Healthcare Marketing should Target Baby Boomers in China

Baby Boomers are typically defined as those born between 1946 and 1964, and over 37 million of them will face chronic health issues by 2029. Healthcare companies should integrate digital marketing channels for Baby Boomers due to their later-in-life experience with the internet. This is an opportunity for new brands to develop healthcare products. However, it’s important to remember that Chinese Baby Boomers are adjusting to their medical needs as seniors. They have an important budget to spend on health care. This tendency is confirmed by the increase in income in the whole society but particularly in middle-class families. Indeed, parents are more and more fiscal spending money on care and convenience items for themselves and their children.

Cultural context regarding Healthcare in China

Before you decide to get into China’s senior care market, here are a few features you need to be aware of.  Because you are or want to do your business in China, it is very important to be familiar with the Chinese education system. Here, we mean how the child is raised during its first years. In the baby healthcare product market, your main target is not the parents but the mothers. They are the ones that take care of a lot of the babies. These mothers have higher expectations because they want the best for their babies but also because the reflecting image about them is very important.

Baby Boomers in Chinese society are very precious. They also play a significant role in the child’s education. In China, the nursery system is not very usual as in most European countries. When parents go to work, they leave their children to their grandparents. Concerning babies’ habits, they start to eat solid food at 4 months which is a bit earlier compared to some European countries.

Chinese Baby Boomers’ new Purchasing Behaviours

Pew Research indicates that the average Boomer feels younger than their actual age and that they believe old age only arrives after 72 years. This means they are willing to maintain good health for as long as possible. Most Chinese Baby Boomers believe that at 70 they should still have active, healthy lifestyles that include work, Travel, leisure, and sexual activity. This makes the Baby Boomers in China a primary target market for all healthcare marketing strategies.

Chinese Baby boomers love all trendy things. Consequently, they change baby products more frequently than in western countries. Nowadays, babies ’parents are from a generation that is quite connected. They use social media and all the digital sources they have to compare brands, exchange with them, and share their opinions with other mothers. Information goes fast, that is the reason why is very important to pay attention to what people say about you on the internet. Chinese mothers order many baby care products on the line. This is why you need a good SEO to be easily noticeable. You must appear as a credible brand that really understands and satisfy the needs of the baby and the mother. It’s essential to be reliable in the parents’ minds.

What Do You Need to Know About Health care Marketing to Baby Boomers in China?

Baby boomers born between 1946 and 1964, spent more money on technology than any other age group and they are now very active on social media. According to recent research, boomers are 19% likelier to share Wechat or Weibo content than any other generation. Consider the myth about digitally challenged boomers to be well and truly debunked.

Baby Boomers are online: They use the Internet Frequently

People who think that older people aren’t online users are totally wrong. Chinese Baby Boomers between 47 and 55 years old spend more than 40 hours per month online.

More than 82 percent of Chinese baby boomers have a social media profile. WeChat, and Weibo is their most commonly used platforms, and more than half spend so much time browsing websites and using social networks every week.

This generation is very active and they act as caretakers while being parents of Millennial children. So, they spend a lot of time researching health matters.

They prefer to conduct their own research and will go to other sources such as friend recommendations if your healthcare organization doesn’t include self-service channels. Blog posts, guides, videos, and other educational content will give you the opportunity to reach them and start a strong relationship with these Baby Boomers.

They still use Offline Channels: They’re Weather, and they spend more

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While they’re no longer strangers to the internet, Chinese Baby Boomers do not really trust offline marketing compared to the younger generation. More than 78 percent have conducted more research on health care after seeing a commercial or looking at a magazine feature.

Healthcare marketers should integrate marketing campaigns with offline and online efforts in order to seduce the Baby Boomers. For example, your brand or company can send out an Ads campaign about your latest products and services.

They are comfortable using online shopping carts, which could bode well for patient portals and content marketing.

Baby Boomers are Invested in Improving Their Life Through Innovation

Over the years, the healthcare field is changing and Baby Boomers are interested in innovation. They want to know more about how the latest technology will improve their health concerns and their overall wellness. Over, 57 percent of this group has a keen interest in telemedicine services from their physicians.

One particular thing about the Baby boomers is that 60 percent of them are enthusiastic about doctors using artificial intelligence in their practices.

Healthcare and fitness-related wearables are another favorite Baby Boomer tool. They’re even willing to let their doctors look at wearable data if it helps them improve their health outcomes.

Baby Boomer Marketing is quite Different

Over, 50% of Chinese Baby Boomers use search engines such as Baidu to find products and services, compared with 60% and 70% among other groups. Boomers are the group, who value the brand or patient experience more than the services themselves. Some Brands found this out recently and adapted their marketing strategy to point out the simplicity of the experience and the usefulness of the product.

All healthcare marketers, who want to target Chinese Baby Boomers, should make sure that they secure them as patients with some innovative and high-quality products and services which can improve their life with preventive care.

Distribution is still important

Physical distribution channels remain important. Hypermarkets, chain-operated maternity, and baby stores are the first places considered by parents to buy sanitary care products.  Nevertheless, e-commerce platforms are evolving positively. They include baby, and maternity online websites, apps, cross-border websites, and WeChat stores. Both may fulfill the high expectations of the parents. They might provide some advisory services in order to get parents’ trust and to make them buy products from other categories. Parents rely a lot on their family and friends’ recommendations. They also have information from experts. So it is very useful to build a solid reputation. Higher-income parents are sensitive to TV and radio commercials concerning information on sanitary care products for their children.

To recap, Baby Boomers, are a vital group for your healthcare company. They are reaching an age where they have more health concerns than before, and they also have a strong amount of buying power. They’re actually quite interested in the ways their lives can improve through innovations.

Trying to reach Chinese Baby Boomers with innovative marketing campaigns is a challenge, but it’s well worth the effort.  However, doing business requires strong knowledge of trends, features, and consumer behaviors. Thanks to its expertise GMA can help you to build a solid business.

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