Director of Local Marketing for Good Neighbor Pharmacy at Cencora

In partnership with SOCi, Good Neighbor Pharmacy launched a series of local social media advertising pilots to validate whether scalable, localized ads could help independent pharmacies capture demand during moments of disruption and times of high need. Good Neighbor Pharmacy used SOCi to design and test a scalable local advertising program tailored to the needs of independent pharmacies. These pilots validated paid local advertising as a powerful complement to organic social posting, particularly during high-intent moments. 

The initial pilot launched in the spring focused on patient acquisition:

• 63 pharmacy locations participated
  
• Campaigns were tailored by market type (rural, suburban, urban)
• Ads targeted users within 1, 5, and 7-mile radii around each location
  

A second pilot launched in the fall with a focus on flu shot awareness:

• 62 pharmacy locations participated
  
• Expanded targeting to a 10-mile radius
• Designed to drive seasonal relevance and community awareness
  
  

Based on pilot learnings and early momentum, Good Neighbor Pharmacy formalized the approach and launched a Local Social Media Advertising solution. 

The program: 

• Standardizes campaign enrollment across participating pharmacies with 9 campaigns offered in the first year aligned to key seasonal moments
• Optimizes targeting to a 10–15 mile radius around the pharmacy, depending on market needs
• Delivers fully managed execution through SOCi using standardized ad templates with localized captions (pharmacy name and location), reducing the workload for pharmacy teams
  
• Standardized the campaign destination to each pharmacy’s MyGNP.com local page to help patients quickly learn about services and take action
  

SOCi enabled centralized execution while maintaining local relevance, something independent pharmacies were unlikely to have the time or resources to do on their own. SOCi also transformed how performance was shared with pharmacy owners, including:

• Providing real-time visibility into actions such as clicks, impressions, and views
• Establishing a clearer connection between program investment and measurable outcomes
  

“We joined Local Ads for the convenience, targeting, and cost-effectiveness. The ads reinforce what we offer and help show our community that we can do everything a big box store can do,” said Joe Albert, Owner and Pharmacist, Albert’s Pharmacy. “The Good Neighbor Pharmacy team makes it easy and provides valuable insights. For the cost, you can’t beat it. If you’re not experienced with ads or social media, this is absolutely worth it. We’ve even had customers come in and say they saw us on Facebook.”

While benchmarks continue to be refined as the solution gains momentum, the local ads pilots delivered meaningful early outcomes:

• The Flu Shot Campaign cost per click averaged $0.28, 85–89% lower than the healthcare industry benchmark range.
  
  
• In just 30 days, the Flu Shot Campaign delivered 3,064,533 total impressions across 62 participating pharmacies.
  
  
• Participating Flu Shot Campaign pharmacies generated an 11.22% year-over-year increase in revenue.
  
  
• Local Ads Pilot stores achieved the highest average claims per store, outperforming other Good Neighbor Pharmacy stores by 17.23%.
  
  
• For the Capturing New Patients campaign participating pharmacies saw a +45% year over year and 7% increase in month over month revenue increase than non participants, demonstrating broader business growth impact tied to paid social ads.

Across two pilots, pharmacies saw the following results on average for a 30-day campaign with a $150 ad spend:

• 51,976 impressions
  
• 16,951 reach
  
• 1,124 post engagements
  
• 416 link clicks
  
• $0.37 CPC (cost per click)
  
• 338 landing page views
  

These learnings are now shaping how Good Neighbor Pharmacy sets future marketing benchmarks and expands their Local Social Media Advertising solution. What began as a test-and-learn response has become a scalable foundation to help independent pharmacies remain visible, competitive, and connected to their communities.

Independent pharmacies serve highly localized communities, yet many rely primarily on organic social content to reach patients online. While organic posting can be helpful for education and credibility, it reaches only a small portion of followers. Many pharmacy owners also don’t have the time or resources to manage marketing campaigns on their own. The need was simple: increase local visibility and help patients find their pharmacy when they need  care.

Across its network, Good Neighbor Pharmacy aimed to:

• Help patients quickly find a new pharmacy as national chains closed locations
• Increase awareness for pharmacies that operate independently without dedicated marketing resources
• Demonstrate the value of marketing investments to store owners who want clear performance visibility
• Provide real-time performance insights rather than static or delayed reporting

While benchmarks continue to be refined as the solution gains momentum, the local ads pilots delivered meaningful early outcomes:

• The Flu Shot Campaign cost per click averaged $0.28, 85–89% lower than the healthcare industry benchmark range.
  
  
• In just 30 days, the Flu Shot Campaign delivered 3,064,533 total impressions across 62 participating pharmacies.
  
  
• Participating Flu Shot Campaign pharmacies generated an 11.22% year-over-year increase in revenue.
  
  
• Local Ads Pilot stores achieved the highest average claims per store, outperforming other Good Neighbor Pharmacy stores by 17.23%.
  
  
• For the Capturing New Patients campaign participating pharmacies saw a +45% year over year and 7% increase in month over month revenue increase than non participants, demonstrating broader business growth impact tied to paid social ads.

Across two pilots, pharmacies saw the following results on average for a 30-day campaign with a $150 ad spend:

• 51,976 impressions
  
• 16,951 reach
  
• 1,124 post engagements
  
• 416 link clicks
  
• $0.37 CPC (cost per click)
  
• 338 landing page views
  

These learnings are now shaping how Good Neighbor Pharmacy sets future marketing benchmarks and expands their Local Social Media Advertising solution. What began as a test-and-learn response has become a scalable foundation to help independent pharmacies remain visible, competitive, and connected to their communities.