Boosting Abstract Submissions & Expanding Global Reach for SfN 2025
Category
Industry
STEM
How a multi-channel campaign helped SfN exceed its abstract submission goal by 111% and grow international participation, led by 287% growth from Japan.
Overview
SfN's Call for Abstracts forms the core of its Annual Meeting's scientific program, but the organization needed to expand global reach, understand user behavior on an externally managed portal, and stand out in a crowded digital advertising landscape. Here's how a coordinated multi-channel campaign helped SfN exceed its submission target by 111%.
Program impact
111% Of the budgeted abstract submission target achieved
Process change
65K Total visitors to the abstract submission page from ads
Scalable growth
2X Click-through rate achieved, more than double the industry benchmark
Introduction
SfN hosts the world's largest gathering of neuroscientists each year, with abstract submissions forming the core of its scientific program. To ensure maximum participation for the 2025 Annual Meeting, SfN partnered with the RQ Marketing Team to launch a comprehensive digital campaign combining paid advertising, strategic recommendations, and abstract portal user flow insights.
Challenges
SfN needed to expand global reach, drive strong abstract submissions, and stand out in a competitive digital space, all while understanding user flow on an external portal and balancing performance across multiple ad channels.
Maximizing Abstract Submissions
Abstract submissions are the foundation of the Annual Meeting. Driving high portal traffic and ensuring researchers not only started but completed the process was critical.
Optimizing Multi-Channel Spend
With campaigns running across multiple ad platforms, the challenge was balancing performance across platforms, testing new ad types like Google Display, and achieving ROI in line with industry benchmarks.
Reaching Global Audiences
SfN needed to expand awareness beyond the United States, engaging researchers across diverse geographic regions while maintaining cost efficiency.
Understanding the User Flow on an External Platform
Since the abstract submission portal was managed externally, the team had to analyze user behavior without direct control over the platform, understanding friction points, identifying retention patterns, and making informed improvement suggestions.
Standing Out in a Competitive Digital Space
The campaign ran during a period of high digital advertising activity, with many organizations competing for attention among the same academic and research audiences. Success required compelling creative, sharp targeting, and urgency-driven messaging that cut through the noise.
Inefficient Optimization Strategies
Ad creative and audience-targeting strategies lacked the sophistication needed to meaningfully improve performance over time.
Solution
RQ Platform's marketing team's multi-channel strategy combined search, display, and social advertising with testing on niche research platforms, supported by user flow analysis of the external portal to guide future improvements.
Multi-Platform Paid Campaign
An integrated campaign ran across Google Ads, Meta, LinkedIn, and ResearchGate. Branded search terms were emphasized for high-intent users, while new Display Ads expanded visibility on YouTube and scientific sites.
Expanding Awareness With Display and Video
Awareness was expanded using the Google Display network across YouTube and science-related sites, introducing the Call for Abstracts to a wider audience while cost-effectively building visibility in neuroscience and related research communities.
Reaching Targeted Academic Audiences
Social advertising was tailored by platform: Meta focused on university affiliations, job titles, and international audiences, while LinkedIn targeted professionals in healthcare, higher education, and research sectors across key U.S. regions.
Testing New Research Channels
ResearchGate was added as a niche academic platform, with multiple ad variations tested to refine messaging, deadline-driven creative proved most effective at motivating researcher engagement.
Analyzing Portal User Flow
Although the submission portal was externally managed, the team provided analysis and recommendations on user behavior, reviewing each step of the process for insight into retention and future improvement opportunities.
Implementation of Conversion Tracking
Robust conversion tracking was put in place to track user progression and continually optimize campaign performance.
Geo-Targeted Campaigns
Campaigns were geo-targeted based on conference locations, enhancing relevance and engagement for local audiences.
Results
Exceeded Abstract Submission Goals
The campaign surpassed expectations, reaching 111% of the budgeted target for abstracts submitted, ensuring a strong foundation for the Annual Meeting's scientific program.
Advertising Outperformed Industry Benchmarks
Paid media consistently exceeded expectations across channels: Google Search ads achieved CTRs above 5% (surpassing the 3%–5% benchmark), LinkedIn delivered a 2.2% CTR (more than double its 1% benchmark), and ResearchGate achieved a CTR nearly double its regional average.
High Submission Completion
The campaign drove strong engagement with the Call for Abstracts page — nearly 9 out of 10 users who began a submission completed every step, underscoring a smooth and effective user experience.
Expanded International Reach
Year-over-year growth was strongest in Japan (+287%) and Canada (+72%), while the United States grew nearly 38%, strengthening both domestic and global participation.
ResearchGate Validated as a Niche Channel
Though smaller in scale, ResearchGate Ads recorded a CTR nearly double the platform's regional average, proving effective for reaching specialized neuroscience audiences.
Reporting and Analytics
Comprehensive tracking enabled robust reporting and actionable insight for strategic decision-making, with reliable tracking mechanisms supporting ongoing adjustments and performance improvements.
"I'm highly impressed with the marketing team, their extensive knowledge and invaluable recommendations have significantly improved our campaigns." - Dori Gedris, Director of Marketing, Society for Neuroscience
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