Ronald Bautista, Digital Marketing Strategist at Grupo Parada.
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) enrollment process has shown many challenges in making a connection with the Hispanic community. Hispanic “Young Invincibles” (between the ages of 18 and 29) play an important role in the success of the ACA and they have proven to be the hardest to reach Hispanic population.
This community feels uninformed and indifferent; two roadblocks healthcare providers have faced during the enrollment period.
How can healthcare providers overcome the Hispanic communication barrier?
There is a lot of information available regarding the ACA, but there is a reason why all of that information is not translating into more enrollments. According to a Google Study, Hispanics get their healthcare information from TV and the internet. However, after seeing a TV advertisement, 78% of Hispanics searched online for more information.
Healthcare providers must follow through the media preferences of young Hispanics. Young Hispanics do their research through search engines from their smartphones, use videos on Youtube as help in their research, nearby healthcare providers is important to them, and they are more likely to make the purchase online.
In order to overcome the communication barrier, institutions have to implement a better digital outreach:
- Campaign must be about motivating Hispanics, not about fear. Fear of fines and illness doesn’t work to convince and encourage enrollment. After all, the target group is called “Young Invincibles”, and wellness to them is about how they feel right now, not in the future. The campaign must create an experience, the feeling of wellness from enrolling.
- Health goes beyond medicine. There are other options to content that are attractive to Hispanic culture, food for instance, can be directly related to enrolling under the ACA. Institutions must connect other Hispanic interests with the ACA experience that will derive in educating and enrolling the community.
- Build trust and sustain it. Hispanics are searching for reliable sources of healthcare information. Institutions can benefit from educating not only by enrolling, but also by building a positive reputation in the community. This can derive in increasing word-of- mouth and more loyal clients.
One of the benefits of Digital Media Strategies is how the campaigns can be relevant to the culture of different segments of the Hispanic community.
The ways to reach and engage young Hispanics are within our grasp. The time to make it happen is now.
