The millennial’s healthcare search

How young adults are influencing hospital marketing trends

A recent issue of Protocol looked at some of the emerging trends in healthcare marketing. At the heart of more than half of this year’s top marketing trends is the ways in which younger patients are changing healthcare’s marketing tactics. Many other trends are a result of this new wave of healthcare consumerism. And I’m proof of my generation’s influence on marketing.

As an early 20-something who just moved to the Capital Region, I’ve recently had to search for a new doctor for the first time all on my own. With all the information out there, I did what I always do and searched the internet with some help from my good friend Google. That’s right, my fresh out of college mind decided to take the easy route, so I typed in “primary care physicians.” The first thing to come up was a local hospital, so that’s where I started.

Cue the importance of search optimization and content strategy. I know I’m not alone in making the internet my go-to source for healthcare information. As my generation becomes more and more independent, we young adults will go where we’ve always gone for information—the internet. Our online search for healthcare information will make it increasingly important for hospitals and healthcare offices to be one of the first hits we youngsters see in our Google searches, but it takes more than that for us to pick up the phone and make an appointment.

After browsing the website of the first hit on my Google search, I easily found family medicine doctors who I might want to give a call. This healthcare facility won me over not only because they were the first to appear, but also because their site was impressive, they are well-known throughout the community, and they seem like a brand I can trust.

The preferences of young patients like myself will drive marketing in 2014 to focus on healthcare branding. Because my generation looks for a certain experience, we will expect healthcare that has built a strong reputation through branding and a customer experience.

As millennials like me gain independence and look for healthcare providers for the first time, companies must adjust their marketing strategies to get on the radar of the nations newest independent patients.

Read more about marketing to Millennials in Protocol: Top Ten Trends in Healthcare Marketing for 2014.