Health Union acquires Adfire Health to offer unmatched patient and HCP engagement.

Understanding Why HCP Data is a Programmatic Game Changer

Understanding Why HCP Data is a Programmatic Game Changer

The healthcare and programmatic worlds are constantly changing. HCP behaviors shift. Targeting capabilities, like third-party cookies, come and go. Ad tech companies introduce new technology—think machine learning and artificial intelligence. That said, one need will always exist: Your need to reach HCPs in the smartest way possible. You can do this HCP data.

Here’s everything you need to know about HCP data and why it’s so essential to your campaigns:

How Does Programmatic Technology Power Your HCP Campaigns?

There are a lot of moving parts in a programmatic campaign, but from a high level, the technology does the heavy lifting with automation. At the heart of this is HCP data—the third step in the illustration—which informs the technology which ad inventory to bid on. In other words, the data makes sure that you’re only bidding on impressions when an HCP in your target audience is on the other side. This is the lifeblood of programmatic campaigns and the only reliable way to get the HCP engagement necessary to survive. In fact, seventy-five percent of companies reported seeing an increase in engagement when using data.1 Furthermore, advertisers who use data-driven strategies generate 5X-8X more ROI than those who don’t.2

A healthcare professional visits a website

The website sells that impression at auction

Our identity graph enables us to pinpoint that healthcare professional

The impression is valued and we submit a bid

The highest bid wins and the ad is placed

Which Data Sources Can Power Your HCP Campaigns?

Despite the obvious need for data, however, finding the right source can be a challenge. Luckily, various data sources exist to power your campaigns.

A red and white infographic displays programmatic data sources, with icons for each source.

First-Party/HCP Data

First-party/HCP data comes from your CRM. You can also use Adfire Health’s HCP data and target by NPI, medical specialty, and more.

Contextual Data

Contextual data is based on the content of a webpage. This type of data is most commonly associated with contextual advertising.

Demographic Data

Demographic data is about an HCPs’ age, gender, ethnicity, income, education, and more.

Location-Based Data

Location-based data relates to an HCPs’ location, such as geographic region, DMA, or zip code.

Behavioral Data

Behavioral data is based on online activity and engagement (this includes third-party cookies).

Pro Tip: Always start with first-party/HCP data, but layer on additional sources like age, location, or in-app behavior, to boost your HCP campaigns even more.

Why’s HCP Data So Important?

A chart depicts the factors behind HCP data such as age, title, zip code, employer, hospital affiliation, commercial address, and medical speciality.

There’s no question that accurate HCP data is the most critical part of any healthcare campaign. The premium you should place on it will only go up as tried-and-true data sources such as third-party cookies go away. According to Statista, 80% of marketers rely on third-party cookies and collectively spend $19.7B on third-party audience data.4 According to Forrester, 37% of marketers waste spend due to insufficient data quality, while 35% suffer from inaccurate targeting—problems you can solve with the right data.3

80%

Percent of Marketers Who Rely 
on Third-Party Cookies

$19.7B

Spending on Third-Party Audience Data

35%

Percent of Marketers Who Suffer from Inaccurate Targeting

Of course, you’ll have to adjust your programmatic strategy and adopt more deterministic data. While that may seem daunting, it’ll pay dividends for years to come by giving you the ability to scale while improving efficiency and performance.

An infographic shows the benefits of incorporating a programmatic strategy.

Reliable Scaling

Improve your match rate to scale your campaigns and reach HCPs previously out of reach.


An infographic shows the benefits of incorporating a programmatic strategy.

Improved Efficiency

Save impressions and lower CPMs by targeting opted-in audiences.


An infographic shows the benefits of incorporating a programmatic strategy.

Increased Performance

Increase engagement with a precise target audience, ensuring that you’re spending on
high-value HCPs who are lower in the funnel.

Reliable Scaling

Improve your match rate to scale your campaigns and reach HCPs previously out of reach.

Improved Efficiency

Save impressions and lower CPMs by targeting opted-in audiences.

Increased Performance

Increase engagement with a precise target audience, ensuring that you’re spending on high-value HCPs who are lower in the funnel.

HCP Programmatic Data: The Smartest Way Forward

The shifting sands of the healthcare industry require you to evolve. One thing that won’t change, however, is your need for data. With HCP data, you can power your campaigns with deterministic data (also known as hashed emails) and target a specific list of HCPs based on their NPI. This is the only way to create the level of performance and cost-efficiency you need to survive for the next decade of digital.

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