CNBC described this as “a bold move that has some big implications for advertisers and the future of the internet.”  

We agree. But we’re not entirely surprised by this Google pivot.  

After all, in its most recent update, Google indefinitely delayed a decision on cookie deprecation. It’s clear now that the internet behemoth will no longer lead the industry forward on what privacy-safe advertising looks like, a significant shift from the strategy it’s been pursuing over the last four years.

Here are some of our other initial observations on this development: 

• The announcement’s format is interesting: Ironically, the revelation was tucked into a blog post about “a new path for Privacy Sandbox,” a Google-led advertising initiative created to end third-party cookies. 

• That same post indicates that Google “would introduce a new experience in Chrome that lets people make an informed choice that applies across their web browsing, and they’d be able to adjust that choice at any time.” 

• This suggests that the proposed solution will let users toggle third-party cookie tracking on and off, a function already existing within Chrome’s Privacy and Security settings. This option may become more readily accessible or visible within users’ browsers. 

• Despite that grey area, Google’s change of heart emphasizes the importance of individual responsibility for businesses in managing privacy. After all, regulations and laws will remain, if not become more stringent.  

Could things change yet again? Of course. As Digiday reported, “If the whole saga of third-party cookies has taught ad execs anything, it’s to expect the unexpected.” (CBS News reports that some governments have already announced that they will investigate the new approach.) 

Regardless of what’s to come, we’re committed to helping our clients target valuable audiences in privacy-safe ways to support their goals and marketing objectives. It’s what we do, day in and day out. 

If your company or organization could use some direction on this front, please don’t hesitate to reach out.

The post Google reverses its position on third-party cookies appeared first on Fathom.

As we explore AI’s possibilities with marketers, we’re often asked, “Where do I start?” That question is a bit of a trap; there are many potential starting points, and more every day. So, we respond with a few questions: What are your goals? What are your organization’s expectations for AI adoption? Are you aware of all the AI you’re using today?

The emergence of AI offers marketers the opportunity to enhance and demonstrate the value created by their work, so reconnecting to our goals and expectations is always the starting point.

After all, the point of AI adoption isn’t the adoption itself. The point of AI adoption is what you can achieve following the introduction, ensuring you’re set up to reap the benefits of modern tools as we speed into the future. Then, once you have a firm grasp on why, begin exploring and integrating AI that will help you achieve your desired outcomes.

six ways you can create value with AI

There are countless ways to create value with emerging tools; based on our work with clients, here are six of our favorites. Each provides an accessible, outcome-focused starting point for your AI adoption journey.

1. data-led content strategy and copywriting

Machine learning can help you analyze vast and disparate historical ad performance and competitor data, delivering deep insights quickly. Feed those insights into your favorite large language model (LLM) to brainstorm ad copy variations for A/B tests. Optimize campaigns and improve performance.

2. extending content

The total value of great content is often unrealized. Use AI to turn existing collateral into multimedia content, storyboards, multilingual translations, audio, and more. At the very least, turn long-form content into bite-size nuggets for social media and other short-form applications.

3. persona development

Every service line has a unique patient journey. Integrating LLMs into your persona development process allows you to create deeper perspectives on various audiences. Consider the factors influencing their healthcare decisions, forecasted market trends, and the precise identification of the media they engage with.

4. philanthropy and donor relations

AI-powered models can combine and segment donor data with CRM and patient data to fuel grateful patient campaigns. By identifying high-potential donors and prospects for giving in this manner, plus when the points at which they’re most likely to give, you can set development teams up for success through focus. London Automation, a Fathom sister company, is the leader in this space.

5. advanced data analysis

The limitations of PHI shouldn’t stop you from making informed marketing decisions, forecasts, and content with available data. AI tools can help you answer complex questions quickly. Considering summarizing month-over-month trends, generating forecasts, conducting keyword audits, evaluating bid caps, and conducting that analysis by service line, sub-service, or for marketing overall.

6. workflow optimization

If you support multiple service lines, you have many requests and unique needs to manage. By embedding AI into your workflows, you can more efficiently create content, report on results, manage tasks, and share valuable insights.

75% of marketers are already using AI tools for content creation.

World Federation of Advertisers study, September 2023

continuing your AI adoption journey

It’s more critical than ever for marketers in healthcare to demonstrate and deliver value—and what we’ve outlined here is just the tip of the iceberg for how you can do so. To learn even more, download your copy of our AI Empowered, our guidebook for marketers exploring AI.

