The millennial generation is already the biggest cohort in the history of humanity, with between 78 million and 80 million millennials in the U.S.
You need to target millennial patients specifically in your medical service marketing strategy, and “one-size-fits-all” healthcare marketing strategies simply won’t work.
Here are some vital facts to help you determine how to go about marketing medical services to millennials.
Fact #1: Millennials are Educated and Privileged
Born roughly between 1980 and 2000, they are widely considered the most privileged and best-educated group ever to have inhabited the earth – so far, anyway.Millennials had healthcare since birth, many have never known poverty or hardship, and most are literate with a college degree. They know more about their health, growing up when school curricula included sex education and debate on smoking and abortion.
Fact #2: Millennials are Weight- and Health-Conscious
The human race is healthier than it has ever been before, and people are living longer. With more than 150,000 people worldwide now alive beyond the age of 100 years, what’s the outlook for millennials? To reach 110 or 120, instead of “threescore and ten?” Certainly, most millennials have every intention of reaching old age, and with modern technology and nutrition, it’s entirely possible.
They are aware of the need to maintain good health, and they’re currently young enough to be untroubled by age-related conditions. This knowledge makes primary and preventive healthcare services more attractive to the demographic than the management of chronic conditions.
At the same time, global changes in food and exercise have affected millennials. Many have Type 2 diabetes at rates greater than boomers or Gen X did when they were that age. While millennials believe themselves to be in great health, the underlying statistics point in a different direction.
Fact #3: Millennials are Brand-Aware
Watching advertising since they were two, millennials are brand-aware and discriminating well before they reach adulthood. They know how to identify which medical marketing materials they want and reject the rest. They are selective in their choice of a service provider and question everything!
Millennials know what they want, and they can find it. To become the medical professional of choice to a millennial, your practice brand has to stand out.
Fact #4: Millennials are Plugged In
Always plugged in and online, millennials spend their lives connected to others. They live on the Internet and their smartphones, and many don’t read anything on paper, ever! Handing out brochures at events will not capture their interest; you’d do better saving that for their parents and grandparents, while you entice the youth with interactive, electronic health options.
Contact us today to find out how you can improve your medical service marketing results.
Text messaging, social media, and smartphone apps all contribute to the lightning speed of information. Millennials process information using the laptops, tablets and hand-held devices they always carry.
Fact #5: Significant Buying Power
Millennials represent buying power of about $170 billion. By 2025, they will comprise 75% of the workforce, and their buying power will grow accordingly.
In a few years, they will still be privileged, educated, health-conscious, brand-aware and plugged in, and worth more. They’ll also be older and making use of more healthcare services than they are now. So if your medical marketing strategy doesn’t include millennials as a major target group, maybe it’s time you reviewed it.
