Building a Continuous Feedback Loop to Accelerate Ongoing Optimization in Media Performance
Analytics necessitate action: collaboration, coordination, and collective effort are required to succeed.
Synopsis
- Continuous Feedback for Smarter Decisions: Establishing a data-driven feedback loop between healthcare brands and media agencies is essential for optimizing campaign performance. This involves frequent tracking of KPIs, undertaking test/control analyses, and leveraging marketing mix models to guide strategic decisions.
- Collaboration Across Stakeholders: Success hinges on early and ongoing collaboration among brand teams, media agencies, publishers, and analytics vendors. A shared measurement framework and regular communication ensure alignment of goals, performance expectations, and real-time campaign adjustments.
- Future-Ready Measurement Strategies: Innovations like agile marketing mix models, predictive scenario planning, and AI-driven propensity modeling are transforming how campaigns are measured and optimized—enabling more agile, personalized, and impactful healthcare marketing.
Introduction
In today’s rapidly evolving media landscape, the integration of cutting-edge technologies has become essential for uncovering actionable insights across diverse data sources, enabling more precise and dynamic media optimization. As organizations strive to optimize their campaigns and achieve better results, the focus is increasingly shifting towards creating effective feedback loops by understanding each party that should be involved and setting a communication strategy that will guide seamless collaboration.
The Importance of Effective Feedback Loops
Creating a continuous, data-driven feedback loop between healthcare brands and their media agency of record is essential for optimizing campaign performance and driving long-term strategic impact. The true value lies not just in data collection, but in the ability to translate that data into actionable insights—empowering smarter, more informed decision-making via collaboration and constant communication.
A successful feedback loop allows healthcare brands to:
- Track key performance metrics regularly, often weekly, to assess campaign trends.
- Frequently measure net impact through test versus control groups to determine the actual contribution of marketing efforts.
- Use marketing mix models as a source of truth, helping in budget allocation and understanding channel synergies.
"Measurement framework is part of the whole omnichannel orchestration. We work very closely with the market access team members and vendor partners, to ensure that the suggestions we [have] are tested and aligned by everybody."
- Mehul Shah, Head of Insights & Analytics, Bausch and Lomb
Strategic Timing for Agency Involvement
Industry best practice calls for brand teams and their media agencies to meet regularly to align on performance goals and drive continuous improvement. These ongoing discussions should be grounded in a clearly defined measurement framework and a shared set of KPIs, enabling the collective stakeholders to align on the types of data-informed decisions that will optimize media effectiveness over the lifecycle of a campaign. Brand teams and their media agency of record should meet early and often, ensuring an open dialogue that facilitates:
- The creation of media plans based on the budget allocations defined by marketing mix models.
- The establishment of media measurement leading indicators that will inform campaign adjustments.
- The informing of publishers on their role in the media plan and setting the foundation for their performance expectations.
- Working to ensure that audience quality metrics validate reach and minimize media waste.
" We have a roster of players, publishers, data partners, and DSPs. The measurement plan becomes extremely important and handy in setting goals from the get-go. Everyone is aligned and clear exactly which KPIs they should be driving towards.”
-Yoo-Jin Cho, Group Director of Marketing Intelligence & Science, WPP Media
Effective collaboration among brands, agencies, publishers, and analytics vendors is essential. This involves:
- Establishing a clear measurement framework that aligns everyone's goals.
- Engaging in regular, transparent communication to optimize performance.
- Brands empowering media agencies to collaborate with publishers to make real-time decisions based on the data.
" Conversations work because you are level setting with publishers, and they understand the KPIs framework. You're holding everyone to an equal standard.”
- Kit Burkus, Senior Principal, IQVIA Digital
Choosing the Right Analytics Vendor
Selecting an analytics vendor is a critical decision that can impact the overall success of a campaign. Key considerations include:
- Vendor's capability to provide granular insights that are essential for making accurate decisions.
- The vendor's role in brand planning and their ability to bring innovative solutions to the table.
“IQVIA Digital delivers custom solutions that help our team navigate daily challenges for a smoother, more efficient experience.”
-Yoo-Jin Cho, Group Director of Marketing Intelligence & Science, WPP Media
The Future of Measurement
Our industry is constantly evolving, and the need for innovation in measurement keeps growing. We have seen recent innovations that will make campaigns smarter and more data-driven than ever before:
- Agile marketing mix models that shorten the data collection and analysis timeline.
- Enhanced predictive abilities for campaign scenario planning.
- Propensity modeling to anticipate consumer behavior.
" At the end of the day we are really moving the goal post… we are advancing in terms of what a brand has to achieve in the long term. So that's how the decisions are made, and I think AI is going to play a huge role”
- Mehul Shah, Head of Insights & Analytics, Bausch and Lomb
Conclusion: The Power of Collaboration and Continuous Optimization
In today’s dynamic healthcare marketing landscape, staying ahead requires more than just access to data—it demands a culture of collaboration and a commitment to continuous feedback. When healthcare brands, media agencies, publishers, and analytics partners work in lockstep, guided by a shared measurement framework and open lines of communication, they unlock the ability to make smarter, faster, and more efficient decisions.
This collaborative approach not only helps to enhance the return on marketing investment but also ensures campaigns remain agile, relevant, and impactful in an increasingly complex ecosystem. To remain cutting-edge, brands must treat feedback not as a final step, but as a continuous loop—fueling innovation, accountability, and sustained performance.
To learn more, read our insight brief: The Fundamental Role of Measurement in Marketing Effectiveness.
