Ads Don’t Have to Choose Between Compliance & Connection + Industry News and Insights
Field Tips is a biweekly email series bringing you the latest marketing trends and topics directly to your inbox. Covering everything from digital marketing and social media to content strategy and more, we curate the industry’s top stories and present them as easily digestible insights. The content contained within this post comes directly from our November 5, 2025 issue. If you’d like to receive Field Tips, subscribe to our email or on LinkedIn.
Healthcare Professional (HCP) advertising has a reputation problem: it’s seen as either compliant and boring, or engaging and risky.
But here’s the truth—you don’t have to choose between the two.
The best HCP campaigns connect and comply. They cut through inbox clutter, respect regulatory guardrails, and deliver real value to busy clinicians who don’t have time for fluff.
The problem isn’t the rules. It’s that too many marketers treat compliance as a creative ceiling instead of a strategic framework.
In The Complete Guide to HCP Ads that Connect and Comply, we break down how to build HCP ad campaigns that do both—capture attention while staying on the right side of every regulation. You’ll find:
- Audience insights that go beyond demographics to reach HCPs where they actually engage
- Creative strategies that balance educational value with promotional messaging
- Compliance checkpoints to keep your campaigns audit-ready without killing the impact
Whether you’re launching your first HCP campaign or refining an existing program, reach out and we’ll help you stop playing it safe and start playing it smart.
AI Overviews Drive Research, Search Still Closes the Sale
WHAT’S HAPPENING. BrightEdge analyzed thousands of ecommerce keywords (Sept. 1–Oct. 15) and found Google’s AI Overviews frequently surface during the research/evaluation phase, while traditional search results still dominate transactional (purchase) queries. AI Overview coverage spiked to 26% in September then retreated to 9% in October, with big churn versus 2024.
WHY IT MATTERS. For ecommerce marketers, this means you’ll want to be visible in AI Overviews to capture discovery and comparison (with November a key discovery window), and ensure transactional pages are optimized because classic search still closes the sale. Optimize for both awareness and conversion stages by prioritizing evaluation content now and conversion pages for peak buying season.
Data Shows Brand Mentions Boost AI Search Rankings
WHAT’S HAPPENING. Ahrefs has released data showing that brand mentions on third-party websites (whether or not they carry a backlink) correlate strongly with better visibility in AI-driven search surfaces (and answers). In effect: off-page signals — especially brand mentions — are becoming more important in the era of AI/Answer-engine-optimization (AEO) than purely link building.
WHY IT MATTERS. For SEO and content-marketing practitioners, even if you rank well with content and links, you may be missing out if your brand is not being mentioned across authoritative external sites. Optimizing and building a program that includes earned media, PR and partnerships to grow brand visibility and trust signals is relevant now more than ever.
Market Share Dip Exposes New Digital Trends
WHAT’S HAPPENING. According to eMarketer data, the three major digital-advertising players — Google, Meta Platforms (Facebook/Instagram) and Amazon (the “triopoly”) — continue to dominate the overall U.S. advertising market, controlling roughly 58.8% of total ad dollars in 2025. But when you look at digital only ad spend, their combined share is actually slipping: the triopoly’s share within digital dropped from 73.9% to 71.9% over the past five years.
WHY IT MATTERS. For marketers and agencies, this signals two key shifts: (1) the dominance of big platforms remains, but competitive pressure from emerging channels is growing and (2) strategies built solely around “Google + Meta” may no longer capture all opportunity/growth. Testing new channels and reallocating budgets toward emerging platforms will help future-proof ad strategies.
More To Explore
36 Predictions for Social Media Marketing in 2026
From AI-driven content creation to shifting platform dynamics, industry experts weigh in on what’s next for social media marketing—offering a roadmap for brands navigating an increasingly complex landscape. See what trends and changes to prepare for in 2026 on Social Media Today.
What Marketers Are Missing as Loyalty Drivers Evolve
Pragmatic factors like convenience and situational need are now major drivers of repeat purchases — yet nearly two-thirds of marketers still believe emotionally-driven “brand love” is the main loyalty engine. Explore why traditional points and perks aren’t cutting it anymore, and what’s really driving loyalty — read more on MarketingDive.
Reddit Is Suing Perplexity Over Data Scraping for AI
Reddit has filed a lawsuit against Perplexity AI, alleging the search startup scraped its content without permission to train AI models—a move that could set new precedents for data access and platform rights. See what this legal battle means for AI and content ownership and sourcing on The Verge.
The Ethical Faultline of AI in Advertising
AI is transforming ad creation and targeting, but it’s also surfacing critical questions around bias, transparency, and consumer trust that marketers can’t afford to ignore. Explore the ethical tensions reshaping AI-driven advertising on MarTech Series.
Havas Lynx Presses Pharma to Take Action Against Health Misinformation
As health misinformation spreads online, Havas Lynx is urging pharmaceutical companies to step up and actively combat false claims—positioning trusted brands as a critical counterforce in the fight for accurate health information. Learn why pharma can’t stay on the sidelines on Fierce Pharma.
About the Author
A prominent marketing strategist and nationally recognized thought leader, Grant A. Johnson is president and CEO of Responsory. He is a sought-after public speaker, direct marketing trainer, copywriter, award-winning author and the creator of Direct Branding℠, Responsory’s method for producing sure-fire measurable results.
