AI Is Just a Buzzword Until It Works: Inside a 16.7% Cost Win for Butler/Till

PulsePoint’s annual HealthNEXT Summit focuses on the most pressing issues health marketers face today. This year’s summit, hosted in New York City, was a high-impact, single-day event where the industry’s top doers, thinkers, and innovators came together to discuss how health marketing is changing and what they can do to future-proof their strategies.

This post is part of a series of the top takeaways from each of the summit’s sessions, including expert-led panels and innovation breakouts.

3 Key Takeaways from HealthNEXT’s Breakout Session with Butler/Till and IQVIA Digital

Everyone in marketing has sat through an AI pitch this year—the hype is real, but are people getting the results they wanted? Using PulsePoint’s Adaptive Optimization, Butler/Till was able to close that gap between buzz and real results.

To explore these results, PulsePoint Associate Director of Product Marketing Katherine Bialczyk was joined by experts from Butler/Till and IQVIA Digital for the breakout innovation session, “AI Is Just a Buzzword Until It Works: Inside a 16.7% Cost Win for Butler/Till.” These are the top takeaways.

1. Butler/Till Put the AI-Powered Adaptive Optimization to the Test 

PulsePoint’s Adaptive Optimization is an AI tool powered by healthcare signals that enables users to optimize campaign delivery in real time and reduce waste. Butler/Till wanted to put this technology to the test.

• With support from IQVIA Digital as an independent measurement partner, Butler/Till used a rigorous A/B test structure to see if Adaptive Optimization could help them improve audience quality for one of their campaigns.
• “As marketers, we’re always being asked to do more with less,” said Kristie Murphy, Associate Director of Programmatic at Butler/Till. “So we wanted to know whether AI would actually find better patients or it was just redistributing spend within the same noisy pool.”
• To test Adaptive Optimization, they looked at the same third-party audience segments, applying the AI tool in one campaign setup but not the other.
• Alongside CPM, Butler/Till looked at efficiency, CTR, site visits, and AQI, specifically noting improvements compared to their control group.
• “It’s not about clicks anymore; it’s about audience quality, and it’s about getting in front of the right people,” said Kit Burkus, Solution Sales Director at IQVIA Digital. Then, she added, you can look at whether those people are actually taking action.

2. Results Showed Adaptive Optimization Delivered on Every Front

The results of Butler/Till’s experiment were clear: The campaign tactic using Adaptive Optimization saw improved metrics across the board, indicating a notable increase in audience quality.

• Butler/Till saw a 16.7% cost decrease, double the AQI, and 20% higher average frequency.
• “An increase in frequency by over 20% and the cost dropping by 16.7% — normally you trade one for the other. Adaptive Optimization delivered both for us,” said Kristie.
• These results indicated not only better efficiency but also better audience reach, meaning Butler/Till was reaching the relevant audience more often, while directing spend to the highest-value consumers.
• “This is truly a way to isolate the impact of AI,” Kit said. “You have the same audience, the same campaign, the same measurement framework … To see this sort of improvement so quickly without that manual intervention is huge.”

3. Go a Step Further With the PulsePoint and IQVIA Data Dashboard

When implementing these DTC campaigns, one of the biggest challenges is waiting for the data and insights you need to make campaign optimizations. Thanks to a new partnership between PulsePoint and IQVIA Digital, marketers will no longer need to wait for DTC campaign data.

• PulsePoint is the first healthcare DSP to have a fully integrated IQVIA dashboard that delivers clinical insights directly in the platform.
• “You want every dollar to go further. Now, this is a way that your biggest scale driver can become more efficient,” Kit said.
• Users can set up their own A/B tests and enable real-time, AI-powered optimizations that allow them to pivot quickly in their DTC campaigns.
• “Trust that the data is working, that Adaptive Optimization is working, but verify in real time with the IQVIA dashboard,” Kristie said. 

PulsePoint’s Adaptive Optimization was built to close the gap between AI hype and real results for healthcare marketers. Users at Butler/Till saw reduced spend and increased audience quality compared to their traditional tactics. Try it out for yourself; schedule a demo with us today.

Keep an eye out for more posts diving into each of the topics we discussed at HealthNEXT 2026. Want to be involved in our next event? Contact the team here.