Pharma accounts for nearly 90% of the broader industry’s digital ad spending

Many Big Pharma companies spend billions of dollars to bring a new drug to the market. They must maximize their investments by advertising across a range of digital channels before generic competition emerges. Comparatively, the stakes are much lower and advertising budgets more constrained for most healthcare providers, insurers, and medical device companies.

The vertical’s spending on digital advertising will surge 12.5% this year, driven by a 14.2% spike in pharma, per our estimates. Pharma will spend $19.45 billion on online marketing in 2024—88% of the industry’s total digital ad spending. Pharma digital ad spending growth will slow in the coming years, but it will still account for nearly 9 out of every 10 dollars that the industry devotes to online ads.

Healthcare digital ad spending jumped 66.6% in 2021 to $2.32 billion, but it has since slowed. We expect healthcare companies to rebound by increasing their digital ad budgets by 10.5% in 2025 before slowing to 4.8% growth in 2026.

What’s driving these trends?

• Ad spending on GLP-1 weight loss and diabetes medications (e.g., Ozempic and Wegovy) is skyrocketing among drugmakers and healthcare companies. GLP-1s have become exceptionally popular due to celebrity and influencer endorsements. A surge in prescriptions is coinciding with ads communicating the drugs’ benefits and where consumers can access them.
• Big Pharma tends to advertise more in election years, according to MediaRadar. Drugmakers want to get the message out that their commitment to science and medicine is critical to public health and that innovation should not be reined in by excessive government regulation. In the years following an election, ad spending is likely to be pulled back.
• The delivery of healthcare moved increasingly online in 2020 and 2021, and telehealth has since become commoditized. More companies are entering the online healthcare services space and advertising directly to consumers via digital channels.

Read the full report, US Healthcare and Pharma Ad Spending 2024.