June 8, 2018
Health systems increasingly
use return on investment (ROI) metrics as a means of instilling discipline into
the marketing function. In turn, a marketer might focus on the 65 and up
segment because of perceived near-term needs that will generate revenue
quickly, or they might target much younger adults to earn maternity and
pediatric customers in the hopes of larger customer lifetime value (CLV)
estimates. But there’s a middle group who may be more persuadable: The younger
"aging-in" population.
I’m not referring to
"aging-in" in the almost-ready-to-sign-up for Medicare sense, but
rather to the 50-64 year old population that often seems overlooked in health
system marketing plans. This demographic is working, has seniority with their
employer, has favorable commercial insurance, and is starting to consume more
health services. They are starting to pay attention to the health category.
This segment combines the
tail-end of the Baby Boomers and the leading edge of Generation X. Their life
experiences were shaped by hard rock, disco and pop music, political scandals,
gas lines, economic booms and the Great Recession. And even though they may now
take blood pressure or cholesterol medications, they maintain a self-perception
of being younger and are looking forward to this window of time between the
kids finally moving out and the contemplation of retirement.
So, how do you persuade
them? Targeting from a media perspective is relatively easy. The harder part is
avoiding the clichés of ‘senior marketing’ that turn-off this segment. Here are
three tips:
·
Don’t overly focus on age
as part of your visual or narrative message. This group intellectually
understands they are getting older, but attitudinally pushes back on messages
that seem designed for the ‘senior’ set. This is an important distinction from older
segments that embrace the ‘senior’ designation and silver-haired imagery.
·
Focus on their motivations.
These prospects are interested in experiences large and small that they may
have previously delayed. The emphasis is on the ability to ‘do.’ This is
strongly tied to a person’s motivations for new experiences and why your clinical
service line needs to be in the context of enabling an engaged lifestyle with
minimal disruption.
·
They carry a sense of
responsibility. This segment will go online to do research and can be cynical
about superficial content, so make sure there’s a “there, there” when they land
on your campaign page. This group solves problems at work and will approach a
service line in the same way. Once they land on your page, your content needs
to be structured to allow for deeper dives into volume/quality, return to work
speed, how to access, cost considerations and next steps.
The 50-
to 64-year-old aging in place segment represents a strong segment with
favorable income and insurance, rising health needs and an increasing wiliness
to listen to your message — as long as you don’t make them feel old.
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