Specialty pharmacies tend to prioritize the needs of elderly and menopausal women. However, doing so can alienate a growing body of customers who are looking for a pharmacy they can trust and go to long-term: young women. A common misconception is assuming that young adults in the population don’t need a specialty pharmacy. Yet, young women are introduced to health issues and concerns during the early stages of life and can benefit greatly from your expert support. By taking the time to consider their health concerns, you can become their go-to source for information, prescriptions, and products and gain a lifelong customer.
Young women want a trustworthy resource in their community where they feel safe to get the guidance, discretion, and products they need. Here’s how you can become that source and build a loyal customer base that will return to you for decades to come.
Understand the Health Issues Important to Young Women
Young women face numerous challenges as they leave the teen years and enter their twenties and thirties. Their metabolisms shift, they begin contemplating having children, and they struggle with the aftermath of childbirth and being a busy mother wearing many hats. Throughout these dramatic changes, they need a resource they can count on to give them specialized guidance. While many women may turn to Google for quick, generic answers, they still need a trustworthy specialty pharmacy in their community to help them determine what applies to them and how to best cope with their unique health and wellness challenges. Once trust has been built in the early years of getting to know their bodies, that loyalty will carry over into the mature years. Here are a few health issues to consider that are of specific concern to young women.
Mental Health
According to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America, 322 million people worldwide suffer from depression – and women between the ages of 25 to 44 are more likely to suffer from these conditions than men. The rise in mental health issues can be credited to the increase in awareness surrounding this topic, which means community resources – like your specialty pharmacy – need to be there to support the segment of the population most in need.
Family Planning
Young women go through several stages of family planning, including finding the right birth control, ovulation monitoring, and needing vitamins and nutrients before, during, and after giving birth. Sexually transmitted diseases also become a concern during this stage of life and many women may find this tough topics to discuss. Ensuring young women feel considered, welcomed, and understood within your specialty pharmacy can dramatically improve your likelihood of becoming their go-to resource.
Additionally, young women need a community pharmacy they trust with their children’s wellbeing. Building these relationships early has a ripple effect that can build your clientele over generations.
Nutrition
Once the teen years are over a woman’s metabolism starts to mature, she often begins paying more attention to nutrition and physical health. Many young women struggle with weight loss, weight management, dietary sensitivities, and supplements. Women are also trending toward all-natural supplements in today’s market. Providing holistic options is a critical consideration to create lifelong relationships and to protect your pharmacy in a changing marketplace.
Long-Term Prevention
Young women are consuming information at an unprecedented rate. With the availability of genetic testing kits delivered right to your door and research studies translated into everyday English via social media, young women are paying attention to things like breast cancer, ovarian cancer, and cervical cancer sooner in life. Education is essential to helping young women understand some of the health issues they may face later on in life. Providing prevention recommendations where applicable can ensure your young female clientele know you’re aware of the worries that plague them and you’re taking deliberate action to help them prepare for a healthier future. Topics to consider in your marketing materials and pamphlets include:
- Osteoporosis
- Menopause
- Breast cancer
- Ovarian and cervical cancer
- Ovarian cysts
- Diabetes
- Hormonal imbalance
- Premature aging
Present the information specifically with a young female audience in mind. Your elderly clientele already knows they’re at risk and these topics are relevant to them. It’s the young crowd whose eye you need to catch.
Becoming Their Specialty Pharmacy
By offering resources and services specifically to a younger audience that other pharmacies may overlook, you can attract lifelong customers. Educational items, services, and resources that young women can implement or practice right away show that you understand the different issues young women face and, more importantly, that you are the one to help them.
Education & Resources
Yes, you want to become a reliable resource of information, but go one step further than what your competitors are doing. While paper pamphlets are useful once customers are actually in your pharmacy, many young women search for digital resources first before deciding to visit a physical location. Consider blogging or distributing health information on social media to allow young women to connect with you on a more personal level and in a way that’s most familiar to them. Encourage conversations such as by allowing readers to leave blog comments or to comment on social media posts. Then respond with helpful advice and welcome commenters into your store.
Partnerships with Local Businesses
A great opportunity to create lifelong relationships with your customers is to get out in the community. Partner with other local businesses that young women frequent to allow them to get to know you. Familiarity is the first step in creating lifelong customers. Partner with businesses such as:
- Hair salons
- Nail salons
- Spas
- Health clubs
- Fitness centers
- Grocery stores
- Local banks
- Dental offices
- Schools
Ask these businesses to make referrals or to carry pamphlets, fliers, or event notices in their common areas and offer to do the same for them. If you all have the same goal at heart – helping young women and their families live healthier happier lives – then it’s a win-win-win situation.
Ask The Pharmacist
Make sure the young women in your community know you’re available for questions. It’s important to do outreach and let them know you are a resource for them for all of their health-related questions and concerns. Consider hosting a one-hour event in your pharmacy once per month in which attendees get to ask your pharmacist questions and learn from others’ questions. Even if you can’t give a specific answer, you can point them in the right direction or make a referral to a valuable resource. By becoming their trusty source of reliable information, guidance, and support you will create a safe and trustworthy environment for these women to turn to in their times of need, creating loyalty for years to come.
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