Posted by How Waiting Rooms are a Prime Conversion Tool for Marketers
All that time spent in the waiting room of the medical or dental office is a prime opportunity for healthcare advertisers to reach potential customers with their message. And they’re capitalizing on it.
Point of Care – or POC – advertising is becoming one of the hottest locations for healthcare organizations, and a growing segment of an ad-spend niche that now represents a billion dollar market.
For the first time, members of healthcare’s Point of Care Marketing Association (POCMA) officially exceeded $1 billion in point-of-care revenue last year, a 16% increase over 2023. However POCMA President, Nicole Divinagracia, estimates that figure is probably even higher.
This is because data shows that in a waiting room, captive patients are more likely to not only read or watch related marketing materials, but their conversion rate is far higher.
A recent study from the analytics firm, Veeva Crossix, revealed that patients exposed to both digital and POC ads were a whopping “200 times more likely to convert.” The same data demonstrated that while POC advertising represented just 14 percent of media investment, it generated 35 percent of new patients.
According to Divinagracia, POC marketing has moved “from a supporting tactic into a strategic cornerstone for healthcare marketers.”
Supporting this claim is a recent Ipsos study in which 74 percent of patients who were exposed to posters, brochures, or videos while in a medical office said those were the “most effective tools” in helping them understand and manage their health issues.
Following behind POC media were health websites or blogs, which connected effectively with 56 percent of respondents, television at 31 percent, social media with 15 percent, podcasts at 14 percent, and radio at 6 percent.
Point of sale ads positioned within the healthcare environment of a medical facility seem to carry more credibility with customers than ads viewed outside those parameters.
“Unlike open digital platforms, where pharmaceutical ads risk appearing next to controversial or irrelevant content,” POCMA said in a press release, “POC media operates within a closed network, preserving both patient trust and brand reputation.”
Pfizer’s Senior Director of Integrated Media Strategy – Primary Care, Kelli Diveley, was also quoted in the press release lauding POC media. “As we continue to hone in on strategies to reach the right patient at the right time, POC continues to be the cream that rises to the top.”
Previous to 2024’s record making figures, POCMA reported that point of care revenue grew 171 percent from 2019 to 2023. Can it maintain this explosive growth rate for healthcare marketers? Read the full story here.