Tap Into the Power of Sound in Pharma Marketing

Pharma planning season is the moment to think bigger and we see brands going bigger into audio for reach extension, storytelling, creative flexibility and as a cultural amplifier.  Check out 5 audio trends shaping the audio pharma marketing for the year to come.

1. Beyond the Feed: Where Influencers Really Matter

While social has increasingly become an anchor channel for pharma brands, challenges around authenticity and feed-clutter remain. iHeart podcast and broadcast radio hosts build authentic, trusted relationships with their audiences. Audio hosts help boost your overall results and validate your social presence.

Plus, 91% of listeners trust products or services they hear on the radio, when they’re presented by a radio host or personality they like, and 79% are more likely to stop and read a social media advertisement for a brand they heard about on the radio.¹

And audio influencers have the scale you need:

(Sources: CreatorIQ and Rolling Stone’s list of Top 25 Most Influential Creators of 2024.)

2. Build Deeper Connections with Cultural Moments

More brands in the pharma space than you'd expect are stepping up and leaning into cultural moments and events moving past perceptual regulatory anxiety. These campaigns prove that with the right approach, creativity and compliance can coexist.

iHeart creates culture—how can we help pull your brand into the cultural conversation?

3.Reaching HCPs Where It Matters

For brands that have embraced audio on the consumer side, the next logical step is to use it to engage HCPs. Brands are stepping in—using physician targeted digital streaming audio, podcasts, original podcast content and extensions such as conference activation, then capturing PLD reporting on all the above.

Success Story: Custom Podcast with PLD Reporting

To help launch an RSV vaccine brand, we launched Incubation, a custom podcast series that dove deep into the impact of deadly viruses throughout history and how emerging vaccine technologies are altering the course. The series was created to engage physicians, using HCP segments to target the content promotion and delivering PLD reporting and web lift for measurement. The campaign saw a 14% conversion rate to the RSV vaccine site (vs. 0.71% benchmark).²

4. Unique Ways to Deliver Original Content

Given the range of factors and voices that influence decisions and better health outcomes, pharma brands have leaned into ways to embed messaging in deeper storylines to reach patients, caregivers and HCPs. iHeart’s in-house RUBY Studio has collaborated with pharma partners and agencies to create nearly 30 seasons of original podcast content as well as themed podcast episodes, extended mid-roll integrations and host-reads for brands. We can help find the right way in for your brand and marketing challenge.

Success Story: Custom Podcast to Reach a Niche Target

To reach older adults living with HIV, an underserved audience facing complex health and emotional challenges, HIV treatment lead partnered with iHeart’s RUBY Studio to launch Silver Linings with The Old Gays—a podcast created in collaboration with TikTok icons The Old Gays. Featuring candid conversations on aging, sex and living with HIV, the series authentically connects with an often-overlooked demographic.

The first 7 days saw great results:

• Charted #1 in Sexuality, #7 in Health & Fitness and #95 in Top Podcasts³
• Landed in the top 1% of downloads⁴
  

5. Broadcast Radio: Brands Are Tuning In

With viewership of linear TV, the historical pharma anchor, in steady decline, more brands are turning toward broadcast radio to fill the reach gap. Explore applying 3P audiences to inform radio planning and multiple pathways for radio measurement through our partnership with an established healthcare data company.

An Omnichannel Audio Company to Align with Your Omnichannel Strategy

To borrow the pharma buzzword, “Omnichannel” is how we think about audio in approaching our partners’ objectives – how can we use audio touchpoints to deliver awareness and influence behavior while complementing the rest of your media mix. Whether you’re a patient, caregiver or HCP, audio is a constant companion throughout your daily journey.

The most important takeaway? iHeart can help enrich your media and content mix with audio to reach new audiences and propel your business in 2026. Reach out to us at Health@iHeartMedia.com to learn more.

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