Congress Communications Strategy

Our Solution

To ensure the most significant impact across each of the phases, the communication strategy relied on the results of the extensive audience analysis, personas and the opportunity to spend time with the marketing team. The split between the audiences were primarily based on age – those over 40 and those under 40 – the nature of Cardiology training often requires or experiences qualifications over this threshold. These findings informed a messaging matrix with emotional triggers based on each audiences career aspirations and motivational drivers.

Moving forward, attention turned to the initial campaign messaging and its relevance to these set audiences. The overarching strapline ‘Joining forces to protect the heart’ remained a key component, while bespoke sign-offers were used to tailor the message to specific segments. This messaging and corresponding imagery became the critical pathway to reinforcing the wider narrative of embarking on a ‘journey’.

Segmented email campaigns 

The ‘journey’ narrative underpinned the overall strategy to establish Congress as a go-to platform for knowledge and education, year after year. Throughout each phase of the promotional build-up, a specific goal was outlined incorporating this theme. The phases were timed to reap abstract/late-breaking science submissions, make delegates aware of tiered pricing deadlines, and ESC Congress speaker line-ups.

Email communication was the key delivery platform, utilising the. extensive earned audience lists. By using segmenting capabilities, messaging was tailored to the outlined age groups. For those under 40, they emphasised the opportunity of gaining insights from leading cardiologists and networking during Congress, whilst those over 40 were motivated by sharing their experience with the next generation. Fellows of the ESC (FESC) were also targeted, due to their high levels of influence and strong advocacy. Throughout the campaign, a total of 47 long-form emails were sent, developed by the Marketing and Medical Writer teams.

In addition to segmented emails, a total of 29 ‘My ESC News’ bulletins were sent weekly. The bulletins were distributed to the entire, brand-level audience list with digestible information, news, ground-breaking studies, and information on other Congresses held throughout the year.

ESC across all channels

Social channels were employed as a supportive communications channel during the campaign, where the combined followership of over 519K across ESC’s Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter were served strategic content. Posts were published on these platforms to support milestones such as the announcements of speakers, deadlines for ticket pricing, and agenda for the Congress.

To make the presence on these platforms more human-centric and aligned with the ESC branding and tone, speakers and FESCs were provided with an advocacy toolkit, which included social media posts, messaging, slide templates, and other collateral. This ensured their advocacy was consistent and the strategic messaging was reinforced at every opportunity.

To amplify awareness and conversion, a strategic Paid Media proposal was created for Google Ads, LinkedIn, and Twitter which included highly-targeted, campaigns in a variety of formats. Ensuring each potential delegate touchpoint was utilised, the omni-channel approach provided key value propositions at each stage of their purchase funnel.

Drinks in the Dam

During Congress, a sub-campaign was also launched to encourage attendance to the social networking event for delegates. “Drinks in the Dam” provided a relaxed opportunity for delegates to meet and build relationships. To ensure the success of the event, a bespoke landing page, emails, and ads within the ESC Newspaper were created to publicise the value held in attending.

Throughout the entire promotional period, results were assessed through strategic monthly and end-of-phase reports. These reports provided the project management team valuable insights into where to direct reactive communications and how to best respond to user behaviours to maximise engagement.

At TMC, we take pride in our collaborative approach to communication strategies. We use behaviour data to influence performance and work with multi-disciplinary teams to create omnichannel campaigns that align with commercial objectives.

Aiming to optimise your congress or event attendance through a comprehensive communications strategy?

If you are interested in an obligation-free conversation about how we can elevate your experiential marketing, please contact us on: +44 (0)1260 295700 or email hello@wearetmc.com.