Using contemporary digital advertising to promote educational seminars on chronic disease management in population health

Introduction

The advancements in healthcare technologies, healthcare services and health education are essential infrastructures that need to be showcased for utilization, but the promotion of these setups has little impact if they are not communicated or advertised effectively to current and potential patients or population groups (1). Healthcare organizations, academic institutions and non-profit groups generally utilize a marketing communications assortment, which includes a collection of pathways for directing messages to be delivered to desired groups (2-4). Advertising educational programs that intend to promote health outcomes for individuals with chronic diseases often use local mass media platforms such as radio, magazines and billboards to deliver strategic advertising to current and prospective individuals in varied population settings, with these communications being paid for by the advertising party (5). While these advertising strategies offer the benefit of reaching the wider targeted population, it is essential that healthcare organizations, academic institutions and non-profit groups are abreast of the latest details relating to advertising, contemporary strategies and increasing the likelihood of successful audience engagement (6).

Huntsman and Bulaj describe health education as a marketing strategy to promote consumer goods and services associated with self-care practices. They note that current efforts to treat and prevent chronic diseases in the United States lack adequate resources (7). Digital media, an advanced advertising platform, surpasses traditional media like radio, magazines, and billboards (8). However, digital advertising has been shown to be more effective in tobacco and alcohol cessation interventions (9), rather than educational seminars on chronic disease management. In contrast, passive educational learning is often implemented with chronic care management (10), and with minimal engagement due to learners having a less active role in the learning process (11). Chronic care management requires ongoing behavioral and lifestyle changes which can lead to complex treatment plans (12).

The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of using digital advertising to promote educational seminars on chronic disease management in population health. The study was to determine the effectiveness of using a contemporary digital platform to promote in-person attendance to an educational seminar series. The research question guiding this study was, how effective are contemporary digital platforms in promoting in-person educational seminars on chronic disease management?

Methods

Theoretical framework

We adopted the impact evaluation framework developed by Ma and Agnew (13), as it is a theoretical framework that facilitates curiosity-driven research. According to Ma and Agnew, understanding what impact is and what kinds of impact can be reasonably achieved within a certain time frame is an essential aspect of an impact evaluation. The aim of this impact evaluation was to determine the effectiveness of using a contemporary digital platform to promote in-person attendance to an educational seminar series.

Evaluation design

Impact evaluations enable a research culture of responsible societal impact (14), and contribute to inclusive research, scholarship and a body of knowledge (15). The data were presented as the number of people who signed up to attend an in-person educational seminar series through a digital advertising tool and the influence it had on attendance. The impact evaluation was implemented as a formative process to monitor and adjust future advertising strategies using digital platforms when promoting health education that aims to improve health outcomes.

Setting and context

The digital advertising platform was Eventbrite, a commonly used digital marketing website for promoting events. The educational seminar series on chronic disease management in population health was publicly advertised for four months (January 2024 to April 2024), targeting individuals located within the Southeast of Louisiana. The seminars were for individuals who self-identified as having a chronic disease, in receipt of Medicaid or knew someone in receipt of Medicaid. Registering for the seminar series was voluntary, with free admission but with the commitment of attending Southeastern Louisiana University for the seminar series for 2 hours a day over three days. It was intended that 30 prospective attendees would register for the in-person seminar series.

Data collection

Data were collected by an experienced academic researcher. The first set of collected data was the number of completed registrations for the in-person educational seminar series. Data were extracted from the digital advertising platform into an Excel spreadsheet. The second set of data was compiled based on the number of registrants in attendance for the in-person educational seminar series. These data were manually uploaded into the main Excel spreadsheet to integrate the two data sets.

Data analysis

We used the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) to analyze the data using basic descriptive statistics to summarize and describe the main features of the data set. According to Mishra et al.’s study, descriptive statistics provide simple summaries about the data and is presented in just a few words to describe the basic features of the data in a study (16). The basic features of this study were to summarize the number of completed registrations for the in-person educational seminar and the number of registrants in attendance using a frequency table.