The post deliver and demonstrate value in healthcare marketing appeared first on Fathom.

That’s why we are exploring the practical applications and the significant advantages AI holds for healthcare marketing strategies and patient interactions. To that end, we’ve collected what we’ve learned from working with top healthcare systems across the country to publish a guidebook, AI Empowered—which you can download below—to help healthcare marketers learn more about this exciting new frontier. We’re also digging into this topic further through our AI Empowered blog series, of which this is the first. 

getting started

The teams we work with use AI to create and optimize content, develop AI-generated videos, draft marketing materials, and produce multimedia content. Other uses include advanced data analysis, personalization in a post-OCR world, improving patient engagement and journeys, developing target personas, and fine-tuning marketing strategies. AI is an operational powerhouse, a productivity partner, and a forecasting genius.  

As you can see, there are limitless possibilities for how to integrate AI into your workflow. So, where should you begin?  

“Before you define what, make sure you know why.”

demonstrate and deliver value 

In most cases, why comes down to one word: value. AI is meant to supplement your expertise—not replace it. The emergence of AI offers healthcare marketers the opportunity to enhance the value and efficiency created by their work. This is especially important as new responsibilities are added to your workload even as resources—human, financial, or otherwise—become scarcer.  

With a focus on delivering and demonstrating value, we find the following framework helpful for aligning your strategic AI adoption journey to your organizational and team goals: 

• deliver + demonstrate value
• reskill + upskill teams
• understand + unlock data
• enhance creative + content strategy
• find + create efficiences

download our AI adoption guidebook for marketers in healthcare

Future posts in our AI Empowered blog series will peel back the layers of our AI adoption framework, with tips and examples for getting started. In the meantime, you’re invited to download our AI Empowered guidebook, which features added depth around use cases, frameworks, tools, and resources.

The post AI Empowered: exploring artificial intelligence in healthcare marketing appeared first on Fathom.

We aim to help healthcare marketers gain and maintain a competitive advantage by sharing actionable insights, practical strategies, and emerging tools you can deploy today. Along the way, we share examples from our work with the country’s top health systems and exclusive perspectives from leading-edge digital partners.

Jeremy Mathis, our Vice President of Client Success, hosts the series. He boasts nearly two decades of experience in marketing for hospital systems and healthcare organizations. Various subject matter experts and special guests join him in each session.

SESSION ONE | RECORDING NOW AVAILABLE

trends + insights shaping healthcare marketing

Digital marketing is ever-changing, and health systems must stay on top of evolving trends and insights. Our work with top health systems has given Fathom a unique perspective on what healthcare marketers should focus on. In the first session of our virtual learning series, Healthcare Marketing Pulse, we set the stage for what you need to know about the future of digital marketing. 

The recording of the first session is now available on demand.

SESSION TWO | RECORDING NOW AVAILABLE

targeting, tracking + personalization post-OCR Bulletin

Since the OCR bulletin was issued in 2022—and after an update in March made the waters even murkier—health systems have wondered how to continue engaging their audiences, especially with no clear way to differentiate between PHI. This Healthcare Marketing Pulse session will focus on best practices for collecting audience information without violating HIPAA with examples from our work with leading healthcare systems.

SESSION THREE | RECORDING NOW AVAILABLE

maximizing performance amid constraints

Healthcare marketers hold similar goals: improve performance and engage patients. These goals get more challenging to achieve as economic and operational factors restrict budgets and capacity. In this Healthcare Marketing Pulse session, you will learn how precision drives performance to keep your marketing efforts growing despite resource constraints.

SESSION FOUR | RECORDING NOW AVAILABLE

introduction to AI for healthcare marketing

Learn how AI is reshaping the healthcare marketing landscape, from personalized patient engagement to predictive analytics. In this webinar, Fathom’s digital marketing and AI experts cut through the hype—and the concerns—by providing a practical guide to the tools, strategies, and frameworks required to lead adoption and improve marketing performance.

SESSION FIVE | RECORDING NOW AVAILABLE

applying AI in healthcare marketing

Leading healthcare systems are harnessing the power of AI to energize and revolutionize their marketing strategies. So how does your tech stack, well, stack up? In our final Healthcare Marketing Pulse, our digital marketing and AI experts shared specific use cases, workflows, tools, and considerations to unlock the full potential of AI in healthcare marketing.

