How Sequential Messaging Elevates Healthcare Advertising

Digital marketing is as fragmented in healthcare as it is in every other industry. 

A proliferation of devices and channels means there are any number of touch points, messages, and creatives at a given time (and some simultaneously) that healthcare advertisers can use to reach their target audiences. But trying to guess which touchpoint, message, or creative to activate for which user and when can lead to wasted time and ad spending on unengaged, uninterested audiences. As a result, healthcare advertisers must explore other strategies that prioritize reaching engaged, high-value individuals, whether focused on HCP or DTC marketing.

In this blog, we'll explore in greater depth a popular marketing strategy in programmatic called Sequential Messaging.

The Need for Advanced Digital Marketing Strategies

We know that health consumers' and healthcare professionals' media consumption patterns have evolved. 

Both audiences now use digital means to explore educational content and treatment advice on health conditions at home and work. This challenges healthcare advertisers to cut through the digital media noise with relevant messaging. Every brand engaged in digital marketing to DTC and HCP audiences needs to consider the volume of exposure each individual encounters daily, which may or may not be relevant to them. They also need to consider the importance of a quick, relevant message that stands out from the masses. And let’s not forget that digital marketing isn’t (or at least shouldn’t be) done in a silo—there is broader omnichannel engagement to consider when deciding which message to send to which user and when. 

These challenges require more precise and effective marketing engagement strategies at every stage of the digital marketing funnel. One such marketing strategy is Sequential Messaging.

Sequential messaging automatically delivers creative sets in a specific sequence or order, taking a target audience through a personalized journey based on their omnichannel engagement with media and/or a brand’s website. Sequential healthcare marketing campaigns offer a unique opportunity for both upper- and lower-funnel engagement in a single marketing campaign, as target audiences are brought through multiple creatives for each buyer journey stage, allowing for personalized messaging at every phase. At the same time, these personalized sequential marketing messages serve as chapters of the broader brand story, making this strategy an effective way to present cohesive brand messages.

Sequential messaging also enables brands to re-engage audiences within days or even hours of showing interest, instead of months post-flight. This sets the stage for orchestrating next-best engagement (NBE) strategies and an optimal omnichannel health journey via marketing campaigns. 

The Significance of Sequential Messaging

When asked what the most effective content strategy is, marketers worldwide said always-on, personalized targeting and scheduled brand storytelling was essential. Sequential messaging combines all these techniques in one healthcare marketing campaign, enabling brands to bring a target audience through a scheduled creative series for personalized messaging at each buyer journey stage. Statistically speaking, audiences prefer this type of engagement over others, especially if the sequential marketing messages they receive help reduce the need to search for the right products or solutions that fit their needs.

Therefore, sequential messaging also keeps brands from wasting time and ad spend on unengaged, uninterested audiences as they continuously filter out of automated targeting. It also accelerates conversion opportunities as engaged, high-value individuals are quickly retargeted with personalized creative for their unique stage in the buyer journey.

Sequential messaging ties with geo-targeting as the #1 advanced creative marketing strategy marketers use worldwide. According to the Innovid, advanced creatives increased ad engagement by 335% compared to standard formats. However, the same study found that less than half of advertisers in the US leverage advanced creative strategies like sequential messaging as a part of their engagement strategy. And even fewer global business managers worldwide feel they are successfully achieving omnichannel personalization, reports Statista.

This makes sequential messaging an untapped resource for brands looking to increase engagement with target audiences by streamlining communication and personalization. It also provides an avenue for following up with NBEs because new marketing messages are based on how users responded to the last marketing message. Depending on the user’s behavior, the brand can determine how and when to re-engage, retarget, or follow up on other media. 

For instance, when target audience members click on an awareness-driven ad, they can be instantly nurtured by related content across other channels. This process not only enhances awareness with brand-relevant audiences but also increases the likelihood of audience consideration, and ultimately brand trial.

With the right sequential messaging tool, brands can also measure results in real time to optimize outcomes and leverage insights on audience engagement and interests for smarter re-engagement opportunities on adjacent omnichannel healthcare marketing campaigns.

