Inside Twitter's Vision for More Humanized Healthcare

Muse: What is your guiding philosophy or approach to creating healthcare marketing that makes a difference for clients and the world at large?

Lisa Bookwalter, Director, Twitter Client Solutions, Health: My guiding principle has to be connection. I ask myself and the team: Does this program connect with either consumers or healthcare professionals (HCPs) in an effective way? Is this going to create a meaningful connection for the brand? People are paying attention to the news, celebrity updates, cultural movements and more. So, is what we’re  bringing to a client going to cut through the noise and make a true, genuine connection? That is the bar.

Describe a recent campaign that embodied that approach.

We recently did a campaign with Nurtec, a migraine therapy, called “RelieveYourFeed.” For the campaign, we leveraged a Carousel Ad, which allows people to swipe across multiple images or videos for varying brand messages, all within a single ad. Each Carousel card highlighted migraine triggers and offered people on Twitter a way to adapt their Twitter feeds to better accommodate for those triggers. For example, brightness can be a migraine trigger, so people could tap into the ad and be directed to their settings to select dark mode.

#RelieveYourFeed of triggers with Nurtec ODT.

For acute treatment of migraine & preventive treatment of episodic migraine in adults. Don’t take if allergic to Nurtec ODT. Most common side effects were nausea (2.7%) and indigestion/stomach pain (2.4%). PI https://t.co/wZDdZ9yfXi

— Nurtec® ODT (rimegepant) (@NurtecODT) June 7, 2022

I loved this activation because it allowed the brand to directly answer the needs of their audience in a meaningful way. It showed empathy. And best of all, it allowed users to make their Twitter experience better. It’s one of the most authentic forms of connection I’ve seen in this space. In fact, the campaign engagement rate was double the category-specific benchmark on the platform. 

What excites you most about the future of healthcare marketing, and how are you preparing for that future?

I am loving the humanization of healthcare. I love seeing healthcare brands align with socio-cultural moments, from International Women’s Day through to sport and entertainment’s biggest tentpole events like the Met Gala, while continuing their commitment to high-quality content from publishers like WebMD, which is so critical to patients. Patients are just people who got sick, and brands are treating them as such.

On the HCP side, there has never been a more exciting time to be in the space. Market disruption is upon us, and it’s thrilling. I believe this will lead to the humanizing of HCPs and brands looking for that connection beyond the white coat. I expect a similar diversification of marketing vehicles to happen on this side of the business as well. Twitter is uniquely positioned here as HCPs are coming on the platform both with and without the white coat mindset.

I also love to see healthcare brands lean into DEI. Covid-19 has shined a bright light on the disparities in healthcare based on race, gender, sexual orientation and other underserved communities, and it has brought DEI into focus for brands. Brands are challenging partners to bring forward programs that reflect diverse voices and perspectives, and platforms and publishers are answering them with inclusive and representative activations. To help our brand partners, Twitter has launched #TwitterPrism, a program that helps Twitter advertising partners develop more inclusive marketing strategies and channel media dollars into diverse and historically excluded communities.

There is change coming from all sides, and we, as healthcare consumers, will be better for it.