The post advance your strategies with Healthcare Marketing Pulse appeared first on Fathom.

precision in marketing leads to performance gains

In a recent survey, 78% of healthcare marketers reported spending less due to inflationary pressures. Couple those limitations with the operational constraints most healthcare organizations are navigating, and healthcare marketers have no choice but to maximize the impact of every dollar invested. In short, they must practice precision.

This was the story of the presentation Steve, Camelot, and Joshua shared at HMPS.

“Penn Medicine has completely transformed the way we go about campaign strategy and campaign planning,” stated Steve. “They are advancing the way they think and work as it relates to performance marketing. The results speak for themselves.”

The results Steve mentioned were further illustrated by Joshua later in the conversation.

“We set a goal of 5 percent growth in terms of new patient visits that were coming from marketing,” said Torrisi. “We are actually tracking towards an 18 percent year-over-year growth. What we are doing is working.”

You can watch the full interview and learn more about the approach the Penn Medicine and Fathom teams took to achieve such exceptional results at Swaay.Health.

And if you want to view the full presentation, checkout our recap from HMPS.

The post performance marketing with Penn Medicine appeared first on Fathom.

The Struggle with OCR’s Updated Guidance

As a digital marketing agency working with health systems across the country, we have witnessed firsthand the confusion and difficulties that the OCR’s update has caused for covered entities.

The crux of the issue lies in the OCR’s examples, which require healthcare systems to discern an individual’s motivations for visiting a web page. In the article, Jeremy shared an example where two users visit a website: one is a student doing research, and the other is a potential patient seeking to schedule an appointment.”The trouble is,” according to Jeremy, “it’s the same website for both visitors. And creating that truly individual and tailored, visitor-specific experience would require systems to invest resources that, frankly, are better allocated to delivering patient care.”

Our Recommendation for Healthcare Marketers

In light of these challenges, Fathom recommends that HIPAA-covered entities take the most conservative approach: avoid using tracking on their websites unless they have signed a Business Associate Agreement (BAA) with the platform. We have recommended this to clients since 2022 and will continue until court cases are settled and actual clarity is available.

Adopting this conservative approach limits the toolset available to health systems for reaching, engaging, and measuring their audience. Popular tools like Google Analytics 4 and Meta pixel are off-limits, as these platforms won’t sign a BAA. As a result, health systems and their partners have had to invest significant time and resources to pivot strategies and ensure that the needs of their communities continue to be met.

Looking Ahead to Updates

The OCR’s lack of practical guidance has left many struggling to navigate this complex landscape. We remain committed to helping our clients adapt to these changes. As the situation evolves, we will continue providing marketers with the most up-to-date recommendations. Sign up for our newsletter to receive updates as they’re available.

You can find more from Jeremy and other experts at Healthcare Risk Management’s website.

The post deciphering the most recent OCR update appeared first on Fathom.

This is our third consecutive year sponsoring Forrester’s B2B Summit North America, an event for B2B marketing, sales, and product leaders hosted in Austin, Texas. According to organizers, this year’s summit will focus on navigating economic uncertainty and the transformative impact of generative AI on business strategies. And like in years past, attendees can expect to learn about adapting their go-to-market approaches, leveraging data and AI, and creating customer-centric strategies to drive growth.

We always look forward to the opportunity to network with marketers and hear from Forrester’s analysts about emerging methodologies for effectively aligning marketing, sales, and product strategies. This year is no different.

For more detailed information, check out Forrester’s website.

our plans for Forrester B2B Summit 2024

We’re eager to engage with fellow marketers in Austin. We’re looking forward to the opportunity to dive deep into your marketing strategies and offer a fresh perspective on how others are finding performance marketing success.

AI is at the forefront of our conversations with marketers, and we’ve found that many are trying in the very early stages of adoption. If you’re wondering where to start or how to measure success, we’ve got something special for you. Visit our booth in the exhibit hall and grab a copy of AI Empowered, our guidebook for marketers exploring AI.

At the booth, you’ll find Steve Kessen, our CEO, and members of the Sales and Marketing team, Hannah Zimmerman and Jim Huntley. Steve, Hannah, and Jim are ready to talk marketing strategy and have fun along the way. Don’t miss out on the exciting games and giveaways they’re sharing with guests.

what you need to know if you’re attending

If you’re interested in learning more about Fathom or want a second opinion on a marketing challenge you’re facing, the best place to start is a conversation. There are two ways to schedule time with our team: simply stop by our booth or schedule time with Jim Huntley.

