Top 10 Healthcare Performance Marketing Insights for 2025

As we embark on a new era in healthcare marketing, True North remains committed to being at the forefront, driving growth and innovation for healthcare organizations. We've gathered critical findings from our recent webinar to guide you through the evolving landscape of healthcare performance marketing.

1. Diversifying the Media Mix

In the dynamic world of digital marketing in healthcare, relying solely on one channel is no longer sufficient. Diversifying your media mix is essential due to the constant shifts in platform performance and the emergence of new opportunities. While pay-per-click (PPC) advertising remains a vital component for lead generation, it's crucial to integrate various advertising strategies to prevent diminishing returns and maximize your reach. Healthcare marketers must consider their diversification strategies carefully to avoid spreading budgets too thin. Working with an agency that can put together thoughtful testing plans around media innovation opportunities is key. 

Key takeaways:

• PPC Efficiency: PPC continues to be a highly effective channel for generating leads at scale, providing targeted visibility and measurable results.
• Explore Other Formats: Venture beyond traditional PPC and explore other formats, such as Demand Gen, Performance Max, and video ads on platforms like YouTube and TikTok. These formats can capture different audience segments and engage users in unique ways.
• AI's Role: Artificial intelligence (AI) is revolutionizing user interaction online, emphasizing the need for a diversified media approach and sophisticated measurement strategies. AI-driven tools can help you analyze data, optimize campaigns, and personalize user experiences.

2. Implementing A/B Testing

A/B testing is more than just running occasional experiments; it's about establishing a scalable, repeatable methodology to derive statistically significant results. By systematically testing different variations of your marketing elements, you can identify what resonates best with your audience and refine your strategies accordingly.

Key takeaways:

• Isolate Variables: For accurate results, test only one variable at a time. This method allows you to pinpoint the exact cause of any changes in performance.
• Document Findings: Maintain a comprehensive historical record of all A/B tests conducted. This documentation serves as a valuable resource for informed decision-making and helps you avoid repeating tests.
• Run to Relevance: Achieve sufficient market saturation before concluding A/B tests. This process allows for ample time to gather enough data to accurately represent your target audience's behavior.
• Be Guided by Data: Confirm that test plans are both necessary and impactful based on performance marketing insight and potential impact on your business. 

3. Adapting to Meta's Changing Landscape

Meta (which includes platforms like Facebook and Instagram) constantly evolves its policies and algorithms, which can significantly impact healthcare advertisers. Meta is increasingly categorizing healthcare advertisers and limiting the use of sensitive data for targeting. Therefore, adaptation is essential to navigate these changes effectively and maintain campaign performance.

Key takeaways:

• Categorization: Meta categorizes businesses to limit the sharing of sensitive data, which can affect targeting capabilities.
• Event Naming: Use generic event names to avoid triggering categorization and potential limitations.
• First-party Data: Develop a robust strategy for collecting and utilizing first-party data for targeting purposes. First-party data, such as customer information and website interactions, is invaluable in the face of changing data privacy regulations.

4. Embracing Connected TV (CTV)

As advertising options on streaming platforms become more accessible and affordable, connected TV (CTV) is rapidly becoming a valuable tool in your toolbox. Plus, audience media consumption is changing, and more and more of your target audience will likely consume CTV instead of cable. We can also deploy programmatically, leveraging propensity-modeled audiences and first-party targeting capabilities, making this a much more precise form of traditional TV advertising. 

Key takeaways:

• Audience Habits: Gain a deep understanding of where your target audience consumes media to guide budget allocations across platforms. This includes identifying the specific streaming platforms and shows they engage with.
• Blend Budgets: Consider shifting a portion of your traditional TV budget to CTV to enhance targeting capabilities and reach cord-cutters.
• Programmatic Placement: Utilize programmatic buying to enable nuanced audience targeting on CTV platforms. Programmatic advertising allows you to automate the buying and selling of ad space, making the process more efficient and targeted.

5. Blending Digital and Traditional Communication

Effective communication in healthcare performance marketing requires a balanced approach, blending digital and traditional methods to cater to diverse patient preferences. Patients have different communication needs and preferences, so offering a range of options is essential.

Key takeaways:

• Urgent Matters: 42% of patients prefer phone calls for urgent issues, highlighting the continued importance of traditional communication channels.
• Reminders: 58% of patients appreciate text or email reminders for appointments and other important information. This statistic suggests that providers can improve patient adherence and engagement by leveraging digital methods.
• Call Centers: Establish or confirm a strong call center experience to handle urgent inquiries and provide excellent customer service efficiently.

6. Prioritizing Local Search Results

Accurate local listings are crucial for patients seeking immediate care options and new healthcare providers. Local search results play a significant role in helping patients find nearby clinics, hospitals, and other healthcare facilities.

Key takeaways:

• Accuracy and Control: Maintain up-to-date Google listings to avoid misinformation so patients can access accurate information about your services.
• Strategic Importance: Local listings are foundational for visibility and patient trust. Accurate and complete listings can improve your search ranking and attract more local patients.

7. Investing in Advanced Analytics

Advanced analytics provide deeper insights into marketing performance, essential for a diversified media strategy. By leveraging advanced analytics tools, you can gain a more comprehensive understanding of how your marketing efforts are performing and identify areas for improvement.

Key takeaways:

• Attribution Models: Utilize sophisticated attribution models to understand the influence of various channels on conversions. Attribution modeling helps you allocate credit to different touchpoints along the customer journey.
• Transparency and Data Access: Challenge partners to provide data transparency and collaborate internally to facilitate access to relevant metrics. Data transparency and access are essential for making informed and strategic decisions. 
• Strive for Micro-Optimizations: Through transparent measurement solutions, you can pinpoint media opportunities to creatives, audience targets, ad groups, and more, enabling micro-optimizations and test plans that lead to significant performance gains over time.

8. Improving Your Website

Your website is the central hub for many patients' healthcare journeys, so optimizing it for usability and relevance is paramount. A well-designed and user-friendly website can enhance patient engagement, improve satisfaction, and drive conversions.

Key takeaways:

• Performance: Aim for quick load times (under three seconds) to retain and prevent users from abandoning your site.
• Online Booking: Cater to the 64% of patients who prefer booking appointments online by implementing a user-friendly online booking system.
• Design Simplicity: Favor simple, accessible designs to improve user experience and make it easy for patients to find the information they need.

9. Maintaining Privacy and Compliance

With increasing concerns about data privacy in health care, organizations must adhere to stringent regulations and prioritize patient trust. Protecting patient data is a legal requirement and essential for maintaining trust and building strong relationships with patients.

Key takeaways:

• Secure Channels: Use secure messaging and data handling methods to protect sensitive patient information.
• Training: Regularly update and train staff on compliance standards so everyone understands their responsibilities and adheres to best practices.
• Tech Stack: Evaluate each layer of your MarTech stack for HIPAA compliance and verify that your media and agency partners comply.

10. Embracing Large Language Model Optimization (LLMO)

As AI transforms search behavior, optimizing content for large language models (LLMs) is crucial for visibility. LLMs are becoming increasingly sophisticated and influencing how information is retrieved and presented in search results.

Key takeaways:

• Content Formats: Focus on creating lists and "best-of" content, as AI overviews often favor these formats.
• Measurement: Use specialized tools to track and evaluate visibility in AI-powered search results.
• Techniques: Implement strategies such as fine-tuning and prompt engineering to enhance the relevance of content. Make sure it aligns with LLM outputs and user queries.

Cracking the Code to Healthcare Performance Marketing

True North is dedicated to pushing the boundaries of healthcare marketing. By focusing on performance, making data-driven decisions, and staying ahead of industry trends, we aim to provide our clients with exceptional results.