2020 was a landmark year for digital health companies. Investment topped $14 billion, a short-lived record; digital health funding totaled $15 billion during the first half of this year alone. Health data and analytics represented a large part of that increase, which tells me that the broader health industry understands and is now embracing the incredible value of digital health data.
But do healthcare marketers know this?
Every year, the U.S. healthcare system generates approximately 1 zettabyte of data, an unfathomably large number that translates to the storage capacity of roughly 230 billion iPhones. That number represents an estimated 30% of the total data produced globally each year. For marketers to truly unlock the value of all that digital health data, they must partner with innovative new companies that are building the next generation of digital marketing solutions.
Digital Health Data Is the Oil; Programmatic Is the Engine
That combination of real-time data and machine learning presents an opportunity for marketers to go beyond their static target lists and improve personalization, fueling better engagement. And if digital health data is the oil for personalized marketing, programmatic is the engine.
The power of programmatic rests entirely in the potent combination of speed and data, and privacy-safe artificial intelligence and machine learning is the key that unlocks that value. Because programmatic is designed to leverage data for real-time decision-making, integrating data with its capabilities makes campaigns more intelligent, more relevant, and more impactful.
Relevance is a keyword here. When DeepIntent surveyed patients to better understand how they feel about pharma ads, 50% said they are more likely to take treatment recommendations for something they recognize from advertising.
How can data-driven personalization impact patient outcomes? Here are three real-world examples of how this is happening today.
Real-Time Optimizations
Every healthcare marketer knows that it can take weeks or even months to gauge the performance of their campaigns. That lag in measurement means more inefficiency, waste, and lower ROI.
To solve that problem, we launched DeepIntent Outcomes™ earlier this year, which makes ours the only demand side platform able to optimize advertising campaigns in-flight to increase audience quality and script performance using real-world clinical data. This patented technology empowers marketers to algorithmically optimize campaigns to drive performance against the metrics that matter most, including cost-per-reach, adherence, and total prescriptions written.
Personalization Beyond Targeting
Personalization isn’t just about targeting. It also applies to messaging. Take two high-writing HCPs who may see the same ad despite having different concerns about a drug. One HCP may find an efficacy-focused ad more resonant while the other is more concerned with safety.
AI and machine learning can predict which creative messaging is likely to have a bigger impact on each HCP’s prescribing behavior. This allows marketers to act accordingly, using that combination of digital health data and digital media to deliver the most relevant content.
Proactive Messaging
When delivering the most relevant content, consider eligibility data, which enables marketers to identify and reach HCPs who are set to see a clinically relevant patient.
Armed with that information, they can deliver deeply personalized content to the HCP during that crucial time leading up to the appointment. Unsurprisingly, this tactic is an extremely effective driver of script performance, especially compared to traditional static target list methods.
Digital Health Data + Digital Media = The Future of Healthcare Marketing
These use cases are only scratching the surface of what’s possible. I believe we’re at the “Big Bang” moment in the lifespan of this data ecosystem, and it will continue to multiply and expand exponentially in the years to come.
This should serve as a wake-up call to the entire industry. With an unwavering commitment to our core belief that marketing technology can measurably improve the lives of patients, DeepIntent continues to innovate at the convergence of digital health data and digital media.
Together, let’s challenge the status quo and embrace new data-driven solutions centered on marketing not to the past that was, but to the future that is.