In the fast-paced world of healthcare marketing, understanding the impact of HCP digital engagement improves your chances for success. Engagement metrics play a crucial role in assessing campaign performance and identifying areas for improvement. Ann Kozanecke, Director of Programmatic Operations at Adfire Health, says, “HCP digital engagement metrics are the compass guiding us through our campaigns. They help us diagnose problems and reveal areas where we can optimize campaigns.”
By understanding these metrics, healthcare marketers can improve engagement by better understanding segmented HCP audiences’ preferences and executing more impactful marketing campaigns. This article explains what HCP digital engagement metrics healthcare marketers should consider to improve their display ads, landing pages, and overall campaign performance.
HCP Digital Engagement Metrics: Understanding Display Ads
Engagement metrics for display ads provide insights into how effectively your ads reach and resonate with your target HCP audience. By analyzing these metrics, you can understand whether your marketing strategies are effective, if your ad content effectively engages your targeted HCP audience, and diagnose where there may be problems. Here are some metrics to include in your measurement and reporting to help you optimize your digital advertising campaigns.
Click-Through Rate (CTR)
CTR is the percentage of people who click on a display ad. A higher CTR indicates an ad is compelling and relevant to the audience.
Conversion Rate
A conversion rate is the
percentage of users who click on the ad and complete a desired action,
such as signing up for a newsletter, downloading a whitepaper,
scheduling a demo, or requesting more information.
Impressions
Impressions are the total number of
times your ad was displayed to users. While high impressions can
indicate good visibility, they must be considered alongside other
metrics for a complete picture.
Viewability
Viewability is the percentage of an ad
that is actually visible to users on the screen. For healthcare ads, the
audience must see the core message and visuals.
HCP Audience Data
Understanding who your
engagement is coming from (license type, specialty, prescribing
behavior) can help you refine your targeting strategies.
Geographic Data
Understanding where your
engagement is coming from (geographic location) and who is engaging with
your ads (demographics) can help you refine your targeting strategies.
Device Breakdown
Knowing whether your ads are
viewed more on desktop or mobile devices helps you optimize your ads for
different platforms.
HCP Digital Engagement Metrics: Understanding Landing Pages
Landing page metrics guide healthcare marketers to optimize the design and messaging to improve engagement. Metrics like conversion and click-through rates showcase the landing page’s ability to drive desired actions. By closely monitoring these metrics, you ensure that your landing pages effectively communicate your value proposition and engage your target audience. Here are some important metrics to consider in your measurement and reporting that will help optimize your landing pages.
Users
Users are any individual who visits your
landing page. This includes both first-time visitors and returning
visitors. When someone accesses your landing page, they are counted as a
user.
Unique Users
Impressions are the total number of
times your ad was displayed to users. While high impressions can
indicate good visibility, they must be considered alongside other
metrics for a complete picture.
Conversion Rate
Unique users are a distinct
individual who visits your landing page. A unique user is counted only
once, regardless of how many times they revisit the page within a
specific time frame.
Engagement Rate
Engagement rates include
interactions, such as clicks on buttons, links, and other elements on
the landing page. It provides a broader view of engagement beyond just
form submissions.
Average Time on Site/Page
This metric tells how
long users spend on your landing page. If they’re spending more time, it
might mean they’re engaged with your content and message.
Bounce Rate
A bounce rate is the percentage of
visitors who navigate away from a website or landing page after viewing
only a single page, without interacting further or navigating to other
pages within the same site. In other words, a bounce occurs when a
visitor enters a page and leaves the website without engaging or
interacting with additional content.
Scroll Depth
If your ad leads to a longer page
(like an article or a resource page), tracking how far users scroll down
can indicate their level of interest in the content.
User Acquisition
Knowing where your traffic is
coming from (e.g., ads, social media, email campaigns) can help you
understand which channels are most effective at driving visitors to your
landing page.
Click Map/Heatmap
Heatmaps show where users click
or interact most on your ad or landing page. This provides insights into
what parts of your ad draw the most attention.
Digging Deeper: When Engagement is Low
Context matters when interpreting HCP digital engagement. For example, low engagement may not be alarming. A landing page designed for conversions will result in higher bounce rates due to its targeted nature. These pages purposely push users to partake in a single call-to-action (CTA) and offer no links outside of a page, resulting in users not engaging if the CTA doesn’t align with their intent.