The data were categorized into numerical figures to simplify and understand the data.

The number of completed registrations for the in-person educational seminar was numerically assigned 1. The number of non-registrations for the in-person educational seminar was numerically assigned 2. The number of registrants in attendance was numerically assigned the number 1 and the number of non-attendees was numerically assigned the number 2. These numerical figures helped to distinguish registrations from attendance.

Ethical considerations

The study was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki and its subsequent amendments. The seminar series on chronic disease management in population health was presented to Institutional Review Boards (IRB) at Southeastern Louisiana University and the Louisiana Department of Health, who funded the project. Both institutional review boards found this study worthy of being conducted and granted an IRB approval (Southeastern Louisiana University IRB Number: 2024-031, Louisiana Department of Health IRB Number: 45 CFR 46.111; 45 CFR 46.116). An approved informed consent statement was acquired for all attendees.

Results

It was anticipated that 30 prospective attendees would register for the in-person seminar series using the digital advertising platform over a four-month window.

Between January 8^th, 2024, and April 29^th, 2024, a total of 357 prospective attendees viewed the advertisement (Figure 1). This highlighted the number of people who viewed the advertisement versus the number of people who registered for the in-person seminars. The second month of advertising had the most views and 7 prospective attendees registered. In the third month of advertising, there were 3 registrations and in the fourth month of advertising, there was 1 registrant. In total, 11 prospective attendees (36.7%) registered, which left 19 (63.3%) spaces available. Table 1 provides an illustration of this data using a frequency table. Out of the 30 available spaces for the in-person seminars, 6 people (20%) were in attendance, leaving 24 (80%) spaces unfilled. Table 2 provides an illustration of this data also using a frequency table.

Figure 1 Number of people who viewed the advertisement versus number of registrations.

Discussion

Digital advertising clearly had an impact, allowing prospective attendees to view and register for the in-person educational seminars within a four-month advertising window. The effectiveness of using a contemporary digital platform to promote an educational event facilitated a wider population outreach in comparison to localized advertisements which limits the possibility of open access viewing. Although the advertising platform had the ability to register up to 30 prospective attendees, the 63% of people that did not register for the in-person seminar series was one of three concerns. The first concern was the number of unfilled registrations. Educational interventions are used as a therapeutic approach to effectively deal with ill-health issues such as self-monitoring of symptoms, medication adherence, or fulfillment of daily needs (17). However, one must identify that there is a problem that would need a solution in order to solicit information. Given that the seminar series focused on chronic disease management in a region blighted with people living with co-morbidities (18), it was questionable why more than half of the available spaces were unfilled.

The second concern was the digital advertising strategy. According to Desai (2019), digital marketing includes diverse types and strategies such as social media, podcasts and television (19). Using only one digital platform to promote the educational seminar series limited the ability to reach individuals who may use alternative digital platforms to learn about health events and educational well-being. The four-month advertising window may have also been a contributing factor in limiting the impact of reaching a wider audience. The seminal work by McGuire in 1989 focused on the Model of Persuasion and how eliciting action begins with an advertisement, and how exposure moves across a continuum of cognitive and behavioral responses which is determined over a period of time (20).

The four-month advertising window may have truncated the concept of effective exposure, which was evident in the number of people who registered. The third concern was the location of the in-person educational seminars. The educational series was held on a university campus with various entrance and exit points. Individuals living with a longstanding illness may present with physical immobility and limited access to transportation. These aspects could have been a contributing factor for the unfilled online registrations. Access to adequate transportation is a social determinant of health that is frequently overlooked (21), and the lack of adequate transportation has proven to have a direct impact on health-related outcomes in adults living with a chronic disease (22). The lack of education and health literacy is also identified as a social determinant of health, which can also be a contributing factor impacting health related outcomes (23). Despite these various concerns, the digital advertising platform was implemented accordingly.