Don’t be surprised if we suggest a follow-up conversation at one of our favorite Austin spots within walking distance of the convention center:

• Cooper’s Bar-B-Que—don’t ask us how many times we’ve been, it’s that good.
• Zanzibar—who doesn’t love a good rooftop bar?
• Revolucion—coffee and juice, a few steps from the event.
• South Congress Avenue Bridge—the largest urban bat colony in North America calls this bridge home; seeing them take flight at sunset needs to be seen to be believed.

featured clients

The post what to expect at Forrester’s b2b summit appeared first on Fathom.

We should expect this upward trend to continue as candidates compete for airtime and become increasingly sophisticated in their media strategies. Current predictions estimate that approximately $8.3 billion will be spent during the upcoming election cycle, shattering the 2020 sum.

As a result, you should understand that your campaign performance will be impacted, and broader trends may influence online behavior.

claire wirtanen
Director, Paid Media

here’s what to know and how to prepare

public trust in online information faltered in 2020

Misinformation online was a key issue in digital advertising during the 2020 election cycle. The proliferation of misinformation and the spread of divisive content highlighted the challenges platforms faced in managing quality and integrity.

Despite efforts to increase transparency and regulate political content, the rapid distribution of digital ads and the ease with which misinformation can be spread posed significant challenges. This was further agitated by the onset of COVID-19 and the misinformation surrounding the pandemic.

platforms reacted, causing a ripple effect for advertisers

Facebook and Google banned political advertising in 2020 and later lifted their restrictions. These rapid shifts in political advertising constraints throughout 2020 led to a complex environment for advertisers and the American public.

These restrictions were intended to curb misinformation and reduce the spread of divisive content. However, they also had unintended consequences, such as limiting smaller campaigns’ ability to reach voters and contributing to Americans’ lack of trust in information online.

how we can prepare for the 2024 election cycle

1. diversify your investment

Prioritize diversification in your advertising channels to buffer against the surge in political ad rates. For non-political marketers looking to avoid crowds, consider investing in environments that don’t allow political ads such as Netflix, Disney+, Xandr, and TikTok.

This is also an opportunity to explore channels like audio and digital out-of-home, which political advertisers have been slower to adopt than the rest of the industry.

2. live your mission

Trust and transparency become paramount for non-political advertisers during election cycles. As Americans become fatigued by misinformation, they turn to brands they know and trust. This is especially true in a world where AI accelerates the pace of content development.

Lean on compelling creative that fosters an emotional connection with a public that may grow increasingly skeptical of fact-based appeals over the course of the year.

3. focus on brand safety

Advertisers should leverage brand safety features to ensure their campaigns remain unaffected by the contentious political environment of the 2024 election. Tools like keyword blocklists, context targeting, and site allowlisting can help align ads with suitable content.

Consider working with partners and platforms that offer robust brand safety measures, ensuring your message is delivered in a context that reflects your brand’s values.

To start a conversation or answer any questions, reach us directly hello@fathomdelivers.com

The post advertising in an election year appeared first on Fathom.

Google has delayed the full deprecation of cookies for the third time since 2020. In January 2024, they deprecated 1% of third-party cookies, and we have seen effects from that. Our position doesn’t change: We need to prepare for the (inevitable) cookieless future.

managing third-party cookie deprecation in healthcare

• In January 2024, Google Chrome deprecated 1% of third-party cookies. This small percentage represents 32M users.
• While the rest of advertisers and data providers are contending with the loss of cookies for the first time, healthcare advertisers and systems are in their second year of operating without pixels or tracking.
• Healthcare systems are well-positioned to adapt to change based on learnings from the past two years.

what options for cookieless targeting do health systems have?

contextual targeting

Contextual targeting is placing ads on web pages based on the content of those pages rather than on user behavior or profiles. This approach ensures relevance, maintains privacy and is done without cookies.

Contextually targeted ads are more likely to engage users because they are relevant to the content they appear alongside. For health systems, information about healthcare services, treatments, and products can reach individuals seeking health-related information, leading to higher engagement rates and better campaign performance.

private marketplace deals

Private Marketplace (PMP) deals offer health systems a strategic avenue to reach their audience. These deals involve a more controlled, invitation-only marketplace where publishers and advertisers purchase and sell premium ad inventory programmatically.