Other times, having low engagement will indicate a problem that needs fixing. It requires a further look at what is happening by further analyzing ads and landing pages. In these instances, it is crucial to determine what could be going wrong.
Relevance
Review audience targeting settings to
ensure ads are shown to the right audience segments and placed on
devices, environments, and in formats those segments are more likely to
engage with. Context matters for engagement.
Mobile-friendly
Many HCPs browse on mobile
devices. If your ads and landing pages are not mobile-friendly, it will
lower engagement.
User Experience Disruption
Times when a user’s
interaction’s smooth and intuitive flow is interrupted or negatively
impacted. This can occur for various reasons, such as slow loading
times, unexpected pop-up ads, confusing navigation, or broken links.
User experience disruptions can lead to frustration and prompt users to
leave the page, resulting in a poor user experience and potentially
impacting conversion rates.
User Engagement Disruption
Situations occur when
something on a landing page hinders or distracts users from engaging
with the content or taking the desired actions. Intrusive, irrelevant,
or overwhelming elements might cause this disruption. For example,
excessive use of flashy animations, excessive advertisements, or content
that doesn’t align with users’ expectations can disrupt their engagement
and cause them to lose interest.
Conversion Impediment
A conversion impediment is
an obstacle that hinders users from completing desired actions on a
website or landing page, impacting campaign success. It can include
complex forms, unclear value propositions, slow load times, and
unoptimized mobile experiences. Identifying and addressing these
impediments is vital for improving user experience, increasing
conversions, and achieving campaign objectives.
See it in Action: Improving HCP Digital Engagement Strategy
Display ad and landing page metrics work in tandem to provide a comprehensive view of the user journey. Analyzing metrics from the initial interaction with a display ad to the subsequent engagement on the landing page can indicate areas where you can improve your campaign. Let’s look at how these metrics are interconnected and can provide insights into different stages of the conversion process.
Imagine a leading medical technology company that aims to introduce a state-of-the-art medical device to streamline patient diagnostics. They plan to launch their brand with a display ad campaign leading to a landing page designed to get demos for their product. After launch and letting it run for two months, the medical device company’s healthcare marketing team receives zero conversions. It is alarming because they needed to lower their cost per acquisition (CPA). Let’s turn to their digital engagement metrics to diagnose the problem.
First, they looked at their display ad metrics. They noticed that they have high impressions and a low CTR.
Impressions: 500,000
CTR: 0.25%
Take a moment. What do you think the problem was?
It could have been a couple of things.
- The campaign was intended to reach PCPs. Were the ads placed on devices, environments, and in formats where PCPs like to engage?
- The ad messaging didn’t resonate. The ad did not clearly articulate the value proposition for the intended PCP audience.
After looking at the data and campaign settings, the team discovered that the campaign was launched correctly to maximize engagement with PCPs but that the ad did not have a CTA to sign up for a demo. It had a flashy image of their medical technology, but nothing directed the targeted audience on what to do or why they would want to do it.
Next, the team analyzed their landing page metrics and found problems with the bounce rate, time on page, and conversion rate.
Bounce Rates: 89%
Ave. Time on Page: 30 seconds
Conversion Rate: 0%
Take another moment. What do you think the problem was?
At first glance, the digital marketing team thought the high bounce rate and the average amount of time spent on the page indicated a problem with the content on the landing page. However, the team leader reminded everyone that the landing page is designed to purposely push users to click on a “Schedule Demo” CTA and that there are no links outside the page. Given their goals, a high bounce rate and a 30-second average time on the page were appropriate.
Next, the team dug deeper into what was happening on the page to see if there was a conversion impediment. When they clicked the “Schedule Demo” button, it took the end user to a form with 30 required fields, taking over 10 minutes to complete! They noticed from their heat map that the “Schedule Demo” button had a high amount of clicks, but when the end user got to the form, no form no one took the time to complete it. They now understood what they needed to fix.
By analyzing the campaign HCP digital engagement metrics, the team was able to identify problems with the campaign and fix them. When adjusted, the campaign was a success!
At Adfire Health, we work with healthcare marketers to create optimized, highly effective, data-based digital engagement strategies. With Thumbprint™, our segmented data ecosystem of over 8.2 million healthcare professionals, we can offer direct access to healthcare professionals nationwide.
We bring our years of hands-on experience to every new campaign and work with you to get the best results possible. Contact us to learn more about what we can do for your business.