The number of registrants in attendance was 16% less than the number that had registered. Considering the identified concerns mentioned, the digital advertising platform had the ability to attract, influence and enable people to attend the seminar series. It is evident that using only one platform was not sufficient in attracting more attendees. The shortened advertising window may have truncated effective exposure, and physical location plays an important role for maximizing attendance. Utilizing a variety of digital advertising platforms to promote attendance for an in-person educational seminar series is essential. Adopting varied digital advertising strategies that promote community health outreach may support the concept of raising more awareness of health information and chronic disease literacy for individuals who are immobile or who lack adequate access to transportation (24).

The concept of artificial intelligence (AI) plays a pivotal role in digital advertising with the ability to promote services and accelerate awareness (25). AI has a significant impact on digital marketing which includes focused content and customization of advertising (26). Writing tools such as ChatGPT, with advanced language generation capabilities (27), and Apple Intelligence which has the ability to deliver intelligent, well-defined scope of writing (28) could be utilized as relevant strategies to maximize the effectiveness of digital advertising. The integration of text-to-video AI also has increasing capacity to enhance comprehension by reinforcing applied communication strategies, simplifying baseline knowledge and promoting health literacy through clear and concise electronic communication (29) for digital marketing and advertising. Digital advertising has the propensity to influence viewers’ attitudes and intentions (30), thus making text-to-video AI a key strategy for reaching a wider population.

Methodological considerations

To ensure the credibility of this study, it is essential that we address research rigor and quality regarding data extraction (31). Although the data extraction was conducted by an experienced academic researcher, the possibility for data extraction errors exists. Despite the data being relatively small, enabling a moderated view of the data would have eliminated the chances of potential data entry oversight and error.

Conclusions

This study evaluated the impact of using digital advertising to promote educational seminars on chronic disease management in population health. It was evident that digital advertising had an impact, enabling prospective attendees to register for the in-person educational seminars. Despite the identified concerns relating to online registration and in-person attendance, the digital advertising platform was implemented accordingly and provides more benefits when combined with other digital advertising platforms, support from writing tools, text-to-video AI and community health outreach.

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Dr. Jacqueline Guendouzi, Professor, Department of Health and Human Sciences, Southeastern Louisiana University, for granting assigned time to conduct this study.

Footnote

Data Sharing Statement: Available at https://ht.amegroups.com/article/view/10.21037/ht-24-7/dss

Peer Review File: Available at https://ht.amegroups.com/article/view/10.21037/ht-24-7/prf

Funding: This work was supported by the Louisiana Department of Health as part of the Public University Partnership Program (PUPP).

Conflicts of Interest: All authors have completed the ICMJE uniform disclosure form (available at https://ht.amegroups.com/article/view/10.21037/ht-24-7/coif). L.C. reports that receipt of equipment and materials, as well as support for attending meetings and/or travel, is funded by the Louisiana Department of Health, and that Population Health and Promoting Positive Health Outcomes with Medicaid: Evaluation Study is funded by the Louisiana Department of Health. As the project PI, L.C. led the community engagement events that focused on health education and seminars to promote chronic disease management, as well as evaluating the effectiveness of the entire implementation. The other authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

Ethical Statement: The authors are accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved. The study was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki and its subsequent amendments. Both Institutional Review Boards (IRB) at Southeastern Louisiana University and the Louisiana Department of Health found this study worthy of being conducted and granted an IRB approval (Southeastern Louisiana University IRB Number: 2024-031, Louisiana Department of Health IRB Number: 45 CFR 46.111; 45 CFR 46.116). An approved informed consent statement was acquired for all attendees.

Open Access Statement: This is an Open Access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0), which permits the non-commercial replication and distribution of the article with the strict proviso that no changes or edits are made and the original work is properly cited (including links to both the formal publication through the relevant DOI and the license). See: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/.

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