“Google’s cookie deprecation is a moving target. We expect cookies wont be fully deprecated until Google has a privacy-safe tracking solution to replace them.”

claire wirtanen

PMPs offer a targeted approach without relying heavily on personal user data. By selecting inventory based on the content and the publisher’s audience demographics, health systems can reach their desired audience based on interests and needs related to health and wellness without needing personal data collection.

second-party data

Second-party data, essentially first-party data shared between trusted partners, offers a unique blend of specificity, relevance, and compliance that suits the healthcare industry’s privacy and data use standards.

Second-party data transactions are characterized by high trust and transparency between parties. This strategy prioritizes the quality and relevance of data over sheer volume. For healthcare systems, this means access to high-quality data sets that are immediately applicable and impactful for their patient engagement strategies, reducing the noise often associated with broader data sets.

Learn how we recently overcame targeting limitations with a leading health system.

The post healthcare digital advertising in a cookieless world appeared first on Fathom.

At this year’s Healthcare Marketers and Physicians Summit (HMPS), the role of AI in healthcare marketing took center stage as industry leaders and innovators discussed its transformative impact and the ethical considerations it brings. I’m deeply curious about how marketers leverage AI, and upon seeing the title (Senior Director of AI Adoption) on my name tag, I found that marketers were eager to pick my brain.

Over the course of the three-day event, I documented the sorts of questions I was fielding to decode healthcare marketers’ perceptions, exploration, and adoption of AI. My main takeaway: while enthusiasm is high, there’s also a substantial need for clarity on how AI can be practically applied.

healthcare marketers are beginning to explore AI

The buzz around AI’s potential and pitfalls was impossible to ignore, and I was able to have more than 20 individual conversations over the course of the event.

Healthcare marketers were often interested in probing into implementation best practices and use cases from our work with other health systems. This was the most common topic of conversation, signaling that most attendees I spoke with were in the very early stages of marketing AI adoption.

There is a major gap in foundational knowledge and understanding of AI’s potential, with many seeking guidance on starting points and practical steps for implementation. If you find yourself in the same position, I would encourage you to do two things:

First, understand what you’re already doing with AI. Chances are, the tools you use already have AI built in. This helps to demystify the technology.

Second, I would find ways to adopt AI in your personal life. A favorite example among Fathomers is a sommelier GPT attuned to your unique wine preferences that can suggest pairings. Leveraging AI in your personal life will pay dividends professionally.

it’s no surprise that compliance, ethics, and legal considerations are top-of-mind

Ethical and legal considerations arose early and often in these discussions, with a significant focus on navigating HIPAA compliance and mitigating legal risks. Healthcare marketers strongly desire to develop AI applications that are both ethical and low-risk, ensuring safety and compliance are not compromised. This is definitely encouraging.

I would also encourage healthcare marketers to look to the clinical side, where innovation is happening rapidly and in ways that are sometimes hard to imagine. For an example of how healthcare embraces AI, check out AlphaFold by DeepMind, an AI system that predicts protein structures, empowering truly remarkable breakthroughs.

We have ethical, compliant applications available, and leading systems are already using them to create marketing value.

don’t wait to get started

Healthcare marketers are eager yet cautious to explore AI but unsure where to begin. There is a high demand for practical AI applications. This curiosity is driven by enthusiasm to test new strategies and a fear of falling behind as AI reshapes healthcare. The absence of clear guidelines on AI implementation leads to uncertainty about where to start, especially responsibly and ethically. Don’t let that uncertainty impede your exploration and adoption.

maximizing value with AI: a guidebook for healthcare marketers

In response to this need for direction and clarity, we published AI Empowered, an essential guidebook for healthcare marketers exploring AI adoption. It’s full of the foundational knowledge required to harness AI effectively and responsibly.

AI Empowered offers practical steps and real-world examples of marketing AI applications to:

• Deliver and demonstrate marketing value
• Reskill and upskill your team
• Understand and unlock your data
• Enhance your creative and content strategies
• Find and creative efficiencies in your work

embrace the power of AI: download your guidebook today

We invite you to download our digital AI guidebook today. Begin your journey with an intentionally developed resource informed by experience working with leading health systems.

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