Take Advantage of CTV Advertising During COVID-19

Currently in the United States, over 180 million users access video content through connected TV (CTV) devices.¹ Content consumption has increased by 60% following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, which indicates that CTV users’ behavior is constantly changing and adapting to the times.² Advertisers across the board have taken this increase into consideration for their 2021 planning; a total of 57% of advertisers plan to increase their spending for CTV advertising campaigns next year.³

As more healthcare providers (HCPs) are following stay-at-home orders and conducting wellness visits through telehealth, healthcare marketers have a unique opportunity to use CTV advertising to reach their target clinician audience. However, healthcare marketers have been slow to act on this advertising opportunity, with nearly 70% of all healthcare advertising spend still funding linear advertising.⁴

s traditional TV continues to decline, and the use of streaming services continues to increase, healthcare marketers should consider the benefits of CTV advertising for future campaigns. A linear strategy is one in which viewers or listeners have to tune into a particular channel at a specific time to receive an advertisement, such as watching an 8pm program on cable TV.⁵

What is CTV Advertising?

CTV consists of any type of TV that can be connected and streamed through the internet, and content can be viewed at the user’s convenience as opposed to a specific time of day. CTV is a form of over-the-top (OTT) advertising—advertising delivered to viewers over the internet through streaming video services or devices—. CTV advertising has gained popularity in recent years with the rise of streaming services such as Netflix, Hulu, and Apple TV. Ads can be served before content or during traditional commercial breaks.

HCPs Use CTV Devices Now More Than Ever

The largest group of subscribers of CTV devices are those aged 30 to 44 years, (85% of whom either currently subscribe to streaming services or have in the past). A total of 62% of people aged 55 to 64 currently or have previously subscribed to streaming, a number that has increased after COVID-19.4 This is especially important for healthcare marketers targeting HCPs, as the average age of licensed physicians in the United States is 51.5

The rise of professions such as physician assistants among young people also presents an opportunity for CTV advertising to HCPs as 86% of millennials and Gen Zers watch their favorite programming through CTV.⁶

How to Reach HCPs on CTV Media

OTT/CTV advertising uses programmatic data, which reaches users on an individual level. Marketers can use data to track and then retarget HCPs with a video spot on CTV, thereby extending the reach and frequency of ads to the OTT channel. Marketers should plan for ads to target HCPs who were not exposed on linear using Nielsen or Automated Content Recognition (ACR) data, collected from smart TVs when the viewer opts in. With more precise targeting, marketers can carefully curate creatives specifically for an HCP audience.

Benefits of CTV Advertising for Healthcare Marketers

The benefits of CTV advertising for healthcare marketers during the age of COVID-19 can be broken down into 4 main sections:

Moving Forward with CTV Advertising

CTV media strategies present an opportunity for pharmaceuticals to reach their target HCP audience in a cost-friendly, specific, and efficient way. As HCPs continue to move away from cable and towards streaming services, and more HCPs are practicing medicine from their homes due to COVID-19, the opportunities for CTV advertising will only increase. Healthcare marketers would be smart to take advantage of this advertising strategy as 2021 marches into a more advanced digital environment.

“Adfire Health’s CTV advertising effectively delivers the brand message to the core target audience at volume-discounted rates and outperforms the competition.”