Are you serving your patient population correctly? Are you able to connect appropriately, efficiently, and effectively with all your potential patients—especially Latinos? What can you do to serve this huge and growing base of healthcare consumers who want to want to be healthy but may not know how and have not heard of your brand?
To reach the Hispanic market, you need to adopt two basic communication solutions:
1. Education Must Be Vital and Available
Hispanics are underserved consumers in all respects, but they are eager to understand and learn. Traditionally, Hispanics tend to be reactive, not proactive, about their health. This is not because they do not want to be healthy—58% of Hispanics say staying healthy is a top concern—but that they have traditionally been under-educated around health.
The good news: Spanish media is filling this information gap. Custom content around disease states and medications is now available on television, online, and right in their doctor’s offices. In-language content addresses key health issues and diseases that you, as a pharma marketer, can align with. The “heavy lifting” of this content is already completed by companies like PatientPoint and Telemundo, and this content is quantifiable. Associating with this content on these various platforms with your specific product messaging puts you in the exact right place with the right audience. And it will pay off—this desire to be healthy makes for a very valuable patient. Hispanics are 5% more likely than non-Hispanics to take branded medication and 10% more willing to pay extra for prescriptions not covered by insurance.
2. Become Culturally Knowledgeable in Messaging
The value of the Latino patient is seen in research that shows Hispanics are more willing than non-Hispanics to ask their doctor for a prescription they have seen or heard advertised. Make your messaging count by communicating in Spanish and recognizing and celebrating cultural differences.
For example, gender roles are more traditional in Hispanic households. The woman is the “chief household officer” and in that role makes many of the healthcare decisions for the family. Make sure to include her in any depictions of physician visits or health discussions.
Strong family ties are another hallmark of this community. Couples stay together and take care of each other as they age. Illustrate and honor that. And do not make assumptions about the younger generation. Be aware that even fully bilingual Millennials often seek advice from their parents or elders, a generation more likely to want messaging in their language of choice—Spanish.
Reaching the Hispanic market doesn’t require a new marketing campaign. By simply aligning with readily available content—presented in Spanish and sensitive to cultural differences—your brand will connect with new consumers who are waiting to hear from you.
Resources:
Simmons Summer 2016 NHCS Adult Survey
Mintel, February 2015, Hispanic Millennials Report
Mintel, May 2015, Family Dynamics of Hispanic Consumers https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2014/05/why-many-latinos-dread-going-to-the-doctor/361547/
