How to Future-Proof Post-HIMSS Annual Conference Content with Moore's Law

Your content could be past its sell-date.

I've been involved in many technology marketing sectors over the years, but I've seen none that come to quite the crescendo as healthcare IT at the HIMSS annual conference. Aside from the obvious commercial benefits, the conference is unique in that it acts as a 40,000-person focus group for understanding how conent resonates and how much insight can be extracted as a result.

Despite the need to develop content that has long legs, the incredible market noise at the annual conference has a way of shifting the trajectory of products and messaging. Before and during the conference, HIT marketers need to ensure that their content is at its peak, and afterwards, they need to be able to complete a content marketing evaluation and recalibrate those messages based on their reception in sessions and in speciality pavilions.

Moore's Law of Content: Why You Need to Analyze and Refresh Your Content Repository

Those old enough to remember Gordon Moore from Intel will recall this law: The speed of transistors or chips will grow exponentially every two years, and those unable to keep up with that velocity of change (or change of velocity) will become obsolete.

And in many ways, the content related to these technologies must move faster than the evolution and launch of the technologies themselves. In our content audits and analyses, we often see content inventories made up of content from two to three years ago, and we're forced to inform these companies that they've fallen victim to, what I like to call, "Moore's Law of Content." In order for content marketing efforts to provide any return, they need to be up to date and reflective of the current market.

So does this imply that you must totally replace all of your content every two years? Absolutely not.

Your content assets should always reflect the most contemporary snapshot of your market segment, but this doesn't always mean creating entirely new content; you may find that some of your better content may need a simple refresher to protect the original investment. On the other hand, less-than-compelling or uncontemporary assets must be totally retired and replaced with new material.

Fortunately, the upcoming HIMSS conference will provide the opportunity to validate the efficacy of your new content in the months leading up to the show and in a face-to-face setting during the event. After you've attended, you need to complete a content marketing evaluation and carefully measure the response to your content to understand what's working well, what could use updating and what should be put to rest for good.

10 Questions for Analyzing Post-HIMSS Annual Conference Content 

As you conduct your post conference analysis, consider the following key questions:

1. Did my pre-conference and onsite content resonate by driving customers to our exhibits and events?
2. Did competitor content strategies attract and target the buyer collective more effectively than my own?
3. Did new content themes and buyer personas emerge during the sessions and specialty exhibits?
4. Is my post-conference content strategy developed specifically for the variety of customer behaviors that occurred during the show?
5. Is there prescriptive content that maps with these behaviors?
6. Did my content throw the “data exhaust” and insight I expected to measure ROI?
7. Does marketing’s vision for the success of the content align with the views of the salesforce?
8. Which emerging marketing technologies could I leverage from my observations on the show floor (Virtual reality, augmented reality, holograms, interactive customer experiences with social media, etc.)?
9. Do I have the ability to do this competitive analysis myself or could HIMSS quantitative and qualitative data be leveraged for further prescriptive content development?
10. Do I need a partner to help me avoid random acts of content and ensure the future-proofing necessary to prevent falling victim to Moore’s Law?

If you ask yourself these 10 questions and find that your content sell-by date is well past its expiration, there are a number of things you can do to refresh your content assets for a more relevant and successful campaign. Look for missed content opportunities, trends you haven't touched on, areas for improvement and under-performing assets for ideas on optimizing your content for next year's conference.

We understand that taking inventory of your content for effectiveness and relevance isn't always easy, but HIMSS Media Lab has the second set of eyes you need to discover gaps. Contact us today to learn more about how we can help with a content marketing evaluation and future-proof your content.