Your Beginner’s Guide To Healthcare Event Planning in 2023
Healthcare events and conferences make up a large segment of the world’s conference market. This is understandable now since the explosive growth of digital health investment has declined from $29.3 billion in 2021 to $15.3 billion in 2022 due to uncertain global markets. It has become the priority of healthcare companies and organizations to prove the value of their new insights on healthcare advancement and patient care, through events, to secure much-needed funding.
However, M.D. and medicine specialist Bertalan Meskó who attended hundreds of medical meetings and conferences has noticed that such events are lacking vibrant conversations and exciting insights about the future of medicine. Clearly, healthcare event planners need to take a more modified approach when it comes to healthcare event planning so that they can be successful.
Fortunately, at Superevent we know what it takes to plan and manage a triumphant science-based event. So, in this article, we’re going to take you through how you can elevate your healthcare event planning strategies to gain more attendees and emphasize your value to the industry.
What is Healthcare Event Planning?
Healthcare event planning is the careful process of creating and managing an event surrounding the healthcare industry. This process is not a one-off activity to prepare for the event but also considers post-event strategies, such as staying in touch with attendees, keeping your sponsors happy, and emphasizing the valuable insights discovered at the event.
Healthcare and medical conferences have always been highly anticipated events that bring together healthcare professionals, researchers, and other interested parties to network and gain knowledge on new scientific research, future advancements in medicine, and better patient treatment outcomes. They should include opportunities for discussion, consultation, collaboration, problem-solving, and networking.
Traditionally, medical conferences have been in-person events; however, in a post-pandemic world, this has shifted to the organization of virtual and hybrid events. Thus, healthcare event planners need to be more mindful of incorporating the right digital practices and strategies when it comes to planning these special events.
For example, the Annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference is one of the largest virtual conferences centered around the importance of healthcare investment. Attendees include global healthcare industry leaders, technology creators, emerging healthcare companies, and members of the healthcare investment community.
Why is Event Planning Important for Healthcare Events?
It enhances your organization’s reputation
A well-planned event often stays at the top of people’s minds. Your attendees won’t only discover valuable insights from your healthcare event, but they’ll also remember that it was your organization that provided such a pleasant and engaging experience for them.
When you have a stellar reputation, especially in the healthcare industry, you’re more likely to secure funding for research, product development, or educational programs that will further your organization as an industry leader.
It showcases your creativity
As we previously mentioned, healthcare conferences tend to be lacking in creativity, which loses the interest of valuable healthcare professionals and potential investors. With a solid and creative plan, you can avoid including boring speeches and bullet-point-filled PowerPoints that make your event forgettable.
The goal is to make a positive impact on your attendees, get them excited about the future of healthcare advancement, and encourage them to believe that your organization is progressive enough to provide value to the healthcare industry. It all starts with how you present your ideas and how you engage your audience.
For instance, using Superevent to create a unique mobile event app specifically for your healthcare event can help boost your engagement to where you want it. Your attendees, whether in-person or virtually, will be able to stay on track with what’s happening and participate in all the exciting activities you’ll have lined up.
It gives your attendees more time to decide
Healthcare conferences are not last-minute events that people, no matter how professional, will spontaneously decide to attend. This is because, at their core, they are educational events that are intended to further the industry in a valuable way, so attendees will have varying expectations.
By planning and promoting your event about 12 months in advance, you give attendees time to consider if it is worth their while. During this time, they can learn more about your organization, any of your medical research or industry contributions, and if the topics you’re covering at your event are relevant to their specific interests.
How to Successfully Plan Your Next Healthcare Event
1. Develop a clear purpose for your event
The healthcare industry is extremely broad, so for the right people to attend, you need to make sure the purpose of your event is clear.
For example, the annual Digital Healthcare Innovation Summit gathers health professionals who want to learn about and participate in discussions on digital health innovations and investments. This event’s purpose is clear and consistent and often attracts professionals in the digital health space as well as those who want to know more about it.
If the purpose of your healthcare event seems too common or uninteresting, not many people will see the benefits of being a part of it. Your purpose, topics covered, speakers, and entertainment should be fresh and relevant to your target attendees.
2. Invite the right speakers
Choosing the right speakers for your event is crucial to the overall success of your healthcare event. The caliber and reputation of your speakers can attract the audience you need and encourage exciting discussions and panels that make your event a much more enjoyable experience.
Before looking into which speakers to invite, you need to establish the specific topics that will be covered at your event. This is how you’ll know who’s actually qualified to be considered and if they will be able to convey your overall conference message well.
Here is a checklist you can use to make sure you invite the most suitable speakers for your event:
- Research their experience working in the healthcare industry
- Watch the speeches they’ve done before
- Read up on their testimonials to see how audiences resonated with them
- Consider their cost
- Check out their professional social media to see if they often promote events they are booked for
If you want to find some big industry speakers, you can consider using resources such as Keynote Speaker and Gomo Health to make your search a little bit easier.
3. Choose the right event management platform
The healthcare industry itself has become more digitized, so using technology in various facets of your event will definitely be a plus. Whether your event is in-person, hybrid or virtual, your attendees will be able to navigate better what’s going on and interact with each other much easier through your unique event app.
There are a variety of event management platforms that offer different features. However, Superevent is a reliable platform that’s available to help you create an event app for your event so that you can simplify your planning tasks, such as registrations, ticketing, payments, floor plans, abstract management and check-ins. Not only that, your attendees will be able to live stream sessions and gain access to video breakout rooms, 1-on-1 messaging, Q&A message boards, and voting features to boost your event engagement.
4. Include exciting activities
Of course, a healthcare conference is a professional event, but that doesn’t mean it has to be bland. You want to make sure your event is valuable as well as memorable in the best way, and you can do this by creating exciting break sessions. This will give your attendees a necessary mental break from the seriousness of the event sessions.
Some great activities you can consider are:
- Live music entertainment
- Group activities to enhance attendee collaboration
- Organize Kahoot quiz competitions relevant to the event topics and include prizes for winners
5. Market your event
Marketing your event doesn’t mean just creating digital flyers and sending out emails to a specific email list. Healthcare is a prestigious industry, and your event marketing should reflect just how prestigious your event is.
Utilize relevant social media channels such as LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to spread the word to your potential attendees.
You can also create attractive content attached to your event, including infographics, videos, white papers, and articles. This will help you to develop some positive buzz for your event before it even starts, and it gives potential attendees adequate information to decide if your event is the right one for them to attend.
To ensure your event content marketing is well received, it should be:
- Relevant – both to the purpose of your healthcare event and to your attendees
- Intellectual – give a glimpse into the valuable insights your attendees will learn from your event
- Sensorial – when it comes to videos, make sure your visuals tell an impactful story
- Emotional – your content should illicit genuine emotions from your potential attendees, making them want to be a part of your event so they can also make a difference
Elevate Your Next Healthcare Event With Superevent
Healthcare events provide effective avenues for sharing and dissecting the latest medical and scientific insights to all important stakeholders. This is why hosting these events is crucial to the positive progression of the healthcare industry. We understand the burden that healthcare event planners face, and we hope our short guide has given you the perfect starting point to begin planning your next event.
With that said, we shouldn’t forget the importance of using the right event planning software to ensure your event runs smoothly. Superevent helps healthcare event organizers create fully customizable and unique web and mobile apps for their special events. You’ll be able to manage your team as well as provide your attendees with a fully immersive and engaging experience–all from one platform.
Want to test it out? Create an event for free and see just how much value you can bring to your attendees!