Comparing Traditional and Sequential Marketing Campaigns

Healthcare advertisers generally have two choices when it comes to digital marketing campaign execution: 

1. Activate traditional marketing campaigns that prioritize channel, tactic, and KPI performance achievement, which is mostly advantageous for awareness-focused campaigns, or 
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2. Activate sequential messaging campaigns that deliver a series of related messages to target audiences based on their real-time brand interactions to guide prospects from awareness to interest and conversion. 

Traditional campaigns require marketers to analyze multiple campaign results to get the insight they need on ready-to-convert audiences. This might sound fine in theory, but it takes time to execute and analyze in practice. In addition, when this analysis is not done in real time, marketers risk losing their ability to reach their target audiences at the right moment—sometimes as long as 30 to 60 days after they indicated interest in the brand. 

In contrast, sequential messaging campaigns require a single setup, setting the stage for related and relevant creative delivery based on the audience’s real-time brand interactions. Unlike traditional campaigns that consistently target the same audience throughout a campaign’s duration, sequential campaigns begin with broad target list exposure, then dynamically identify and focus targeting only on actively engaged individuals. This approach optimizes exposure and reach by concentrating on a smaller pool of high-value individuals who engage with a brand throughout the brand’s curated buyer journey. Unengaged, uninterested, and irrelevant individuals are filtered out with every delivery of creative content, saving brands wasted time and ad spend on sending the wrong messages to the wrong people. 

Sequential messaging also accelerates re-engagement opportunities with brand-relevant audiences mid-flight. These high-value, engaged audiences are automatically retargeted at a time specified by the brand, reducing the need for manual, time-consuming campaign management requirements. Therefore, sequential campaigns allow an audience to move from awareness to consideration and trial much faster.

Selecting the Right Sequential Messaging Solution

There are a few factors to consider when choosing a solution to get the most out of sequential messaging. These include:

• Integration capabilities: Doing omnichannel healthcare marketing right means that all of your data and campaign workflows sit in one place where you can easily set up campaigns, triggers, and steps and then optimize based on what’s working and what’s not. Your sequential messaging solution should integrate with a broader system, such as a healthcare-focused omnichannel programmatic platform that allows you to execute digital marketing campaigns across channels using various features, and then measure the results in one place. 
• Ease of use: One of the main benefits of sequential messaging is the time saved managing campaign optimization and orchestration, given it’s fully automated. You no longer have to wait at least a month post-campaign to have meaningful results on which to act. You also don’t need to set up another campaign targeting the engaged audiences 30+ days beyond their consideration and most likely trial phases. The solution you use should be able to automate or eliminate some of these steps in an intuitive, accessible way. 
• Reporting and analytics: Because sequential messaging's ultimate goal is to interweave connected engagement opportunities across channels and the marketing funnel, healthcare advertisers need a solution with detailed analytics and reporting for optimizing campaigns. This can help you use real-time insights for next best actions across the omnichannel healthcare journey. Accessing reporting for each sequential step post-campaign launch is another feature to look for. It allows brands to see which tactics and creatives performed better or worse at each stage for mid-flight campaign optimization.

PulsePoint’s Sequential Messaging Solution

PulsePoint’s new Sequential Messaging solution meets the above expectations and more. 

Sequential Messaging is a new campaign type in our programmatic healthcare marketing platform that automatically delivers creative sets in a specific sequence or order, as determined by a brand. It brings a target audience through a personalized journey based on their omnichannel engagement with a brand’s website or digital media activated through PulsePoint’s demand-side platform.

Through PulsePoint, brands can create unlimited sequential campaign steps, which act as different stages of nurturing to advance target audiences through the buyer journey. Here’s an example of how it works. 

• Step 1: Awareness-focused creative for non-prescribers
• Step 2: Consideration-focused creative for non-prescribers who engaged with brand media
• Step 3: Conversion-focused creative designed for decision-making moments
• Step 4: Loyalty-focused creative, such as adherence information to retain new prescribers

As the target audience engages with awareness media in Step 1 via an ad impression or click, individuals are instantly nurtured by related content across other channels as they take action with one or any combination of the following behavioral conditions: 

• Click (except on media where clicks are not tracked, like CTV)
• Impressions
• Time (since the impression was served)
• Page Views (based on brand.com Smart Pixel and/ or Retargeting Pixel)
• Conversions (based on brand.com Conversion Pixel)

Two PulsePoint exclusives to leverage within Sequential Messaging for HCP targeted campaigns are SmartLists™ and step-by-step sequential reporting. 

