Marketing to generations like Millennials and Generation Z can be a challenge for healthcare practices, but it doesn’t have to be. These groups have unique preferences and priorities regarding healthcare, and practices need to adapt their marketing strategies to appeal to them. There are four effective strategies that healthcare practices can use to appeal to a younger demographic of patients.
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Marketing to generations like Millennials and Generation Z can be a challenge for healthcare practices, but it doesn’t have to be. These groups have unique preferences and priorities regarding healthcare, and practices need to adapt their marketing strategies to appeal to them. There are four effective strategies that healthcare practices can use to appeal to a younger demographic of patients.
Younger generations are digital natives, accustomed to having everything at their fingertips, from looking for news updates to finding a new doctor. Tebra’s 2023 Patient Perspective Survey found that over 77% of participants sometimes or often search for new doctors online. Therefore, practices must establish a robust online presence to reach these patients.
1. Modernize Your Patient Experience
Patients want efficiency; 93% of patients stated they would prefer to fill out their forms before coming into the office for their appointment. Creating a modern and digital experience is critical to attracting and retaining younger generations as patients.
Having your patients fill out paperwork before their visit will reduce their in-office wait times, as well as lessen your front office staff’s task load. To offer this type of solution to your patients, consider providing a digital patient portal where they can virtually fill out and sign their paperwork, retrieve their medical records and view test results. Giving your patients a central way to access these items digitally will help give them more control of their health information, a sense of convenience and a seamless experience.
Another way to modernize your practice is by offering an online scheduling system that simplifies the process for patients looking to schedule an appointment online rather than over the phone. This system will also decrease incoming and outgoing phone calls, which will reduce
2. Make It Easy To Find Your Practice Online
Healthcare practices should conduct a thorough website audit to ensure all information is updated. Ensure your site has current photos of the inside and outside of your office, accurate contact details and directions to your office readily available.
Having a high search ranking for your practice involves search engine optimization (SEO), over which you have more control than you might think. To improve your website’s SEO, start by focusing on both your content and the mechanics of your site. Ensure your site is mobile-friendly to accommodate the growing number of mobile users and improve its loading speed to meet each search engine’s recommended load times.
Improve your local SEO by taking advantage of online directories like Google Business Profile and Yelp, which focus on a specific geographic area. Claim and update your practice information on these directories to increase your visibility in local search results.
Don’t overlook the importance of photo SEO, which can also drive traffic to your site. Rather than relying on stock photos, showcase your practice, location and people with high-quality, original images.
3. Demonstrate You Are Attentive And Responsive To Patient Concerns
Reviews are critical; 67% of patients won’t even consider a new provider if their average star rating is less than 4 out of 5 stars. To control the narrative of your online reputation, proactively ask patients to leave reviews immediately after their visit. Send automated review requests via email or text to increase response rates. Guide your patients to the most credible review sites, prioritizing Google, your website and sites like WebMD. However, negative reviews may still occur, so respond quickly by acknowledging the negative feedback publicly and reaching out privately to try and resolve their concerns to demonstrate that you are attentive and responsive to patient concerns.
Marketing to younger generations requires healthcare practices to adapt strategies by implementing technology and prioritizing patient experience and convenience. Thinking outside the box with more financially accessable payment options such as monthly membership services, utilizing patient financing platforms like PatientFi (alternative financing for out-of-pocket procedures), Affirm (buy-now, pay-later), Privi (subscription offering for tailored memberships) and other similar platforms can offer cash-strapped younger generations options for costly aesthetic treatments. By establishing a robust online presence, offering convenient scheduling options, emphasizing patient experience, using telehealth, focusing on preventive care, highlighting technology and innovation and offering affordable payment options, practices can attract younger patients and build long-lasting relationships.
4. Build Your Social Media Presence
It’s essential to prioritize your thought leadership and brand recognition, as younger generations are constantly seeking out information and recommendations online. Having a strong presence on social media is key to capturing their attention and building a steady stream of new patients. While many patients currently don’t follow their providers on social media, over 50% of Gen-Z and Millennials said they would if their providers posted relevant and interesting content regularly.
Creating social media accounts and consistently posting engaging content is a great way to start. But to truly stand out, you’ll need to tailor your content to the preferences and interests of Gen-Z and Millennial audiences. For example, these generations tend to value authenticity, so it’s important to showcase your practice’s unique personality and values in your content.
Each platform has its own culture and communication style, so it’s important to adapt your approach accordingly. Experiment with different types of content to see what resonates with your target audience, and don’t be afraid to outsource to social media experts if needed.
As Millennials and Gen-Z continue to shape the healthcare landscape, practices must understand their unique preferences and priorities and tailor their marketing strategies to their expectations. By doing so, practices can position themselves as leaders in their field and attract a new generation of patients who are engaged, proactive and committed to their health and well-being.
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Travis Schneider is Co-founder and Chief Corporate Development Officer for Tebra, a leading cloud-based healthcare technology platform. In his role, Travis oversees M&A and strategic partnerships for the organization. In 2021, PatientPop, a leader in practice growth technology, merged with Kareo, a leader in cloud-based clinical and financial software. Travis was the Co-founder and Co-CEO of PatientPop, where he oversaw all aspects of strategy, sales, and business development. He is enthusiastic about leading the integrated corporate development for Tebra.
