The role of influencers in healthcare communications

Mirelle Hadad, Digital Associate Director x Sam Coldicutt, Account Director

Social media channels like TikTok and Instagram have revolutionised influencer marketing for brands across many industries. However, highly regulated sectors like healthcare have been understandably slower in uptake. Despite the obvious challenges, there is an urgent need for healthcare brands to utilise non-traditional marketing channels to reach their audiences.

Our recent Reputation Rules, Brands in Motion research highlights the need for more authentic communications in healthcare, with 81% of physicians saying corporate reputation influences their perception of medicine value at least moderately. Moreover, 59% of physicians use social media for professional purposes, indicating the importance of embracing channels where influencers play important roles.

Whilst the health sector is a unique industry and operates in a complex environment, leveraging influencers is still possible and can be highly effective. This article explores the different ways healthcare companies can adapt influencer strategies to communicate effectively with specialist audiences.

Planning and finding the right people as a first step

Before initiating partnerships, it is critical that organisations conduct thorough research to find suitable partners with shared values across patient and healthcare professional (HCP) communities. Each audience, therapy area, and experience is unique, so the way in which potential influencer partners are identified and evaluated should be unique too. This is where our Digital, Experience & Technologies team (DXT) can help.

Using identification tools, such as Onalytica, we map and identify influencers who fit our client’s brief and audience. The information we secure from this activity goes far beyond just follower count and reach – it lets us truly understand engagement, sentiment, activity cadence and any existing brand partnerships.

In reviewing influencers, and analysing if they are a suitable partner, we always recommend aligning on bespoke evaluation criteria. By analysing audience, content style, and performance metrics, we then assess their relevance and suitability for a partnership.

In healthcare specifically, it’s incredibly important to revisit the core objectives of this activity and ensure this is considered in the evaluation. For example, patient influencers for rare conditions may have smaller audiences, but we know that these communities are often well-connected and highly engaged. In such cases, the potential impact of a partnership with a small but engaged audience may be higher than working with an influencer with a greater following. ?

Taking this approach to selecting the right influencer partner is crucial, especially in healthcare where trust and credibility are of the utmost importance.

Collaborating with patients for authentic storytelling

Brands must adapt to how younger generations consume media and search for information. This is supported by a recent survey, which showed that 56% of Gen Z get their health advice from TikTok. So, what can they do about it?

One route is patient influencers. Patients are the reason we all work in healthcare, and their stories are essential for authentic communication. By leveraging popular patient voices, brands can dramatically expand their reach, hitting hard-to-reach demographics and fostering awareness and belonging for people living with rare conditions.

At WE, we have experience in developing disease awareness campaigns for clients that collaborate directly with patient influencers across disease areas such as dermatology and haematology. As outlined above, our Health and DXT teams support our clients to identify influencers living with relevant conditions, and once aligned, help our clients collaborate with patients to position them as key voices in our campaigns. We have experience in creating content for personal channels such as Instagram to amplify messages authentically, ethically and in adherence to regulations.

Working with healthcare professionals to leverage expertise

The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the rise of HCP influencers on social media, a trend that continues today. Many HCPs use their platforms to educate and empower audiences. For example, Dr. Grunch, a US-based neurosurgeon, rose to fame on TikTok, and has amassed over 2 million followers. Similarly, Dr. Mike has over 12 million followers on YouTube alone, sharing content with his audience that ranges from dispelling healthcare myths to interviews with other HCPs.

Partnering to enable HCP communications online can be transformational. A recent partnership announcement between the World Health Organisation and Tik-Tok shows this, with an initiative to allow health leaders to provide evidence-based content to social media users and promote health literacy.

As outlined, mapping potential experts in the space is a key first step, but the work does not stop there. Once identified our WE Scientific Engagement team can onboard and support experts across a wide range of traditional medical communications including symposium presentations and advisory board sessions.

As well as specialist medical audiences, our Scientific Engagement and Media teams also have experience preparing HCPs to speak to mainstream and specialist media outlets around disease awareness. We can place interviews in top tier consumer and health media and preparing them for collaborative thought leadership pieces online.

Finding the right HCP partners requires patience and effort, but effectively onboarding an expert unlocks a valuable voice that can communicate your objectives with traditional medical audiences, consumer media and beyond.

In summary, while the healthcare industry needs to be more measured in its use of influencers than other sectors, when planned correctly, there is a significant opportunity for companies in the space to collaborate with partners to increase the effectiveness of their communications, whether that’s with patients to help them share their authentic inspiring stories or with HCPs to amplify their expertise. ???

Reach out to find out more about WE Communications capabilities and how we could support your communications challenges, including influencer marketing.