For example, PulsePoint’s Sequential Messaging campaigns provide users the flexibility to activate a static or SmartList™ to dynamically target the most relevant healthcare professionals given their real-time engagement and clinical behaviors. When setting up a Sequential Messaging campaign, advertisers can choose “NPI” as the unique factor that recognizes the same HCPs within a target list, across all devices targeted across each step in a sequence. Reporting for each sequential step then enables brands to see which tactics and creatives performed better or worse at each stage, and when combined with standard campaign reporting, gives better insight into target audience engagement across omnichannel campaigns throughout the health journey.

The Bottom Line: Sequential Ads Work

Sequential messaging holds transformative potential for healthcare marketing. It reduces campaign management time, wasted ad spend, and the need to run multiple campaigns for retargeting audiences based on their real-time engagement. Integrating sequential messaging into a healthcare marketing strategy can increase engagement and save time and costs while improving campaign ROI. 

If you want to learn more about how and why to incorporate sequential messaging into your digital marketing strategy, contact us today.

FAQ About Sequential Messaging in Pharma Advertising

Get answers to the most common questions about sequential advertising and PulsePoint's latest solution.

What is sequential messaging in healthcare advertising?

Sequential messaging automatically delivers creatives in a specific sequence or order, nurturing target HCP or DTC audiences through curated content based on their omnichannel engagement with a brand’s digital media and/or website.

How does sequential messaging enhance health audience engagement?

Sequential healthcare marketing campaigns offer a unique opportunity for both upper- and lower-funnel engagement in a single marketing campaign, as target HCP or DTC audiences are brought through multiple creative messaging for each buyer journey stage, allowing for personalized messaging at every phase. At the same time, these personalized sequential marketing messages serve as chapters of the broader brand story, making this strategy an effective way to present cohesive brand messages. Sequential messaging also accelerates re-engagement opportunities with brand-relevant audiences mid-flight. These high-value, engaged audiences are automatically retargeted, reducing the need for time-consuming campaign management. Therefore, sequential campaigns eliminate many steps traditional campaigns need to take an audience from awareness messaging to the consideration stage.

What are the benefits of using sequential messaging over traditional advertising campaigns?

Traditional campaigns require marketers to analyze multiple campaign results to get the insight they need on ready-to-convert audiences. In addition, when this analysis is not done in real time, marketers risk losing their ability to reach their target audiences at the right moment—sometimes as long as 30 to 60 days after they indicated interest in the brand. In contrast, sequential messaging campaigns require a single setup, setting the stage for related and relevant creative delivery based on the audience’s real-time brand interactions. Unlike traditional campaigns that consistently target the same audience throughout a campaign’s duration, sequential campaigns begin with broad target list exposure, then dynamically identify and focus targeting only on actively engaged individuals. This approach optimizes exposure and reach by concentrating on a smaller pool of high-value individuals who engage with a brand throughout the brand’s curated buyer journey. Unengaged, uninterested, and irrelevant individuals are filtered out with every delivery of creative content, saving brands wasted time and ad spend on sending the wrong messages to the wrong people. 

Can sequential messaging integrate with existing marketing automation tools?

Your sequential messaging solution should integrate with a broader system, such as an omnichannel health marketing platform that allows you to execute digital marketing campaigns using precision targeting and optimization features while also measuring the results in one place. Doing omnichannel healthcare marketing right means that all of your data and campaign workflows sit in one place where you can easily set up campaigns, triggers, and steps, and then optimize based on what’s working and what’s not.

What are the key metrics to measure the success of a sequential messaging campaign targeting healthcare audiences?

Accessing reporting for each sequential step post-campaign launch allows brands to see which tactics and creatives performed better or worse at each stage for mid-flight campaign optimization and personalization. This can help you use real-time insights for next best actions across the omnichannel healthcare journey.