By Sophie Dawson – Senior Account Director at Inizio Evoke
Long gone are the days when pharma congresses were just in-person events. Today, they are complex ecosystems with hybrid attendees and a myriad of channels competing for attention.
To cut through the noise, pharma companies must engage healthcare professionals (HCPs) throughout the entire congress journey, from registration to the weeks after the event.
The temptation for many is to focus on the in-person elements, like booth design. But there are other, less conspicuous, touchpoints that can make a huge difference in terms of engagement.
At Inizio Evoke, we often work alongside our partners, Emota, part of Inizio Engage XD, to ensure the congress experience is maximised from start to finish. To help address the balance between the live event and the surround sound engagement, we’ve outlined tactics that can be employed to turn a single congress into a continuous engagement platform.
Pre-congress:
Congresses offer HCPs a rare opportunity to take time away from their clinical practice, to learn about the latest scientific advances in their specialism, and to network with their peers.
Whether attending in-person or virtually, HCPs will begin curating their congress agenda weeks in advance, prioritising what promises the most value. How do you make your brand part of that decision-making process?
Start the omnichannel journey
To prime the audience for the congress, creating multiple omnichannel touchpoints helps to build awareness and familiarity before the event. Introducing key themes and data on the platforms HCPs use – like email, social media, online portals – helps shape their agenda by reinforcing your brand’s relevance at key decision points.
Build anticipation
Create excitement around what you’re sharing at the congress with teaser digital content, like short-form video and soundbites from key speakers. Give your audience a reason not to miss it, using storytelling to develop an emotional pull.
Establish ongoing dialogue
Inviting key HCPs to pre-congress webinars or roundtables to preview content that will be available to them at the congress helps start the conversation early. High-priority HCPs can use the insights to plan their congress agenda.And, in turn, HCPs’ feedback on the clinical relevance of the data or educational needs can help shape the medical affairs strategy and congress booth content. These early, exclusive interactions help foster more personal relationships with HCPs and enable more focused, strategic conversations at the congress.
During Congress:
Once the congress whirlwind descends, HCPs will be battling tight schedules, fatigue, and potentially, cognitive overload. That means they will be looking for relevance, convenience, and emotional connection.
The brands that cut through the noise will do the following things successfully. And crucially, they won’t forget the virtual delegates that cannot attend in-person but are equally eager to absorb the new insights on offer.
Micro-personalise
Micro-personalisation is the marketing term given to using real-time, contextual, and behavioural data to deliver hyper-relevant content to your audience.An interesting example of micro-personalisation in action was seen at ESMO 2025, where delegates who attended the congress centre address in their Uber app began receiving targeted ads related to the congress. This was possible because Uber shared location data with ad networks, triggering geofenced campaigns.
By thinking about every moment an HCP engages with the congress environment, pharma companies can create surprisingly impactful interactions.
Elevate the virtual experience
Many HCPs are unable to attend congresses in person due to time and resource, but sadly, 68% feel that virtual attendees are considered less important [1].
To bring virtual attendees into the room, pharma companies can livestream key sessions and share snappy summaries to keep them up to speed.
The congress outcome HCPs value most, after medical education, is networking. Creating opportunities for virtual delegates to connect with other experts will set your brand apart.
Elevate their experience through facilitated networking, via curated matchmaking or themed breakout rooms. Or live Q&A sessions with KOLs or reps can offer virtual delegates the spontaneous discussion they might miss out on while not physically at the booth.
Synchronise the experience
To help keep up with the rapid pace of the congress, omnichannel comms help you stay visible by pushing out live updates and reminders about sessions or booth activities across multiple channels. They also bring virtual delegates along for the ride by mirroring and amplifying what’s happening physically in the digital space.
Post-congress:
HCPs will leave the congress inspired but fatigued, and most of what they learned risks fading fast without reinforcement. Additionally, HCPs are unlikely to immediately apply new insights, so timely follow-up ensures content remains front-of-mind when clinical decisions arise.
In fact, 90% of HCPs say access to follow-up content helps them apply new medical approaches more effectively [2]. End their congress journey on a high note with these tactics:
Curated follow-up
The pace of an HCP’s work will not slow down once the congress is over, so ensure the content you share post-congress is relevant to boost engagement. Use congress attendance data to segment HCPs by specialty, interests, and engagement level, and then curate follow-up content based on sessions attended, questions asked, or booth interactions.
Extend learning
Offering HCPs an opportunity to apply their new knowledge is a way to drive behaviour change. Short-form explainer videos, interactive CME-modules or case studies all tied back to the new insights shared at congress will ensure they are more quickly influencing clinical decision-making.
Close the loop
A well-executed post-congress strategy doesn’t rely on a single channel - it uses a coordinated mix to keep the conversation going. Like email campaigns that feature session highlights and links to on-demand content. Social media video snippets can also reinforce key messages. As well as personalised decks and follow-up materials for your sales reps so they can close the loop through 1:1 engagement.
Measurement
Congress success is often judged retroactively and anecdotally. It’s understandable – a study by Inizio found that 56% of surveyed pharma professionals described the congress planning process as “complicated”, “chaotic” and “disorganised” [3].
In the manic run-up to a congress, energy and resource is piled onto getting the content and booth ready. But when, on average, 30 – 40% of a pharma company’s annual marketing budget is spent on congresses, you want to demonstrate real impact [3].
The tactics outlined above are all inherently measurable. But before you set out to do anything, defining clear objectives for the congress will ensure your strategies help achieve the overarching goal. And to stretch your ROI further, planning for pre/post testing cycles will highlight what works (and what doesn’t) so you can refine your approach for future congresses.
At Inizio Evoke, we help connect the moments that collectively make a meaningful congress journey. And with our suite of capabilities through the Inizio network, we empower our clients to navigate every stage of the congress planning process.
Ready for a more powerful HCP engagement strategy? Start a partnership with us here.
References
[1] IPCAA. HCP Congress Experience Report 2023. https://www.ipcaa.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/AEE-IPCAA-HCP-Congress-Experience-Report-2023-FINAL.pdf
[2] IQVIA. Generating Measurable Congress Impact. https://www.iqvia.com/blogs/2025/04/generating-measurable-congress-impact
[3] Inizio. Congress Report 2024. https://26499318.fs1.hubspotusercontent-eu1.net/hubfs/26499318/Inizio%20Master%20general%20images%20and%20site%20resources/Inizio_Congress_Report_2024_FINAL.pdf