American Animal Hospital Association

The American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA), established in 1933, serves both veterinarians and pet owners by striving to elevate animal care standards through accreditation and education. One of their key initiatives is AAHA Con, an annual conference that gathers top professionals in veterinary medicine for networking, thought leadership, and hands-on learning. However, in the wake of Covid-19, conference attendance lagged and recovery was slow. To revitalize engagement and meet attendance goals, AAHA partnered with Paragon Digital.

Challenge

AAHA faced the difficult task of rebuilding excitement and participation in its flagship event. Traditional channels such as email and direct mail were no longer generating the needed response, and with the next conference just months away, AAHA urgently needed a strategy to boost attendance. Paragon Digital was tasked with finding new ways to reach both current and past attendees, maximizing the potential of existing membership lists and digital channels to re-engage their audience.

Strategy

Paragon’s first step was to craft a comprehensive digital advertising strategy for the upcoming conference, utilizing multiple platforms including Google, Facebook, and LinkedIn. The approach targeted both current AAHA members and non-member veterinary professionals, ensuring broad and relevant reach.

Membership List Targeting: By leveraging AAHA’s existing membership database across ad networks, Paragon delivered tailored ads highlighting the unique value of in-person learning, networking, and team-building opportunities. Many lapsed attendees simply needed a timely reminder of the personal and professional benefits the conference provided.

Google Search Campaigns: Highly targeted keywords related to veterinary conferences drove qualified traffic to the event page.

Remarketing Ads: Ads were deployed across Google and Facebook to re-engage website visitors and keep the event top-of-mind.

Results

The impact was immediate. Ads began generating increased interest and traffic from both members and the broader community of veterinary professionals. Remarketing and automated emails further supported engagement, promoting important milestones such as early-bird discounts, registration deadlines, and hotel booking windows.

The turnaround was dramatic: The 2023 event came close to selling out—just a year after being at risk of cancellation due to low interest. This momentum carried into 2024, with attendance surpassing previous rlevels even as media spending was reduced. Digital ads and targeted outreach have proven vital in reigniting excitement and participation, restoring AAHA Con to its role as a must-attend event for the veterinary field.

72k

Veterinarian Professionals REached

>70%

of traffic to Event site from digital ads

40k

Members reached

By engaging prospects and past attendees, Paragon restored the AAHA conference to pre-COVID levels.