Optimizing Your Communications Strategy for Success at Healthcare Industry Investor Conferences

With some of the biggest investor conferences of the year approaching, it is crucial that your company is optimizing your communications strategy to engage with target stakeholder audiences while making the most of your time. Remember that the fall investor conference season leads quickly into the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference on January 13-16, 2025. Check out the valuable insights, trends, and tools from last year as you plan to maximize your experience in 2025 and optimize your communications strategy for success at healthcare industry investor conferences.

Investor conferences offer a unique opportunity to connect with numerous potential investors in a single day or just a few days. These investors are highly qualified with a deep understanding of both the industry and likely your science. Attending these events in person gives companies the opportunity to strengthen relationships with existing investors, attract new investors, and provide updates on milestones while addressing specific investor questions and getting a broader glimpse into the landscape through their eyes.

Start with Clear Goals

To start developing a conference plan, your team must determine whether the time and travel commitment aligns with the company’s goals. These could include:

• Assessing your current shareholder base and whether you need to shift the breakdown of types of investors
• Analyzing investors who have positions in competitive companies
• Reviewing current and prospective investors who are attending the conference
• Weighing the opportunity for a company presentation during the conference

Craft a Compelling Story

Investors need to understand not only your science but also the business potential behind it. This means you must articulate a clear, concise, and compelling narrative about your company’s goals, pipeline, and market potential. Key elements of your story should include:

• Why does your company exist, and where is it heading?
• What sets your science or technology apart from competitors?
• Highlight past successes, ongoing developments, and what the future looks like.
• Why should investors invest in your company now?

Convey the “Why” Behind Your Company’s Vision

It’s important to convey the ‘why’ behind ongoing interactions and emphasize what sets your company apart. The LHS Immersion® process helps emerging and established companies develop clear, impactful messaging and positioning and aligns investor, corporate, and brand positioning with your company’s mission, vision, and identity, forming the foundation of a robust conference plan.

Advanced Outreach is Key

At most investor conferences, the bank organizing the conference will set up meetings on your behalf, but there is an additional opportunity to do your own outreach and set up additional meetings. For instance, you are attending an investor conference in New York, and you have current investors or prospective investors who are in New York. This is a great opportunity to reach out to let them know you are in town and to see if you can meet with them.

Be sure to review your investor tracker to jog your memory on investors that you planned to follow up with. An investor tracker is a must have to keep track of all the investors you have met with along with notes on what was discussed and next steps for follow up. This list can also be used for follow up outreach when you have a news or a milestone that you want to update them on via an e-mail campaign.

Polish Your Non-Confidential Investor Deck

Your presentation should be polished, engaging, and backed by data. Investors are bombarded with information, so it’s critical to keep your presentation current and concise while covering essential topics:

• Present your technology and pipeline progress with clear, easy-to-understand visuals. Use infographics and medical descriptions to break down the complexities, and keep the audience engaged.
• Provide a well-researched overview of your target market opportunity, including potential for growth and competitive landscape.
• Share key financial metrics like revenue projections, cash runway, and funding requirements. Include a clear ask if you’re seeking to raise capital.
• Highlight any progress made toward key milestones including regulatory approvals and the timelines for clinical trials or product launches.
• Save your final presentation on your local drive and bring along a backup on a memory stick.
• While you will use your investor deck in your company presentation, consider pulling it up for your one-on-one meetings particularly if it is a new investor. If you are meeting with an investor who already knows you, consider pulling up only those slides that provide an update from the last time you talked.

Schedule Strategically

If you plan to do your own outreach and set up some of your own meetings, start early by developing a target list of existing and prospective investors. Remember to review your investor tracker to make sure you don’t miss anyone.

When you are scheduling your meetings, plan for 30-minute meetings. Be sure to find out how much time you will need in between meetings for travel and book accordingly.  If you have a particularly packed schedule, divide and conquer meetings with your executive team. Ensure that they are all prepared and aligned with your company messaging. Taking the time to train your team in consistent and engaging messaging and strategic positioning elevates the management team and company among your target stakeholders.

Be sure to leave extra time for impromptu meetings and on-the-spot networking. Be sure to check out and mark your calendar for networking events during the conference.

Enhance Visibility with Media and PR

Investor conferences provide a valuable opportunity to increase media visibility. If your company is presenting at a conference or has achieved a significant milestone like  a new partnership, clinical milestone, or product launch prior to the event, it’s a great time to issue a press release and announce the news at the conference.

Reporters often attend investor conferences. These events are important sources of information about companies, industry insights, and markets, and journalists cover them to report on financial news, corporate strategies, market trends, and investment opportunities. However, given the number of companies attending these events vying for attention, developing a media strategy and reaching out ahead of the event is key.

Leverage social media platforms like X and LinkedIn to monitor journalist posts about attending conferences. At the conference, plan to share live updates, behind-the-scenes insights, or key takeaways from the conference, elevating your executive team as thought leaders on the cutting edge of innovation.

Follow Up!

Timely follow-ups can be just as important as the event itself. Remember to send your personalized follow up emails within 48 hours of the meeting. Be sure to recap any key points from your conversation or offer additional insight or materials based on your conversations. The goal is to keep the conversation going to further develop the relationship, so be sure to request a follow up call at the right time. If the investor says they want an update around a particular milestone, set a broad expectation for when that may happen and let them know you will stay in touch. If you have an e-mail update contact list, ask them if they would like to be added. Remember to keep in touch regularly by sharing company news or inviting them to company events.

Public Company Disclosure Risks

Public company disclosures are essential for transparency, but they can have several pitfalls. Public companies must balance transparency with caution, ensuring that they provide accurate, timely, and understandable information while adhering to legal and regulatory requirements. Consider these areas when planning for public company disclosures:

1. Selective Disclosure
2. Overly Optimistic or Incomplete Information
3. Complex or Opaque Disclosures
4. Timing Issues
5. Legal and Compliance Risks
6. Information Overload
7. Insufficient Risk Disclosure
8. Forward-Looking Statements

Remember:

• Be prepared to discuss your company’s recent financial performance, strategic goals, market opportunities, risks, and outlook.
• Anticipate investor questions and prepare detailed, honest answers. Be transparent about both opportunities and risks. Investors will appreciate candid responses.
• Clearly communicate the most relevant KPIs to investors. Ensure you can explain how your business decisions align with these key metrics.
• Be prepared to explain how your company stacks up against competitors, including how you manage competitive pressures and plan to innovate or defend your market share.
• Be cautious when providing forward-looking guidance, but make sure to offer a realistic and transparent view of future expectations. Investors value guidance that is rooted in concrete plans and achievable targets.

Developing relationships with investors takes time, persistence, and endurance. By approaching investor meetings with preparation, focus, and curiosity, you can attract attention and extract meaningful investor insights to enhance your company’s vision.

LaVoieHealthScience is powerhouse of diverse and specialized thinkers with deep domain expertise. We excel in messaging, positioning, investor relations, corporate communications, marketing, and PR. As part of the health and science ecosystem, we stay ahead of industry to skillfully guide clients in meeting tomorrow’s needs. We have developed and executed conference strategies for hundreds of clients.

If you are looking to elevate your presence at upcoming events, let’s talk. Contact us at hello@lavoiehealthscience.com