HealthLink Signals Episode Six | Context Matters More Than Channel: Intent Signals and HCP Precision
HealthLink Signals Episode 6 | Context Matters More Than Channel: Intent Signals and HCP Precision
Featuring Michael Cole, Chief Strategic Development Officer, Relevate Health
In Episode Six of HealthLink Signals, Michael Cole, Chief Strategic Development Officer at Relevate Health, makes the case that context now matters more than channel. As marketers chase a truly omnichannel approach to physicians, Cole argues the real work is understanding what the doctor is trying to do in a given moment, and meeting them there.
Cole organizes the world into two mindsets: the point of learning, where doctors absorb long-form education from people and sources they trust, and the point of clinical decision, where they are in front of a patient and need short, timely support. Layering intent signals onto that framing, he explains, is what turns accurate targeting into engagement doctors actually find useful.
As life science data volume keeps climbing, the old divide between slow strategic data and fast media data is disappearing, and Cole is candid about being wrong on that call for years.
In this conversation, Cole discusses:
- Why context matters more than the channel when reaching physicians
- The difference between the point of learning and the point of clinical decision
- How layered intent signals turn targeting into genuinely useful engagement
- Why the wall between slow strategic data and fast media data is coming down
- Why bigger, higher-frequency bets outperform a portfolio of small pilots
He also reflects on a belief he has had to let go of, that healthcare will always be the slow industry, and where he expects that gap to close.
