The Promise of Audio with HCPs

Back in those dismal days of 2020 we were all holed up in our homes and restricted in our ability to do as much as wander around the neighbourhood. Amongst the fearful silence came a wave of conversations. Suddenly it seemed like everyone, and their dog, was piling into Clubhouse. For a moment it looked like audio was about to have a moment. But then we started to go outside again, and no one had two hours of spare time on a Tuesday afternoon to tune into a 2-hour long chat.

Even if Clubhouse – and its imitators – had been a success, the platform did not lend itself to the HCP advertising market. The reason being that the ability to target and report physician level data was lacking.

While Clubhouse failed, podcasting has continued to takeoff as the default audio medium. While podcasts solve some of Clubhouse’s failures, the medium still lacks the ability to target and report HCP activity. Not to mention that podcast ad inventory is often hard to come by in the HCP market.

That’s why we believe the future of audio-based HCP advertising rests on short form content solely focused on identifiable HCPs. If you can’t identify HCPs from the get-go, then you might as well pack it up and go home. Shortform content allows for multiple ad insertions within a period that is acceptable to users while being more frequent than what is found in a podcast where ads cut off the flow of conversation. Not to mention that, in terms of content, HCPs want to hear from a swath of colleagues as opposed to corporate focused podcast sessions.

Not to get too into the self-promotion but the future of audio is here already. It’s called Medspoke and it’s going to change the way brands think about what is possible in both audio and beyond.