By Harneet Bhalla
In the current digital healthcare space, personalisation is no more a premium feature, it’s a must have expectation of the consumer. Mckinsey’s study shows that 71% of consumers expect companies to deliver personalised interactions. Strategies over time have changed from broad segmentation to individual personalisation.
The journey of personalisation can be understood in four phases, each one marking a quantum leap in how healthcare platforms resonate better with customers.
Phase 1 is broad business unit segmentations. In the early phase, health-tech firms relied on broad segmentation aligned with major business lines. Marketing was tailored at the business unit level – for example, treating e-pharmacy and lab service users as separate segments.
This meant online pharmacy buyers received generic promotions, with mapping of journeys across onboarding, purchase, and reactivation.
Phase 2 is omnichannel personalisation. With the increased use of digital, businesses found the necessity of providing a coherent experience in multiple channels. Here, marketers combined app, website, and offline touchpoints to create consistent messages.
This strategy acknowledged the fact that a single customer might value an SMS over an email for urgent refill notifications but an email for monthly newsletters. In another example, companies started delivering medications in personalised packets sorted by date and time.
Phase 3 consists of micro-segmentation by condition or need. Beyond channels, the next phase drilled down into micro-segmentation based on specific health conditions and customer needs.
Segments were divided by health conditions like diabetes or asthma, with tailored content journeys, tips, and product recommendations.
Phase 4 has individualised personalisation driven by AI. Marketers use AI to crunch purchase history, app behaviour, and wearable data, creating unique interactions for each user, a segment of one.
At this level, algorithms begin anticipating what a person might need next and marketing reaches out proactively.
For example, if a user orders allergy medication each spring, AI can send a timely coupon or act as a health coach with preventive care steps.
To conclude, the future of health tech marketing has always been about winning customers’ trust. This new AI approach uses personal data to add real value to the customer journey. If companies do it the right way, the next era of health tech experiences will drive business growth but will also provide better healthcare to consumers. It will strengthen long-term trust, empower patients with timely interventions, and ensure that healthcare marketing becomes an enabler of wellness rather than just a promotional tool.
The author is CMO,1000Farmacie
