Enhancing HCP Engagement With a Hybrid Events Strategy

In-person events have mainly been redundant since the first quarter of 2020, and like many things in a pandemic year, events management has been altered forever.

The last twelve months saw pharma-sponsored events decline by nearly 75%¹, bringing a permanent change to face-to-face meetings, not just in terms of volume but also approach. As our world begins to show signs of tilting back on a more familiar axis, physical events are slowly returning. Yet, people are experiencing varying degrees of comfort when meeting in person, and healthcare professional (HCP) preferences around engagement are also evolving.

A hybrid approach, combining in-person with digital events, has many benefits—not least, it offers event organizers extended reach across their audiences. So how can marketers manage this new hybrid event strategy, and what should be the key considerations when planning an immersive event?

A holistic approach to audience engagement

Gone are the days of measuring events simply by the number of attendees. There is a more holistic approach to audience engagement where events, either in-person or virtual, are just one component of a whole engagement strategy. Organizations must build relationships with HCPs across all touchpoints—not solely at events—dovetailing communications and content to develop and sustain relationships over time.

A successful event should be measured on the quality of the interactions over the number of HCP attendees, their involvement and conversation in breakout meetings, their experience of the event, and, of course, their satisfaction. It’s therefore critical to be strategic and intentional with virtual or hybrid events to create an immersive experience for those key individuals an organization wants to engage with.

Consider the needs of in-person and virtual offerings and make them seamless across both, from staff in attendance, presentation and speaker requirements, to breakout sessions, invitations, and post-event satisfaction surveys.

HCPs who have invested the time and effort of attending the event should get something unique and valuable for their investment. Virtual events provide a more personalized experience and can facilitate high-value conversation—ultimately, increasing HCPs’ satisfaction rate and ensuring they see value in future participation.

Key considerations for an engaging event

There are a number of ways to build upon in-person events and create new event experiences as part of a wider engagement strategy:

• Know your audience. Firstly, track audience engagement accurately so you can see what works best and where improvement might be required to increase interaction. This will help promote your event effectively.
• Re-imagine the format. Consider what worked at a physical event versus what might work virtually to deliver a seamless hybrid event. Shorter, more personal, and targeted experiences will improve overall HCP engagement.
• Align with a broader content strategy. Make sure to link events with your broader content strategy to communicate more in-depth insights regularly, including on-demand content. Also, think about delivering content in new and engaging ways (e.g., using gamification or extended reality to bring it to life).
• Secure excellent speakers. Communicating in virtual environments requires tech-savvy, articulate individuals with strong communication skills to deliver a message and engage with the audience concisely.
• Ensure compliance. Make the most of technology to streamline and minimize compliance risks so your team can engage and manage communication effectively.
• Train staff. No matter what delivery mechanism you choose—in-person, virtual, or a combination of both—ensure all teams involved are comfortable executing the perfect event.

New advantages

Virtual and hybrid events are undoubtedly reshaping HCP engagement, providing notable benefits as part of a broader commercial strategy.

Technology delivers the ability to reach out to a much greater audience and get to know new customers in a way that in-person events are unable. It spans geographies providing a way to reach more people, deliver more resources to existing audiences, and provide an entire library of relevant, engaging content to refer to at the click of a mouse.

Additionally, the format of virtual events can change to deliver a shorter, more personalized experience that better suits attendees’ work schedules. This will also make it easier for your audience to attend more events.

For best practices for digital events from top life sciences organizations, explore our eBook “Best Practices for Virtual Pharma Events”.

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^{1. Veeva Pulse, July 2020.}