PulsePoint’s Trader Hall of Fame: Billy Nicholson

We are proud to partner with hardworking clients who are pushing the boundaries of programmatic and putting the right medications in front of HCPs and patients at the right time. PulsePoint established the Trader Hall of Fame to highlight their efforts and give others a closer look at the individuals shaping this quickly evolving industry. This month, we welcome Billy Nicholson, a programmatic senior analyst at Starcom, to the Trader Hall of Fame.

‍Billy’s journey to programmatic healthcare

After double majoring in psychology and sociology at Central Michigan, Billy started his career working in sales—but it wasn’t long before he realized he needed a change. Thankfully, some of his friends convinced him to try advertising.

It ended up being the right choice. In less than three years at Publicis, Starcom’s parent company, Billy went from being a programmatic analyst to a senior analyst, and he’ll soon be promoted to a manager position.

“It’s been a great experience being in advertising and it’s a good career and good industry to be in,” he said. “I’m just working hard and trying to seize every opportunity.”

‍Billy’s favorite parts of the job

Billy said he enjoys working in programmatic due to its exciting nature and diverse opportunities. “Programmatic has been around for some time now and it’s not going away. If anything it’s just now starting to get more of the respect it deserves, especially for how efficiently we can do things,” he said. “Now there’s just so many niches you can really get into.”

Working with pharma clients is also fulfilling for Billy; he enjoys seeing the impact of his work in real-world ads. “It’s kind of cool to see it come to fruition from the start,” he said. 

As he’s learned the ins and outs of the industry, he’s developed a new appreciation for how much work goes into each ad. When he sees an ad on TV, even if it’s not from one of his clients, he said it’s still “cool to see how things work in this space, when before you just thought, ‘it’s an ad.’ There’s a lot more that goes into it.”

‍Billy’s advice for newcomers to programmatic

For anyone just starting out in programmatic, or trying to switch career paths like he did, Billy stressed the importance of trying new things. “It doesn’t really matter how much you know about it, as long as you’re committed,” he said.

“Don’t be afraid to ask for help or do some things that other people aren’t doing,” he added. When he first started in programmatic, he earned some additional certifications that he said really made him stand out from the crowd. 

He also suggested seeking help from others and building professional bridges, and just generally “reaching out to people and trying to put yourself out there and make sure people see who you are.”.

‍Billy and PulsePoint

Billy has been working with the PulsePoint team since he first started with Publicis as a programmatic analyst. He said he appreciates the user-friendly platform interface and how receptive the PulsePoint team members are to feedback. “If we do say something, they don’t take it with a grain of salt; they put an emphasis on it,” he said.

“It always seems like whenever I ask Zach, ‘Is it possible to do this?’ He goes, ‘Funny you ask, this is how we would do it,’” he said. “It seems like there’s always a way to do something in PulsePoint that you need to get done.”

Some of his favorite features are the forecasting capabilities and granular data breakdowns. “There’s creative ways to basically target whoever you need to target within PulsePoint.”

‍Billy outside of work

In his free time, Billy likes to go on adventures with his dog, Flint. When he’s not playing with Flint, he can be found doing woodworking projects.

Billy said he’s a big sports person and he enjoys collecting sports cards. Hailing from Detroit, he’s a fan of the local teams and tries to catch Detroit Lions and Red Wings games. 

He also enjoys listening to music and watching new movies and TV shows with his girlfriend. When we spoke to him, they were enjoying “Squid Game: The Challenge” and Christmas movies on Netflix.