HIMSS 2023 is right around the corner and healthcare companies are looking for the best way to standout in a sea of competitors. From beautiful trade show booths and displays to the coolest business collateral on the floor.
Trouble is, your competitors are doing the same exact thing. Instead of pigeon-holing yourself into the tried and true, it’s time to embrace the exciting and new.
Have you ever considered virtual reality (VR) technology as a marketing tool?
In this blog, we’re going to dive into why it’s time for healthcare marketers to embrace new tech and give you some cool ideas for your HIMSS campaign.
Come on, let’s give your prospects something to talk about.
What is VR marketing?
Virtual reality is a technology that immerses users into a virtual world. This allows marketers to utilize VR experiences in order to engage a target audience. Some users are able to access these environments on their desktop, while others prefer to explore using their VR headsets.
As we get deeper into the digital age, more companies are embracing the perks of using VR as a way to create unique and memorable experiences.
Companies use VR for meetings, conferences, and to engage prospective customers. Consumers use it for a multitude of reasons like socializing, gaming, exercising, and meditation. What if you combined the two use cases and created a wholly unique experience specifically catered to your target audience?
Beyond just training.
Traditionally, VR in healthcare was primarily used for medical education and training. Whether it was for medical students to explore human anatomy in a real way or for ongoing medical training for doctors.
Virtual reality in healthcare was hardly, if ever, considered for marketing purposes.
Now, healthcare marketers can use it beyond just a gamified education experience. The application of virtual reality in healthcare opens new doors and attracts new consumers by helping them discover your innovative health tech in a whole new way.
Let’s talk about how you can use it to your advantage at the healthcare event of the year.
Product demonstrations.
Picture your competitors. They have more event real-estate than you may have, they have a flashier booth, they have the ideal sales person on site to attract prospects. What do you have?
The coolest booth at HIMSS.
Instead of a salesperson demonstrating your product to prospects who feel like they’re always in a hurry, give them something to remember by plugging them into a VR headset. Let them test your product in a virtual environment that feels real, and find a way to gamify that experience.
For example, let’s say you’re a wearables company that specializes in helping patients complete their physical therapy exercises at home. You can immerse your prospect into your virtual world and let them test your wearable as if they are the patient. Let them try a five minute meditation, or let them explore the features while playing the part of the patient or the doctor.
If you want to revolutionize patient care, you’ll have to revolutionize the demo experience first.
Instead of selling by telling, show them what you are capable of and etch your company into their memory.
Conferences and happy hours.
One of the coolest ways to use VR for marketing is by replacing that boring webinar with an awesome VR experience.
Remember, executives in the healthcare industry are used to getting invitations to webinars. Your competitors send them just as frequently as you do. Why not invite prospects to a virtual reality conference for healthcare professionals?
The best part about augmented reality and virtual reality is that the possibilities are endless. You can literally share processes in real-time, letting attendees try their hands at that new pain management technique.
Try handing out invitations to your VR conference while at HIMSS. Add it to the cool business collateral that you’ve got planned.
VR conference tips
Creating your own VR event doesn’t have to be overly complicated. Start small, with a small event featuring a speaker or two and a networking session.
A great platform for this is Spatial, a vr app that allows users to create their own interactive spaces. They offer several templates for various spaces where you could host your event.
Another interesting idea is to create a portal in your event space to an existing NFT gallery within the app. This way, you won’t have to build your own networking room; you could simply portal your attendees to the new area, barely lifting a finger in the process.
There are two things that you will absolutely need to make your VR conference dreams come true:
A designer who is familiar with Spatial
A great marketing campaign announcing the limited attendee space.
By making your virtual reality conference exclusive, you don’t have to charge a fee to make it feel legitimate. Trust us, this will give your prospects the coolest conference experience they’ve ever had, minus the need for a webinar or slideshows.
<div class="c-blog_comp-cta cc-component-1"><div class="c-blog_comp-cta-left"><div class="c-blog_comp-cta-left-wrap"><img src="https://global-uploads.webflow.com/61cdf3c5e0b8155f19e0105b/636952abeac0579dfd5606c1_Current-clients.png" loading="lazy" alt="" class="c-blog_comp-cta-left-img"></div></div><div class="c-blog_comp-cta-right"><div class="c-blog_comp-content"><div class="c-text-wrapper cc-mb-32"><div class="c-title-4 cc-bold"><strong>Ready to engage your audience on a whole new level?</strong></div></div><div class="c-text-wrapper"><div class="c-text-2">Stay ahead of the latest design trends and stand out in your market, no matter how saturated it is.<br><br></div></div></div><div class="c-blog_comp-wrapper"><a href="/2022-life-changing-design-trends" target="_blank" class="c-button cc-primary cc-inverted w-button"><strong>Download Latest Design Trends</strong></a></div></div></div>
Make your company unforgettable.
Virtual reality is one of the most innovative technologies to come out of the digital age. It’s time for healthcare marketers to embrace thinking out of the box and solidify their place in prospects’ memories.
Take your HIMSS experience to the next level by investing in a VR headset or two to have at your booth, or host your own virtual reality happy hour.
Ready to take your healthcare marketing to the next level?
