Developing a Highly Targeted Annual Meeting Marketing Strategy for Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS)
CHALLENGE
The Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) has historically been the largest and most advanced health care IT conference and exhibition in North America. However, the sheer size of the conference (more than 24,000 attendees and 850 exhibitors) led some attendees to feel that it was too overwhelming and not specific enough to address their individual needs. HIMSS sought McKinley Marketing’s expertise in devising a marketing strategy that would:
- Attract more attendees from current and prospective audience segments
- Increase the number of qualified buyers in the exhibit hall
- Entice attendees to spend more time at the conference in general and on the exhibit hall floor specifically
- Enhance the value proposition for attendees and exhibitors by promoting the conference’s comprehensive offerings
APPROACH
McKinley Marketing thoroughly reviewed past research, including member needs assessments and evaluations from past conferences. McKinley met with HIMSS staff to develop a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) analysis to help the society better understand its market and core competencies. McKinley also conducted a benchmarking study to determine best practices and discover innovative strategies being used by association peers to market their annual conferences.
The information collected and reviewed by McKinley led to the recommendation that HIMSS should develop a segmented, targeted marketing approach that drove home the conference’s unparalleled educational value and networking opportunities to members and other potential attendees. McKinley developed a list of nine customer segments and created a marketing calendar specifying when a certain type of promotional message should be pushed out to a certain segment. The marketing plan also called for a different approach to how HIMSS promoted its conference. McKinley suggested the society create benefit-specific “mini campaigns” to help drive more attendees to the conference. This plan included going beyond promoting the features of the conference (i.e., networking) to promoting its benefits (the opportunity to share innovations and best practices with your colleagues).
RESULTS
Attendance at the 2008 Annual HIMSS Conference and Exhibition was the largest ever, with 29,400
attendees and 900 exhibitors. The 2008 conference, held in Orlando, topped the 2006 San Diego conference – the previous record – by a sizeable margin.
Most niche programs, such as the physician and nursing symposia, saw participation levels that were ahead of previous years. The audience mix was strong across the board with participation from core segments, including CIOs from hospitals and large hospital systems
IN THEIR OWN WORDS
“I want to thank McKinley for all the solid work they did around our conference – they added true value to our marketing efforts and the results speak for themselves!”
Tricia Spellman, Director, Marketing,
Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS)