The Effectiveness of Reaching Local Healthcare Consumers with Streaming TV

Author: Keith Norman, Head of Enterprise Sales, Premion.

With the kick-off of open enrollment season, healthcare is top-of-mind for many consumers. The healthcare industry is undergoing an accelerated shift towards the consumerization of healthcare with a heightened focus on the patient-centric experience — from the convenience of scheduling, payment, and reimbursements to the care itself. In fact, Forrester predicts that, while in-person healthcare will continue to increase, telehealth will still account for 440 million visits in 2021.

Today’s consumers have greater health awareness and are more focused on self-care — and they’ve also embraced the convenience of visiting a retail clinic instead of their primary care provider (PCP). According to a May 2021 Morning Consult survey, 35% of adults have received care at a retail health clinic during the pandemic, while 55% said they plan to do so in the future.

To capture the hearts and minds of health-focused consumers, healthcare marketers are rethinking their media mix and evolving their message to emphasize how they’re improving the patient experience to drive growth. With the spiraling growth in streaming TV viewers, savvy healthcare marketers are increasingly vying for the attention of this highly engaged CTV audience. Thus, healthcare advertisers are seizing the growing opportunities to reach an engaged streaming audience that’s highly receptive to receiving brand messages of health, safety and care.

• According to the latest eMarketer reports, this year 82% of U.S. households are projected to be CTV households and the average time spent per day streaming on a connected device will be about 50% compared to the average time spent watching television.
• A July 2021 MRI-Simmons Cord Evolution study found that 82% of those who have visited or consulted with a doctor or healthcare professional for an office visit in the last 12 months are OTT viewers, and 70% watch ad-supported OTT; 83% of those who have opted for a video chat/telemedicine are OTT viewers, and 71% watch ad-supported OTT. Additionally, nearly one third (28%) of OTT viewers have taken an action after viewing healthcare advertising in the last 12 months.
• BIA forecasts 2021 OTT spending in health will reach $118.3 million, rising to $255.2 million by 2025 — with most of the health media spending coming from Hospitals, Physicians/Dentists/Chiropractors, and Pharmaceutical and Medicine Manufacturers as the leading sub-verticals.

As a highly localized business, healthcare marketers need to reach consumers where they live and work, and ads need to be contextually relevant and well-targeted. The addressability of CTV enables healthcare businesses to target local audiences at scale — and they can target by designated market area (DMA), states, zip codes, and combine geo-targeting with interests and behaviors.

Healthcare marketers need a trusted CTV advertising partner that can execute locally in reaching the right consumers at the household-level, track conversion, and reduce wasted impressions.

Premion is a proven partner in driving measurable outcomes for many healthcare brands. We have successfully executed a multitude of campaigns for healthcare clients across local, regional, and national health and medical services businesses.

Download “A Marketers Guide: The New Rules Ahead for Streaming TV Advertising” for more insights on driving CTV advertising success. 

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