How Did All These People Get Here? Looking Beyond Level 1 Outcomes in Live Events

Michael Baffuto, CCMEPDirector, CME Programming

Integrity Continuing Education, Inc.

Disclosure/Disclaimer

• Disclosure:– Employee of Integrity Continuing Education

• Disclaimer:– Information presented, unless otherwise noted, is

derived from my own professional experience.

Objectives

At the conclusion of this session, participants should be better able to:•Describe key considerations for developing an audience generation plan•List expected return rates for common audience generation methods•Develop audience generation plans in accordance with activity expectations and allotted budget

What Is Audience Generation?

• For clarity, audience generation in this presentation refers to promotion of a free, live CME activity to a targeted group of physicians

• Audience generation forms for discussion:– Direct mail– Email– Fax– Database marketing

Social Media

• Application of social media to CME is becoming increasingly worthwhile1

• Creates large opportunity for innovation2

• Data related to social media use by healthcare providers is inconsistent3

• Merit of social media as audience generation tool requires further investigation

• Very important to overall digital strategy, but adjunctive to traditional audience generation

1. Wang AT, et al. Mayo Clinic Proceedings. 2012;87(12):1162-1170.2. Cheston CC, et al. Academic Medicine. 2013;88(6):893-901. 3. McGowan BS. Available at: http://www.slideshare.net/cmeadvocate/utilization-of-social-media-outlets-to-enhance-medical-education-impact-0102bsm. Accessed February 27, 2014.

Expected Rates of Returns According to Google

Delivery Method Expected Rate of Return

Mail1 1%-4.4%

Email2 1.73%

Fax3 0.5%-8%

Database Marketing ??

1. Direct Marketing Association of America. 2. DMDatabases. 3. Quirk’s Marketing Research Review.

Strengths and Weaknesses: Direct Mail

Strengths• Consistent response rates• High degree of

personalization possible• Printing and database

advancements have increased ease of use

• Data is readily available

Weaknesses• Expensive• Relatively slow• Time consuming to manage• Requires heavy production

involvement

Strengths and Weaknesses: Email

Strengths• Inexpensive• Fast• Popular form of

communication• HTML affords high degree of

customization• Green

Weaknesses• Open and click rates are

imperfect measurement• Advanced production

requires design knowledge• Requires regulatory

knowledge• Have to keep opt out

records• Spam/image filters

Strengths and Weaknesses: Fax

Strengths• Highly customizable• Fast• Inexpensive• Requires less development• Quality of data well known

Weaknesses• Personalization may

increase costs• May require equipment

upgrades or outsourcing for high volume

• Have to keep opt out records• Involves Telephone Consumer

Privacy Act

Strengths and Weaknesses: Database Marketing

Strengths• Prior relationship

with recipient• Fast• Free• Possible to template• Regularly scheduled• Strong data

Weaknesses• Repeated communication

often unwanted• Not always relevant• May require dedicated staff• Requires opt-in and

management of opt-out records

Data Matters• Purge duplicates• Ensure correct names, titles, and addresses• The more cleaning you can do before sending out recruitment materials

the better• Removing inactive contacts from mailing lists goes a long way to improving

deliverability• There are services available to assure clean data, such as the National

Change of Address Service• For data purchased, expect 95% deliverability or better

– Less than 95% - change your vendor

• Highly specific data criteria will lead to exponentially fewer records

Derived from: www.frugalmarketing.com and Direct Marketing Association of America.

Registration Collection

• Make registration simple– Web forms (3 click rule!)– Toll-free phone number– Perforated mail/fax back forms

• Collect all required information at the point of registration

• Use the registration period as an opportunity to collect communication preferences

• Ask them about the method of discovery• Provide opportunity to opt in to future communication

Follow-up

• It is imperative that you follow-up with a prospective participant after they have registered– Use preferred method of contact

• Provider confirmation with all meeting details and contacts/URLs for additional information

Comparison of Registration Attrition Rates with Follow-up vs No Follow-up

Percent of Registrants who Participated in Live Meeting – Asthma Series

Date on file. Integrity Continuing Education.

Assessing the Effectiveness of Mail, Fax, and Email Invitations for Live CME Event Audience Generation

• Retrospective analysis of registration and participation data for 153 US regional CME workshops

• Methods used for audience generation:– Integrity CE internal database email marketing– Direct mail invitations– Email blast marketing– Fax invitations

• Objectives:– Which audience generation method was most successful? – Did the method of program discovery effect the likelihood of

participant attendance?

Data Inclusions

• Compared data inclusion criteria:– 1.0-2.0 hour live regional workshop activity– Primary care physician target audience– Physician registrations only

• Total programs included in analysis: 153• Total registrations included in analysis: 8,407

(4,707 participants)

Number of Invitations Sent

Date on file. Integrity Continuing Education.

Method of Registration and Discovery

Method of Discovery Method of Registration

% o

f Tot

al R

egis

trati

ons

% o

f Tot

al R

egis

trati

ons

Date on file. Integrity Continuing Education.

Audience Generation Mechanism Return Rates

Date on file. Integrity Continuing Education.

Rate of Attendance Based on Method of Discovery and Registration

Discovery Method Registration Method

% o

f Reg

istr

ants

Att

endi

ng

% o

f Reg

istr

ants

Att

endi

ng

Date on file. Integrity Continuing Education.

Cost Per Registration and Attendee By Audience Generation Mechanism

Reflective of per invite costs of $0.75 for mail, $0.275 for email, and $0.31 for fax.

Date on file. Integrity Continuing Education.

Assessing the Effectiveness of Mail, Fax, and Email Invitations for Live CME Event Audience Generation Conclusions

• Database marketing was the most effective method of audience generation and had the highest rate of attendance

• For first-time registrants:– Mail offered the highest rate of response– Email was the most frequent method of discovery– Fax invitations had the lowest cost per registrant and attendee

• Attendees who:– Discovered the activity by fax had the highest rate of

attendance, followed by mail, and email– Registered via online registration portals were least likely to

attend the session

Best Practices for Live Meeting Audience Generation

• Know your audience• Have good data, but don’t get lost in it• Give yourself enough time• Allocate adequate budget to achieve your attendance goals• Make your marketing materials the best that they can be• Set realistic expectations for rates of return• Be concerned with the correct outcome: registrations and

participants• The registration process does not end when the participant

signs up

Thank you!

Questions?Twitter: @mbaffuto

Email: mbaffuto@integrityce.com

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