Healthcare Marketing’s Best Kept Secret: Digital Audio

Most healthcare marketers have streamed music and/or podcasts in the last week. Far fewer, however, work for healthcare brands that have dedicated audio marketing strategies.

Americans today spend 31% of their media time with audio, yet marketers only allocate 9% of their marketing budgets toward the audio medium.

For decades, television, print, and billboards were go-to marketing tools for healthcare advertisers. Then came other mediums like display, social, and online video, and soon visual healthcare advertising inundated the marketplace. 

With the overabundance of content on social media and the crowded landscape of CTV, consumers are constantly being flooded with visual advertisements. So, in 2024, is there really an ad environment that hasn’t been saturated? 

The answer is yes. And it’s digital audio. 

No More Sea of Sameness

From imagery to color schemes, standing out in visual media can be challenging for healthcare marketers. Digital audio gives advertisers more opportunities to create breakthrough messages and stand out.

Streaming music and podcasts enable healthcare marketers to distinguish their brands and outpace their competition by reaching a relatively untapped audience. Partner with SiriusXM Media and you’ll reach an untapped, qualified audience at scale.

Getting Serious About Health

For years, we’ve conducted opt-in research studies among thousands of our listeners to take the pulse of consumer healthcare habits and preferences. Our most recent study, fielded in October of 2023, reveals just how involved our listeners are in their healthcare.

Just like we’re serious about audio, our listeners are serious about health—86% of them visited a doctor or healthcare professional in the last year, and 94% make attempts to keep themselves healthy. Listeners are tuned in with their health and turn to our platforms to boost their mood and feel better—84% of our listeners use music to feel better when ill. When they turn to podcasts, half of our listeners say podcasts contribute to their well-being and have the power to heal.  

Gen Z Looks for Trustworthy Brands

Gen Z listeners prioritize high-quality care and are looking for information and providers they can trust. For a generation that grew up with Instagram and YouTube, Gen Z listeners actually trust healthcare ads served in the digital audio environment 1.8x more than healthcare ads on social media, and 1.4x more than healthcare ads served across online video. This demographic is truly invested in what you have to say and where you choose to say it. By advertising on platforms that Gen Z trusts, your brand can reach and resonate with healthcare’s newest consumers.

The Sandwich Generation Prioritizes Relationship and Accessibility  

When considering your campaign messaging approach for those adults making healthcare decisions for themselves, their kids and their aging parents, keep relationships and accessibility in mind. When seeking out a healthcare provider, nearly seven in 10 listeners ages 35-64 say being able to trust and speak openly with the doctor is important; 68% say they factor in how quickly they can get an appointment; and six in 10 say it’s important to see the same physician every time. 

Seniors Keep Up with Tech

Over seven in 10 adults 65+ now own a smartphone, and they are turning to apps and devices to help them keep up with their health—45% of senior listeners track their health stats through a smartphone or wearable. The most commonly tracked stats are physical activity (89%), heart rate (59%) and sleep patterns (43%). Further evidence of this generation’s tech-savviness is the fact that 41% of these listeners would consider switching medical providers for regular access to virtual care.   

Reach Every Audience

Why should this research matter to a healthcare marketer? Even if you don’t apply health-condition targeting to a campaign on SiriusXM Media, you can rest assured that you’re reaching a healthcare-active audience—an audience that your competitor may not be speaking to. 

Digital audio takes you further and gives you access to an audience that’s ready to listen. Isn’t it time to differentiate your healthcare brand? Let’s chat.