My conference dos and don'ts

One of my clients asked me for my conference dos and don'ts. These quick takeaways should be useful for any marketer as we wrap up the spring conference season and prepare for late summer/early fall. 

Don't sweat the small stuff.

Booths don't arrive. Your giveaway is missing. Don't panic. You can still have a great show!

 

Don't eat at your booth.

Mpmph mphmff mpff? No, they won't understand you either as you eat lunch.

 

Don't take giveaways unless you're a prospect.

Do you really need that screen cleaner? If you're not a prospect for the vendor, pass on the free stuff.

 

Don't forget to thank hotel staff.

They can be your best friends at a show. Thank, and reward, appropriately.

 

Don't come unprepared.

You don't know what city you're in?

 

Do smile!

It goes a long way to attracting people into your booth.

 

Do keep your best giveaways hidden.

Pens on the table. Lightsabers underneath.

 

Do make new friends.

Conferences are reunions, but expand your network and prospects.

 

Do dress like you're meeting your mother.

Keep it classy and professional.

 

Do expand your presence at the show.

You're likely one of a dozen vendors. What does the show offer to stand out?

Lights, camera, action!

There’s nothing more powerful than hearing directly from a customer about why you should choose a vendor’s products or services. Many treatment centers and other organizations targeting behavioral healthcare professionals feature such written testimonials on their Web sites, but these quotables have been made almost irrelevant by the power of video.

Yet it’s surprising how many treatment centers and other vendors do not use videos from alumni, referral sources, customers, key staff, etc., on their sites. True, many feature video tours highlighting the grounds and interviewing some key staff, but many fail to employ their most powerful marketing tool: word-of-mouth marketing straight from satisfied customers.

Think about your own buying/referring behavior. Text and static images definitely help build a picture of an organization’s mission, vision, and offerings, but a video helps build emotional connection. Any behavioral healthcare purchasing or referring decision is inherently rooted in emotions, as everything ultimately should tie back to providing exemplary care for people in need. 

Here are some of my favorite videos helping to establish this emotional bridge with an online visitor:

• EHR vendor Welligent produced a video in which one of its customers describes why the company is a valued partner: http://www.behavioral.net/video/video-case-study-foothill-family-service-transforms-their-organization-through-implementation
• The first 30 seconds of this video of Judy Crane describing The Refuge is exceptionally powerful: http://www.addictionpro.com/video/refuge-healing-place

Of course, when featuring an alumnus in a video, several ethical considerations need to be taken into consideration, including the person’s sobriety history and time since discharge. Other vendors need to ensure that a customer remains happy and satisfied, as these video interviewees should be open to being contacted to serve as references. 

Video has many other uses as well, such as to promote an organization’s own thought leadership, which Medivance has been successfully doing for some time through its Behavioral Health Today series.

One final note on video: Yes, we all have iPhone and Android devices that make capturing video relatively easily. Yet video of your customers, referral sources, staff, etc., needs to be of the highest quality, and that requires professional production. When using video to build emotional connections, don’t skimp on quality.

How many nail clippers does an attendee really need?

At a recent conference a marketing director of a drug testing company watched in dismay as an attendee grabbed a handful of her complimentary nail clippers without asking to speak with her or taking any literature. She politely requested the attendee take only one, and later wondered how many nail clippers someone can possibly need. Unfortunately, such attendees are all too common at any conference, and avoiding them is impossible.

Yet marketing directors can take measures to ensure that certain attendees don’t exploit their goodwill—and that giveaways serve as a meaningful source of lead nurturing.

Display only a few items at a time. By displaying all of your mugs, pens, and doodads at once, you’re a tempting target for someone who is shopping for office supplies. Instead, display only a few items at a time, inviting attendees who stop by to take one. Although fanning out all of your pens looks attractive, it invites people to take multiple.

Keep the best items under the booth. Your premium giveaways, such as an attractive tote bag or travel mouse, are best kept out of site. For those attendees who stop by and engage in a meaningful conversation, a memorable takeaway for a memorable dialogue is a fair exchange. 

Provide giveaways that reflect your mission. I’m continually amazed how many treatment centers tout their programs' emphasis on nutrition yet unashamedly display a bowl of candy.

