Personalization & The Rising Importance of POC

Healthcare marketing in the U.S. is transforming rapidly. Today's consumers navigate health information across a multitude of channels, with digital behaviors and non-traditional settings becoming increasingly prevalent. Primary care visits have declined over the past decade³ ⁴, particularly among younger generations (notably Millennials and Gen Z), while urgent care and retail clinic visits have surged—signaling a shift toward accessible, on-demand care. Concurrently, emerging technologies like telehealth platforms and AI-driven tools are reshaping patient-provider interactions, creating new opportunities for healthcare marketers to engage audiences at critical decision points.

POC marketing has become a critical strategy in this evolving ecosystem, experiencing an annual growth rate of 22% between 2019 and 2023.¹ Its ability to target and engage healthcare providers (HCPs) and patients in real-world, context-driven environments makes it a highly effective pillar of today’s marketing strategies.

Healthcare settings are also evolving. In-person remains the primary touchpoint, with 183 million annual visits to doctor’s offices². However, patient journeys are increasingly including retail health clinics, which have seen nearly 200% growth in visit volume since 2017⁹ and over 100% growth in claims volume in the past five years³⁰. Virtual care is also gaining prominence as patients seek streamlined access to services. The evolution underscores the necessity for broader and increased POC investment to meet patients in outcome-defining moments across various care settings. 

Despite accounting for a smaller share of total media investment, POC marketing can drive outsized impact. In one case study for a specialty Rx brand in the Rheumatology category, POC attributed 35% of new patient starts with just 14% of the media spend⁶. 

This report will explore the current shifts in healthcare marketing and POC effectiveness, analyzing key trends in healthcare behavior and offering strategic insights to help brands effectively engage healthcare audiences at critical points of care.

Key Data Insights: Surge in Healthcare Marketing Investment

• Recent data from POCMA reveals a dynamic shift in healthcare ad spend.
  
  

• Pharma Houses & Prescription Medications total media spending on direct-to-consumer (DTC) ads increased by 26% from 2019 to 2023⁵
  
  

• Pharmaceutical total media spending on HCPs has decreased by 22% from 2019-2023²
  
  

• Point of Care spending has seen a 171% increase from 2019 to 2023 to $803 Million¹*
  
  

• Point of Care as a channel is growing at a rate of 22% year over year¹
  
  

*Note: these figures include only spending voluntarily reported by 17 members, meaning actual industry spend is likely much higher.

Point of Care's 171% growth underscores POC marketing’s expanding importance. This growth offers new opportunities for strategy refinement, allowing brands to capitalize on this rapidly expanding channel¹.

The New Mix: POC’s Role in the Bigger Scope 

Healthcare marketing is undergoing a fundamental shift, with brands allocating more resources to strategies that maximize engagement at key moments of interaction. Rather than relying on broad, anonymous channels, brands are focusing on connecting with individual consumers through platforms and contexts that resonate more deeply. Advances in data insights are helping brands better understand and reach consumers in meaningful ways, reshaping marketing and content strategies across industries.

POC media is emerging as a pivotal channel within this new emphasis on personalization and relevance. Few moments are as contextually powerful as the actual point of care, where POC blends digital and in-person tactics to heighten message impact in real-world settings.

The rise in POC spending, growing 171% between 2019 and 2023¹ , reflects healthcare brands' increasing investment in high-relevance contexts—such as doctor's offices, pharmacies, and patient portals—where content can genuinely connect. This evolution in healthcare marketing emphasizes the need to deliver meaningful content in an increasingly complex media landscape where consumer attention is at a premium.

The Rise of Personalization in Marketing Strategies

Brands are turning to media channels with high consumer engagement, where content can be closely aligned with consumer interests and behaviors. Omnichannel approaches, designed to create seamless experiences across touchpoints, are becoming standard. Next-best-action (NBA) strategies, leveraging digital tracking and predictive analytics, are widely used to anticipate consumer needs. 

