Pharma study for Facebook: How digital advertising affects sales

In a pilot study, Facebook, Kantar and Bonsai examined the effectiveness of video campaigns on sales in stationary pharmacies and mail-order pharmacies. 

The most important results of the Pharmacy Sales Impact Study: All Facebook and Instagram campaigns examined achieved significant increases in sales - both in stationary pharmacies (plus 5 percent on average) and in mail-order pharmacies (plus 7 percent). "Customers of online pharmacies react more impulsively to the digital moving image campaigns, which caused sales to jump," explains Dirk Hamann, member of the management of Bonsai. "The effect on the turnover of stationary pharmacies builds up more slowly, but lasts longer."  

In terms of return on investment (ROI), digital moving image advertising is competitive. The short-term ROI of the Facebook and Instagram video campaigns was 0.61 euros, significantly higher than the benchmark of TV advertising for OTC and self-service products in pharmacies (0.43 euros). 

Facebook has summarised these and other results of the study in a presentation, which also summarises the methodology and key learnings of the multi-case study.

The study has a pilot character and will be continued with further campaigns of health brands.

About the Bonsai Pharmacy Panel

Bonsai has developed a method to analyse the sales figures of health brands and products down to the level of the individual pharmacy. The basis for this is provided by the sales figures of more than 2,400 stationary pharmacies, which we can access directly via their merchandise management system. A large number of large mail-order pharmacies also exclusively allow Bonsai to use this data for research purposes. Contact: Dirk Hamann