Don’t forget about post-show mementos. Attendees’ bags are weighed down by brochures, pens, and other tchotchkes. To stand out from the crowd, why not send a reminder of a conversation or the venue after the show. One idea would be to send a branded item from the venue’s gift shop to highly valued leads/prospects.

It’s OK to say no. I think it’s bad form for a vendor to take another exhibitor’s giveaway, unless there is a potential business relationship. I wouldn’t hesitate telling another exhibitor that the items are for attendees only—they should understand! Similarly, it’s OK to tell venue staff that your items are for the conference attendees. After all, anything you leave behind at the end of the show is fair game.

For assistance in choosing a marketing tchotchke, here’s a link to a humorous infographic on the subject.  

Why brands matter

Addiction treatment marketing is heavily focused on leads. How many people did you meet at a conference? How many calls is our Web site generating? How many referrals do business development professionals generate every month?

Often lost within this constant focus on “heads in beds” is the power of a treatment center’s brand. Executives dismiss branding as a "costly" exercise, focusing on just "leads," as if these concepts are somehow separate.

At last month’s Admissions and Marketing Symposium in Delray Beach, Florida, opening keynoter Andy Dischmann reminded attendees that brands foster emotional connections with customers, referral sources, consumers, and communities. Brands have power and build expectations, and strong brands carry their emotional connection throughout the entire consumer experience.

As an example, Dischmann asked the audience members who had an Apple product what they remember about the packaging in which they received their iPhone or iPad. Most recalled it was white, and of high quality. Unwrapping that device is exciting, made more powerful through the high quality of the box itself. In contrast, I wonder if Android owners readily recall what the box their phones came in looked like.

Of course, addiction treatment is not about gizmos in boxes, but Dischmann’s comments still ring true. A solid brand is so much more than a logo and a color palette. A brand is a marketing tool and a lived experience. It’s a passion that needs to be conveyed by everyone working for an organization, from the driver, to the front-line clinician, night tech, and medical director. It's a philosophy that needs to be carried through marketing brochures, the color of the paint on the walls, and the way someone answers the phone. You can generate all the leads you want, but if you don't have a solid brand behind that effort, ready to shepherd a family and consumer through the brand's desired experience, the lead-generation efforts will ultimately be unsuccessful.

To test your own brand’s depth in your organization, ask yourself and colleagues what four adjectives best describe your company. Dischmann says everyone in an organization with a healthy brand will be able to answer that question quickly and with the same answers. If you’re like me, the answers were not immediately forthcoming from me or my co-workers.

Marketers often share with me that their executives don’t understand the importance of branding, but perhaps that’s because branding has often been positioned as a static, non-ROI-generating, graphic-design-focused exercise. Yet branding can and will generate ROI, if implemented strategically and methodically. Brands that are nurtured and promoted do breed loyalty, trust and, in the case of referrals, return business.

Dischmann’s presentation reinvigorated my passion and interest in building a strong brand. I would encourage all marketers to consider undertaking similar efforts, as having a strongly shared brand that inspires loyalty and trust certainly will make anyone’s company stronger and ultimately more profitable. 

And when everyone is sharing a brand experience, on the same page and living and breathing the mission, with common identifiers such as logos and images serving as visual cues, going to work everyday is simply so much more rewarding. 

Dos and Don’ts for Conference Season

The spring conference season is almost upon us, and it’s a good time of year to consider some dos and don’ts when preparing for this year’s events.

Do insist on booth etiquette. Marketing directors should insist on proper booth behavior when attendees are in the hall, such as no eating at the booth, limiting time on devices, avoiding sitting, and so on. It’s easy to revert to these behaviors, particularly when hall traffic is slow, but attendees certainly will not engage with a rep when his attention is on appetizers or his iPhone.

Don’t display your best giveaways. Most exhibitors have some sort of trinket at their booth to grab attention. Unfortunately, sometimes a vendor will display a high-priced item (relatively speaking) that attendees will often take when their representatives are engaged in conversations or not at the booth. Instead, I recommend placing higher-priced giveaways under the booth and presenting them to attendees who have a meaningful conversation with a rep. For example, an insurance company might have branded umbrellas at the booth as a nod to their coverage, but such relatively higher-priced giveaways should be reserved for attendees who take time to learn about the company’s policies.

