The key strategies to overcome the challenges of the health sector with influencer marketing

There is evidence that is increasingly crucial to consider in the world of communication and marketing: social media are no longer just a communication tool, but a real information channel. With 49% of consumers globally search for health information online healthcare companies can no longer miss the opportunity to leverage these platforms to educate and inform patients. And it is collaborations with Influencers in particular that can make medical information more accessible, humanizing complex topics and breaking taboos on delicate topics.

What is Influencer Marketing in the Health sector?

In essence, it’s about collaborating with people who have a significant online presence and dedicated following in the health industry. These influencers can be healthcare professionals such as doctors, nurses, dieticians, speech therapists, physiotherapists, or health enthusiasts, patients and supporters of mental and physical well-being. By partnering with these influencers, healthcare brands can amplify your messages, increase brand awareness and create meaningful connections with your target audience. One of the main benefits of influencer marketing in healthcare, however, is its ability to humanize the industry. Health can often seem intimidating and impersonal, but influencers have the power to add a human touch by sharing personal stories, experiences and experiences. Whether discussing wellness tips, sharing personal health journeys, or providing information on medical innovations, influencers can make health more accessible and understandable for their followers.

Why does influencer marketing in healthcare matter?

From the perspective of brands and companies, influencer marketing in the healthcare sector offers a number of strategic advantages:

• • reach a wider audience accessing new, already consolidated market segments.

• • Increase credibility given that influencers are perceived as authoritative and their recommendations increase trust towards the brand.

• • Greater brand awareness who increase their visibility thanks to collaborations with influencers.

• • Educate and inform through influencers who are able to disseminate reliable health information and dispel common myths.

Influencers play a crucial role in eliminating that veil of embarrassment on sensitive topics such as those related to health. Sharing personal experiences, or exposing their expertise as professionals in the sector, more and more encourage followers to speak openly about topics often considered taboo such as mental health, chronic diseases and reproductive health. Headspace (meditation and mental health app), for example, has partnered with influencers to normalize the conversation about mental health and psychological well-being. The American tampon brand Always launched the #LikeAGirl campaign, involving influencers to break down taboos around puberty and the menstrual cycle. Just like MySugar a diabetes management app, has partnered with influencers living with diabetes to share authentic experiences and raise awareness about managing the disease. These examples demonstrate how influencers can address sensitive issues, helping their followers feel less alone and seek support, thus raising awareness and encouraging prevention.

Despite the great opportunities we have mentioned so far, marketing in the healthcare sector also presents some unique challenges and peculiar.

1. 1. Disinformation: Influencers must avoid spreading incorrect or unverified information. The case of Kim Kardashian, who promoted a drug without medical expertise, highlighted the risks associated with this approach. For this reason, for each campaign it is essential to choose qualified influencers or experts in the sector.

1. 1. Regulatory compliance: compliance with regulations is essential in every sector, but even more so in the healthcare sector. Companies must carefully monitor influencer content and interactions to ensure compliance with laws. It is therefore very useful to use AI-based social listening tools to monitor all interactions in real time.

1. 1. Ethics and conflicts of interest: Influencers must find a balance between commercial promotion and authenticity to avoid ethical conflicts. This is why collaborating with influencers who have experienced firsthand the medical conditions they talk about, or with real health experts, is the safest solution for both followers and brands.

Trust is a crucial factor in health marketing. According to a survey reported by Healthline Media, based on overseas audiences, 44% of people with a medical condition listen to and consider advice from ‘health influencers’ with 99% considering them reliable. Partnering with influencers who are true health product advocates not only builds credibility but also helps build trusting relationships with your audience.

4 Influencer Marketing strategies for healthcare brands:

1. 1. Choose credible influencers: It is essential to prioritize authenticity and align with brand values, selecting influencers with an engaged and relevant audience.

1. 1. Promote authenticity: Encouraging influencers to share personal experiences and authentic testimonials helps build credibility.

1. 1. Educate and inform: Collaborations with influencers must include an educational focus. In fact, 74% of people with a health condition say they would follow an influencer’s advice to talk to a doctor.

1. 1. Use different platforms: Each social media offers unique opportunities. Taking advantage of different platforms allows you to reach wider and more targeted audiences.

For a successful influencer marketing strategy in the healthcare industry, it is crucial to understand and leverage the entire “Pyramid of Influence”. This pyramid is made up of different levels of influencers, divided according to their visibility and reach: from star and come on macro influencers until micro And nano influencer. Each of these levels plays a specific role in the overall brand strategy, and choosing to only work with the big names could limit the campaign’s potential. THE mega influencers like celebrities and industry experts with millions of followers, are powerful tools for quickly spreading messages to large audiences, generating immediate visibility and high-profile conversations. However, they tend to have a less deep and personal connection with their audience, and their content may be perceived as sponsored, thus losing out on authenticity. That’s why companies, especially those in the healthcare industry, need to consider balancing their collaborations by also including dwarf And micro influencers which represent the base of the pyramid.

Why it is useful to work (also) with nano and micro influencers

THE nano influencer (up to 1,000 followers) i.e. micro influencers (between 1,000 and 100,000 followers) have a unique and valuable impact thanks to the high level of involvement that they manage to create with their audience. Despite having a smaller reach than macro influencers, these creators often have a very loyal community, with whom they interact regularly and directly. This type of personal relationship makes their recommendations perceived as more authentic And credible which is especially crucial when talking about health-related products. Here are some reasons why it is beneficial to partner with dwarf And micro influencers:

• High authenticity and trust: Nano and micro influencers share personal experiences that are perceived as more genuine than endorsements from mega influencers. Their followers tend to trust their opinions and advice more.
• High engagement rate: Even if they have fewer followers, their content often generates a much higher engagement rate. Recommendations from these influencers are more convincing and lead to a greater likelihood of action from the public.
• Creating Authentic Content (UGC): Nano and micro influencers are excellent at generating User Generated Content (UGC) such as reviews, photos and videos, which brands can use to expand their communication on other channels.
• Low costs: Working with nano and micro influencers is much cheaper than mega influencers, allowing brands to get quality, authentic content at a lower cost.
• Targeting market niches: Because nano and micro influencers often have a strong connection to specific communities, brands can leverage these relationships to reach audiences that are difficult to target through traditional media or large influencers.

Additionally, collaborations with these influencers offer strategic flexibility, allowing brands to build a library of authentic, targeted content that reinforces credibility of the brand over time. Combining the visibility of large influencers with the authenticity and depth of interactions of micro and nano influencers allows brands to achieve several objectives: increase awareness, build trust and stimulate direct conversion.