategy annually to stay on top of the changing landscape.
Several factors complicate the process of trade show planning. New trade shows pop up every year that appeal to an ever-wider array of special interests. These interests can range from attracting the attention of those wishing to invest in the many healthcare IT startups to facilitating access to large health system C-Suite leaders. Healthcare IT has found its way into all aspects of healthcare. These include modalities, telemedicine, non-clinical enterprise information, and wearable devices. Compounding these decisions is the fact that many larger healthcare IT purchases are decided by a multidisciplinary team made up of technical and clinical personnel. Some trade shows attract multidisciplinary teams while others attract a narrow audience.
With all these variables, it can be difficult to identify how best to allocate one’s tradeshow dollars. Here are three effective ways to optimize your healthcare IT trade show planning:
Determine how trade show participation will support your lead generation and awareness building strategy.
Trade shows cost too much time and money for a company to maintain a presence “just because everyone else has one.” Think carefully about how each trade show will support your overall marketing and sales funnels. What is the primary purpose of attending this trade show? If your primary sales channel is OEM partners or distributors, then you need to find and attend meetings where these partners and distributors are likely to be. You can find OEM partners and distributors at most large trade shows, like HIMSS, RSNA, and ECR. Just do some research and make sure that the people you want to talk to will be there. If you sell directly to providers, you need to go to events where those providers will be, such as Health Connect Partners’ Reverse Expo.
Determine what kind of meetings are most relevant for your buyers.
There are many types of professional meetings with trade shows or exhibit halls. These include: society-driven clinical meetings, broad healthcare IT conferences, or invitation-only hospital administration meetings, to name a few. You must have a clear understanding of your primary buyer and decision maker in order to get the most out of your healthcare IT trade show planning efforts.
If a physician is your primary decision maker, then attending the appropriate clinical society meetings makes the most sense. Some clinical meetings sponsored by professional societies include:
- Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) Annual Meeting
- Society for Imaging Informatics in Medicine (SIIM) Annual Meeting
- American Society of Neuroradiology (ASNR) Annual Meeting
- European Congress of Radiology (ECR) Annual Meeting
If technical, clinical, and administrative personnel all have a say in purchasing your product, general healthcare IT meetings like HIMSS, AHIMA and Beckers Hospital Review annual meeting might be a good fit.
You need to understand who will be at each trade show. And, you need to think about what their pain points are so you can tailor your message accordingly.
Identify in advance opportunities to encourage customer presentation opportunities.
Results always speak louder than words. So think ahead about how to generate the type of results that will speak to future customers. Work with existing clients to foster clinical research that highlights some of the benefits of your product. The research findings don’t need to explicitly mention your product, and it might be more credible if it didn’t. But nurturing this kind of research with your existing clients provides an opportunity for you to promote the research to future prospects and associate your company with the findings. This requires a year or more of planning, however, so start reaching out to clients well ahead of time. While you’re thinking ahead, you should also develop show-specific messaging and marketing tactics at least 3 months before each show.
Effective healthcare IT trade show planning can result in plenty of new leads and industry connections that last a long time. Trade shows should be an integral part of your overall marketing and sales strategy. You can learn more strategies to make your trade show marketing more effective here.
If you need help developing your trade show strategy or planning your next healthcare IT trade show, please contact us. We’d love to partner with you to optimize your healthcare IT marketing.