Do attend sessions. If your reps have time, it’s always advisable to attend a session or two, particularly a keynote. Attendees are engaged in content, and to be able to reference their main reason for attending the conference helps build dialogue. For example, consider this conversation starter: “I saw you in this morning’s keynote. Wasn’t that comment on the babies in the river startling?” (This is in reference to an actual panelist’s comment during an addiction treatment conference last week.)

Don’t focus only on friends. For reps on the road frequently, it can be comforting to fall into a habit of hanging out with friends in an exhibit hall, having dinner together, etc. Networking and relationship nurturing is certainly good business, but it’s always important to be finding “new friends” at conferences. A rep’s time might be better spent answering e-mails over takeout in the evening in his hotel room rather than hanging out with peers for the fourth time this year, if dinner with “new friends” isn’t an option.

Do use social media. Many conferences do not release a pre-event attendee list, but that doesn’t mean prospecting can’t begin until a rep is onsite. If a conference has a Twitter hash tag, keeping an eye on who is attending and who is “making noise” can lead to onsite meetings. Many larger conferences have Twitter display boards, and a few quick tweets can provide you free advertising at the show.  Outreach through LinkedIn to prospects in the area provides a rep a “good excuse” for stopping by while in the area—and hopefully the targets will be at the show. If not, why not offer them a pass on you?

These are just a few dos and don’ts I’ve noticed over the years. I’d be delighted to read your own in the comments section.

'Reciprocal referral relationships': Why this term raises red flags

Every so often I will see a LinkedIn post from a treatment marketer seeking to build “reciprocal referral relationships.” Such language, although usually well meaning, makes me cringe.

Treatment marketing is a business—but it is a business involving health, wellness, and matters of life and death. “Reciprocal” has an “I’ll scratch your back if you’ll scratch mine” undertone, which might be fine in other industries but is jarringly out of place in a discipline that prides itself on individualized care. Of course, treatment marketers will develop referral relationships with professionals and centers they trust, which have demonstrated an outstanding level of care and impressive outcomes. Yet at the end of the day, the decision to refer should be based on a client’s individual needs, not on fulfilling a “reciprocal referral relationship.” 

Imagine the uproar, and subsequent investigations, if a primary care provider shared on social media that he was looking for “reciprocal referral relationships” with hospitals or specialists.

Similarly, if I were a family member investigating treatment options, claims of “reciprocal referral relationships” would likely give me pause. And if I were in South Florida, where government officials are increasing their scrutiny of treatment operators, I definitely would remove it from my vocabulary.

Some might argue that there is no inherent problem with seeking such "reciprocal" relationships if no money is exchanged, but from a public relations perspective announcing an intention to form such alliances could likely create headaches--legal and otherwise--down the road.

Treatment marketing involves relationship building, as an ethical organization recognizes it cannot serve the needs of all clients and refers those who are inappropriate to others. Yet the decision needs to be based on the client’s own needs, not “reciprocal” relationships. Treatment marketers definitely should build networks of trusted professionals for clients, but announcing the intention to build “reciprocal” relationships immediately raises red flags.

'Tis the season of meaningless e-blasts

'Tis the season of meaningless e-blasts.

Last week treatment center after treatment center deployed e-blasts with just one message: Happy Thanksgiving. While I certainly appreciate the sentiment, these organizations are actually doing themselves a disservice. I’m a firm believer that whenever you engage your list, you should provide meaningful content and messaging. “Happy holidays” and similar messages clutter in-boxes and lead to quick deletes, no matter how cute or clever the graphic. They can irritate e-mail oversaturated list subscribers, increasing the possibility of a higher unsubscribe rate or the risk that recipients will ignore your message next time when you have something truly meaningful to say.

This does not mean, however, that you shouldn’t wish your valued referral sources, customers, etc., holiday warm wishes. If you truly want to stand out, send a card the old-fashioned way—through the mail. Sending a generic card with no signature or personal message, however, is a no-no. At a minimum, the card should have a signature from a team member that closely works with the recipient, and a brief “Wishing you a warm holiday season” or similar language demonstrates you actually do care. Everyone knows that sending holiday cards is time consuming and a lost art—which makes receiving personalized cards all the more memorable and important.

Remember the holiday spirit—it’s not the packaging or gift that matters, but the thought behind it that truly counts. Honor and acknowledge your best relationships with an authentic message, not a meaningless e-blast.