Targeting Techniques

Freshpaint supports several targeting techniques that can be used individually or in combination, depending on your campaign goals. Whether you’re retargeting site visitors, excluding existing patients, or expanding reach with lookalikes, each approach has its own strengths and compliance considerations.

This page provides:

• A quick overview of each technique

• When to use it

• Real healthcare examples

Freshpaint Tip: Most targeting strategies rely on either:

• Imported audiences (lists from a CRM, EHR, or engagement platform)

• Segment Audiences (real-time events captured through Freshpaint)

In most campaigns, you’ll use one approach or the other. In some cases, you may combine them. For example, import a patient list and then apply behavioral rules to refine the audience before activation.

Targeting Strategies

Freshpaint enables you to implement four main targeting strategies:

• Retargeting

• Lookalike Audiences

• Exclusion Lists

• Combining Techniques

Each strategy aligns with different campaign objectives, and in some cases, they work best when used in combination. The sections below explain what each strategy is, when to use it, and provide healthcare-specific examples.

Retargeting

Retargeting is best for serving ads to users who have previously visited your site or taken an action, but haven’t yet converted, typically built with segments. Retargeting allows you to focus on reengagement.

When to use it:

Use retargeting to re-engage patients who showed interest but didn’t take the next step.

Examples:

• Website visitors who viewed a service page but didn’t book.

• Patients who started filling out a form but didn’t finish.

• Users who booked an appointment but didn’t attend.

Lookalike Audiences

Lookalike audiences are new audiences that share similar demographics and behaviors with an existing group while excluding the initial audience. They are best built by importing an audience and then using it to find new prospects who are likely to engage.

Lookalikes enable you to find new patients or members who behave similarly to an existing, high-performing audience.

When to use it:

Use lookalikes to expand reach by targeting people who resemble your current patients/members.

Examples:

• Patients who booked online appointments.

• Visitors who called a location directly from the website.

• Users who converted after seeing a paid ad.

Freshpaint HIPAA Compliance Tip When building lookalike audiences, always exclude the original audience you’re basing the lookalike on.

Excluding the initial audience in a lookalike audience helps you:

• Stay compliant with HIPAA (avoid re-targeting people without valid consent)

• Avoid platform violations (e.g., Google Ads policies)

• Prevent wasted budget or duplicate outreach

Exclusion Lists

Exclusion lists are audiences removed from your campaigns to avoid redundancy and improve efficiency. They are best built by importing an audience and then excluding people who have already converted or engaged, so you can save budget and reduce patient fatigue.

When to use it:

Use exclusion audiences to save budget, reduce patient fatigue, and improve performance.

Examples:

• Users who have already booked an appointment.

• Patients who called within the last 30 days.

• People who filled out a lead form and have received follow-up.

Combining Techniques

Combining techniques means layering imported audiences with segments to create more precise targeting. This approach helps you prioritize the most relevant prospects, prevent ad waste, and avoid duplicate outreach.

When to use it: Use when you want to refine a campaign by applying both who the audience is (imported) and what they did or didn’t do (segments).

Examples:

• Target patients with a high-risk condition (imported audience from your EHR) who haven’t visited a relevant service line page in the last 90 days (segment).

• Exclude users who already submitted a lead form (segment) from a broader lookalike campaign (imported audience).

• Prioritize outreach to users from a partner-provided list (imported audience) who also showed interest by visiting your site (segment).

In practice, Freshpaint sends both imported audiences and segments to your ad platform. The combination happens at the campaign level inside the ad platform, where you can include one audience and exclude or refine it with another. This allows you to target based on both who the audience is and what they did or didn’t do.

Strategic Impact of Targeting

Targeting strategies are more than just tactical choices for individual campaigns. Used thoughtfully, they allow you to:

• Allocate budget more efficiently by focusing on audiences most likely to engage

• Reduce fatigue by ensuring patients and prospects don’t see irrelevant or redundant ads

• Stay compliant with HIPAA and ad platform rules by excluding sensitive or overlapping audiences

• Scale growth by reaching new prospects who closely resemble your existing patients

Together, these techniques help healthcare organizations deliver more relevant outreach, improve patient acquisition, and maintain trust while protecting resources.