Why Precision Wins in Healthcare Targeting
It was only a decade ago that the first campaign using health audience segments ran on AOL. But much has changed in a short time from a targeting perspective. While advertisers once had to buy expensive, contextually-relevant placements to reach highly qualified users, today’s improved solutions can reach key patient audiences wherever they are consuming content. In fact, high-quality segments are now up to 10x more targeted than scale segments, allowing advertisers to better reach patients throughout their treatment journey and improve media efficiency.
One size does not fit all
In recent years, the industry has been moving away from a one-size-fits-all, mass broadcast approach. Today most advertisers are trying to achieve multiple goals within one campaign – typically a combination of upper funnel awareness and lower funnel conversion – on a fixed budget.
To support this type of campaign approach, using one segment is no longer sufficient and is changing the way advertisers are executing their strategies. As Eli Fishbein, senior director, marketing science at OMD commented, “Every step of the way we are looking to find out how we can segment the audience and really maximize efficiency within each of the segments that we want to activate.”
Biopharma advertisers are increasingly using health audience segments to deliver very targeted messaging throughout the patient journey. This enables advertisers to work efficiently and reach patients closer to the point of conversion. While driving awareness using broad reach still has its place, incorporating high-quality, precise data segments allows advertisers to maximize their campaigns and elevate their brand message.
Approaching the funnel differently
What is the best way to start applying health audience segments to campaigns? Looking at the marketing funnel with a new lens can help advertisers better understand audiences and define new goals. Here are three things to consider when planning out a strategy.
Precision versus scale
More brands are benefiting from improved media efficiency by reaching relevant audiences and pinpointing very specific parts of the patient journey. This is especially advantageous when accessing precise audiences, for example, advertising a rare disease therapy or a smaller segment of a more common condition. The highest quality audience segments make it easier, and more cost-efficient, to activate this type of campaign.
Evolving audiences
The evolution of audiences plays a large part in why segmentation is necessary and requires biopharma advertisers to look at the funnel differently. It’s no longer a linear journey. “The evolution of audiences has supercharged what we can do because there’s a new granularity of how we can activate across the funnel,” said Fishbein. What does this mean for advertisers? The need to take into account “audiences within audiences” and those associated behaviors.
Diversification of media
The diversification of media has greatly affected segmentation. Even within one audience segment, advertisers need to account for different media preferences. Precise segments allow for this type of accuracy and help deliver their message across channels and devices to reach the right patient at the right time.
Segmentation can help advertisers do more across the funnel even on a fixed budget. Reach segments are there to support awareness goals. But as advertisers get lower in the funnel, precise segments are necessary to better reach relevant audiences closer to the point of conversion. With improved tools and data, brands no longer have to make trade-offs between cost, scalability, and audience quality.
Find out how Veeva Crossix Prime Segments can help you better target patients and improve media efficiency with highly qualified health audiences.