Growing up in a digital environment, millennials are what social media agencies call “digital natives,” referring to this generation’s never-before-seen technological literacy. This literacy has changed the way we view information, socialize, and act as consumers. With millennials posed on the cusp of surpassing Baby Boomers as the nation’s largest living adult generation, marketing to millennials has never been more important.
For organizations in the healthcare industry, marketing to millennials can pose several challenges. For example, if you’re a small health insurance group, or even a start-up business in the healthcare insurance field, you may be struggling with millennials who do not love the idea of paying for your product. These may be some of their reasons:
Invincibility: They’re fairly young and healthy, so they don’t think they’ll get sick and need the insurance.
Anti-Conformity: They don’t like to take the first answer given and don’t like to be told what to purchase.
Consumerism: They are used to having the benefit of the internet and social media to connect and make decisions about the brands, products, and services they spend our their money on, which can be a challenge in health care.
Given that millennials are now the largest generation in the U.S., it is vital that we begin marketing to millennials in a way they understand — and this includes knowing how they interact with healthcare marketing, with everything from healthcare insurance marketing to private clinic marketing. So, how do you get millennials to pay attention? Here are a few ideas.
1. Meet Them Halfway: We all know that millennials use social media — a lot! But it’s not just social media they’re on. A recent report published on Forbes found that millennials often browse their phones or their laptop while watching TV or a TV-related source, such as Netflix, Hulu, Prime Video, or Youtube. This division of attention can benefit you in creating a presence, just make sure your ads are available on a variety of different multimedia platforms.
2. Grow Your Business’ Credibility: Millennials are known to be loyal to people, businesses, brands, services, and products that they know work, but you’ve got to get them to buy in first. This can be tricky because millennials don’t usually commit to a purchase until they’ve researched it and read countless reviews on the product. Additionally, this generation is fairly skeptical of corporate America. User-generated content in the form of endorsements, aka product/business reviews, is immense for building trust establishing a positive rapport with millennials.
3. Have A Story: Millennials are very story-driven and they respond very well to advertisements that tell a story, rather than those that are just straightforward. But don’t worry, you don’t have to have a costly Superbowl commercial to achieve this. Simply make sure to include your story on your website and your product pages.
Millennials are the future of a lot of businesses, including those related to health care. As a healthcare marketing agency, we believe the first and most important step of marketing to millennials is to strive for transparency in every part of your organization’s process, making it easier for patients to compare their options and select physicians based on what’s most important to them.
We predict that millennials will spark a healthcare revolution and will pave the way for generations to come. If the innovation we’ve seen over the last decade is any indication, it’s going to be a wild ride. If you’re a healthcare provider looking to expand their healthcare marketing strategy, contact us today!