The millennial generation consists of people born between 1981 and 1996, making members of this group between the ages of 25 and 40 in 2021. As the demographic approaches middle age, their need for healthcare is increasing. As the largest generation group, this creates a huge market for healthcare brands ready to cater to their preferences.
As a demographic, millennials differ from previous generations significantly in the way they choose services and respond to marketing. As a result, healthcare brands need to be built to meet these new demands.
These are five of the biggest reasons healthcare brands need to adapt to Generation Y:
1. Customer Service Expectations
Seventy-five percent of millennials will consider switching brands after just one negative interaction, while 60% are loyal to brands that provide a positive experience. This means delivering a personalized service built for convenience that should be a top priority for healthcare brands targeting this demographic.
A huge part of this is enabling customers to communicate on their own terms. Responding to queries and appointments by phone call and snail mail isn’t enough; millennials expect to be able to pick up the conversation, ask questions, and book appointments via text, instant messaging and email with an immediate response. This can seem like a major drain on healthcare staff time, but the process can be streamlined easily using personalized email templates and texts.
2. Value Expectations
Millennials are more likely to view healthcare as too expensive and place high importance on the price to compare the value of available services. Fifty-five percent of millennials find out their exact medical costs beforehand, compared to 41% of baby boomers. They are also twice as likely to avoid healthcare due to the cost.
Generation Y prefers brands that provide transparent, upfront pricing that lets them know exactly what to expect. While nobody likes to be surprised by a hidden cost, this demographic is more likely to research and choose service providers based on their pricing transparency.
3. Immediacy
On-demand shopping, information, and entertainment via the internet have shaped the millennial generation’s immediate action expectation. Whether searching your site for information, getting in contact to ask a question, or booking an appointment, this demographic hates to wait. In fact, 40% of millennials are willing to pay more to get faster service, potentially spending almost a third over the standard price to speed things up. This is why it is so vital to develop healthcare software that enables instant updates and communication.
Healthcare brands need to be built to cater to these expectations using automation. Services that let customers book an appointment in minutes by texting or getting instant answers to queries from a chatbot are big selling points to millennials for their convenience and speed.
4. Millennials Do Their Research
Online research is a vital part of the purchasing process for this demographic. Online reviews, customer testimonials, and social media activity are important factors they will consider. Ninety percent of millennials say they always read online reviews for a product or service. Encourage your customers to provide feedback on a range of review sites to help millennials find the information they need to make a decision.
This generation also tends to be suspicious of fake reviews, bots, and review censorship. If reviews are unanimously positive, their authenticity could be questioned, so negative feedback should not be hidden or avoided. This could have a far worse effect on a potential customer than reading the occasional bad review, which is to be expected.
The good news is that if your service is great and you always ask for feedback, this works as a powerful marketing form that millennials pay close attention to.
5. Traditional Ads Don’t Work
Eighty-four of millennials don’t trust traditional advertising such as commercials, whether online or on old media. Instead, they are more interested in the influencers you sponsor and experts that endorse your services.
The brand identity and values you present in online interactions and media such as healthcare podcasts have a much greater impact than a well-crafted sales pitch, which they tend to avoid. More than 7 out of 10 people in Generation Y are willing to pay more when buying from a business that supports their values.
New Demands Need New Healthcare Brands
To create successful healthcare brands for millennials, their unique expectations must be met. This means adding value to services through improved communication and systems that enable more immediate action.
Furthermore, it is critical to build and maintain a positive online presence, as millennials will extensively research your business while ignoring traditional advertising methods. With the oldest millennials entering their 40s this year, now is the perfect time to create a healthcare brand built around these demands.
