Executive Summary

In 2020, spending on digital advertising in the healthcare and pharma industry will grow by 14.2% to reach $9.53 billion, making it the fastest-growing industry after computing products and consumer electronics (which will grow 18.0% this year).

What’s driving overall healthcare and pharma digital ad spending growth?

Dollars are being spent on advertising related to COVID-19, as public health organizations and private medical institutions raised awareness around testing, safety measures, and other pandemic-related information. The crisis also led to an influx of marketing around medical supplies, consumer adoption of telemedicine, and regional advertising for reopening doctor’s offices and medical clinics.

What is healthcare and pharma’s share of total US digital ad spending?

Healthcare and pharma will make up 7.1% of all US digital ad spending, which is much smaller than top spenders like retail (21.0%) and financial services (14.6%), but larger than entertainment (5.2%), media (4.7%), and travel (2.4%).

Which ad format is growing the fastest?

Spending on display will grow 15.7% in 2020, reaching $4.04 billion, making it the fastest-growing format in healthcare and pharma. However, 55.6% of digital spending will go toward search, compared with 42.4% going toward display.

How much is spent on mobile compared with desktop?

While the majority of healthcare and pharma’s digital spending goes toward mobile (57.5%), this vertical spends below the average for all industries (which is 68.0%). Healthcare and pharma’s share of spending allocated to desktop/laptop is higher than average, at 42.5% this year.

WHAT’S IN THIS REPORT? This report details our annual forecast of US healthcare and pharma digital ad spending. It includes a comprehensive overview of total digital ad spending, as well as estimates by channel, device, and format.

KEY STAT: The US healthcare and pharma industry will spend $9.53 billion on digital advertising this year, up 14.2% from 2019.