Regardless of approach, marketing is pivoting toward customer-centered strategies, with 50% more brands now placing personalization at the core of their customer strategies than just two years ago. Brands with advanced personalization capabilities are dedicating 68% of their marketing budgets to these strategies, which are delivering strong results: companies leading in personalization are 48% more likely to exceed revenue goals, with notable gains in customer loyalty, satisfaction, engagement, and lifetime value¹².

The healthcare industry, too, is adapting to new consumer behaviors and care landscapes. Service delivery, marketing strategies, and technology investments are now prioritizing digital innovation and value-based care¹¹.

Realignment of Healthcare Marketing Strategies

Recent data illuminates significant shifts in how healthcare brands are approaching patient engagement. POCMA's analysis—drawing on data from multiple industry sources—captures this evolution, highlighting increasing focus on precision and engagement at key decision points.

The expansion of POC aligns with broader industry trends toward personalized patient engagement. With healthcare providers increasingly utilizing digital workflow tools[7] and informed patients reporting higher satisfaction with their care experience, POC offers unique opportunities to deliver value-driven content that supports both clinical and educational objectives.

Key Data Insights: Digital Channel Growth⁷

• Patient online research on treatment options and talking to their physician about it has risen 10% since 2022⁷.
  
  

• 75% of patients value healthcare information from a website dedicated to their health condition⁷. 
  
  

• 68% value digital patient support information⁷.

MARS Consumer Health data shows the rise in digital engagement and personalized healthcare marketing demonstrates a clear opportunity that brands are actively pursuing. POC, in particular, stands out as a strategic way to achieve personalization goals, allowing brands to reach patients in ways that matter most at critical moments. However, while the potential of POC is significant, its continued growth faces several challenges that could limit its full impact. Strategic investment and careful planning will be essential to avoid pitfalls and ensure that POC’s unique value is fully realized.

Challenges to Realizing the Full Potential of POC Marketing

Despite its demonstrative role in reaching healthcare audiences, several strategic hurdles could limit POC’s full potential. Omnichannel strategies, while valuable, are resource-intensive and place heavy organizational demands on teams. AI-driven engagement is powerful, yet only 55% of brands can scale personalization effectively, and fewer than a third report strong analytics capabilities¹². Additionally, the move toward data-centered marketing and personalization introduces risks where data may fall short—particularly in POC settings, where channels may not offer continuous data streams or real-time KPI tracking. This can result in missed opportunities for patient engagement and interactions that would otherwise drive outcomes.

The push to repurpose boilerplate creative across multiple channels also risks diluting the personalized messaging POC excels at. While technology-driven standardization aims to improve efficiency, it often falls short of true personalization. Automated systems can distribute content based on broad user behaviors, but may miss the nuanced, context-specific needs that POC marketing addresses. Although algorithms can direct content based on user actions, they often lack the channel-specific focus and creative support needed to truly personalize high-impact messaging in healthcare. Only 42% of brands have the content management systems robust enough to operationalize effective, tailored content at critical care moments¹².

This gap in resources undermines the ability to deliver the timely, tailored messaging that drives POC success—such as doctor curation and endorsement of patient education. As a result, brands risk missing key opportunities for meaningful interactions with patients and healthcare providers that only points of care can offer. If costs are being cut in personalizing creative, the compelling strategy for truly reaching audiences is to bring POC into planning earlier vs. retrofitting creative later.

Interconnected Marketing and the Evolution of Patient Journeys

Our analysis of the latest data reveals how patient-centered strategies—such as omnichannel, NBA, and interconnected marketing—are rising in response to consumer-driven changes in healthcare. Broader trends in a digital-first, option-rich environment are reshaping how patients engage with health information and care providers. These strategies aim to meet consumers where they are, responding to patient behaviors at high-value moments that influence decision-making and drive engagement. Today’s consumers expect concierge-level experiences⁹ that anticipate and adapt to their evolving needs and lifestyles. In healthcare, where they are patients, these stakes are particularly high, as impersonal or tone-deaf messaging can quickly alienate patients.

Unlike traditional integrated marketing, which merely aligns messaging across touchpoints, interconnected marketing actively links those touchpoints in real time—creating a seamless, responsive experience. This adaptability is especially critical in healthcare, where patients often navigate multiple, sometimes disconnected, interactions with providers while managing complex personal and medical needs.

Brands that deliver tailored touchpoints throughout the patient journey—providing relevant, incremental information at key stages—see stronger outcomes¹². As marketing strategies become more interconnected, they can dynamically adjust across channels based on the patient’s location and their stage in the healthcare journey, helping brands remain relevant in increasingly non-linear pathways.

The Power of Point of Care in an Interconnected Strategy

POC marketing plays an important role within an interconnected approach, aligning seamlessly with the shift toward personalization. It enables brands to engage customers in targeted, contextually relevant tactics—whether in a doctor’s office, pharmacy, or through a patient portal—that resonate with modern patient journeys.

When integrated with channels like digital or television, POC amplifies impact by creating cohesive patient experiences. For example, in a case study by Veeva Crossix, patients exposed to both digital and POC ads were 200x more likely to convert (based on net conversion rates for digital only and digital + POC)⁶. This synergy—rooted in net conversion rate analysis—demonstrates POC’s ability to reinforce digital efforts and guide patients toward action.

An interconnected approach can enhance POC campaigns across tactics, as well as between channels. For example, patient messaging in a portal can reinforce HCP guidance given in the clinic, while pharmacy reminders can build on in-office discussions. Synergy between channels—like highlighting a treatment option at the POC that a patient previously encountered online—amplifies awareness and retention. Neglecting POC is like having a chef, a menu, and premium ingredients but placing the dining room in another building—creating a disconnect in the patient experience.

Key Data Insights: Multichannel Approaches Enhanced by POC

• 150 million U.S. adults research health/wellness topics weekly online—a 12% increase since 2022⁷
  
  

• Patients exposed to both digital and POC ads were 200x more likely to convert compared to just seeing a digital ad alone⁶.
  
  

• 87% of adults who visited a prescribing HCP in the past year encountered healthcare ads in clinical settings⁷, demonstrating POC’s broad reach representing a sizable audience exposed to POC media in a healthcare context

This MARS Consumer Health data underscores the strategic value of POC within an integrated multichannel approach. The significant lift in prescription rates demonstrates POC's effectiveness in influencing treatment decisions at critical moments. When strategically integrated with digital, television, and other channels, POC contributes substantially to the marketing mix by driving measurable engagement and conversion at key decision points.

Moreover, with 49% of patients typically conducting research online prior to doctor appointments (a 17% increase since pre-pandemic levels), there exists a considerable opportunity to engage patients earlier in their healthcare journey⁷. By incorporating POC touchpoints throughout pre-consultation stages, brands can deliver consistent, contextually relevant messaging that shapes patient-provider conversations and treatment decisions before they enter a clinical setting.

Summary on the State of the Industry

The healthcare marketing landscape is shifting dramatically, driven by consumer demand for personalized, accessible information and seamless care experiences. In response, brands are moving toward more personalized, contextually relevant strategies with Point of Care playing a larger role than ever before⁷.

POC marketing, with its distinctive ability to connect with patients and healthcare providers directly in real-world settings, is more than likely increasing its share of the healthcare media mix. This rapid growth reflects the broader shift toward targeted, conversion-focused marketing, as brands double down on cross-channel strategies that enhance engagement at key decision points. Data-driven tactics like NBA and omnichannel approaches are increasingly standard, with 68% of healthcare marketers now leveraging these methods to deliver high-impact, personalized experiences¹².

However, as brands allocate more resources to engage consumers where it matters most, challenges persist. Integrating POC early in planning processes—not retrofitting campaigns—ensures cohesive messaging across touchpoints.