Our team has spent many years working in healthcare influencer marketing, and we genuinely believe this work can improve people’s lives. We’ve seen it first-hand time and time again. The right partnerships and content can help patients learn more about their conditions and available treatments. And they can help healthcare professionals reach a wider audience with accurate health information to combat all of the misinformation on the internet.
At the same time, there are serious problems in this industry that healthcare companies can’t afford to ignore.
What’s Going Wrong With (Some) Healthcare Influencers?
Every day, we see “wellness influencers” spreading fear and misinformation, because controversy drives clicks, engagement and affiliate revenue. We see wellness companies paying enormous sums to promote products that lack regulatory review or clinical evidence. We see risk and safety disclosures buried where most people will never notice them. We see patients struggling to tell the difference between trusted medical guidance and content designed to sell something.
This creates problems for people. Viewers spend money on ineffective products. Patients delay effective care. And communities can become overwhelmed with conflicting information and growing distrust.
That’s why our team approaches potential clients and influencer partnerships with an extremely high level of scrutiny and responsibility.
We only work with evidence-based healthcare companies and established providers. We won’t work with telehealth or supplement companies, because long-term credibility (and our ability to sleep at night) matters more to us than a paycheck.
Our Influencer Vetting Process
When we help clients discover and partner with influencers, a big part of that process is researching the influencers – we call this vetting. This process goes far beyond reviewing their social media feeds. We do that, but we also examine previous partnerships, the types of products they’ve have promoted in the past and look for any public controversies. We also look for any media coverage and evaluate whether their content consistently reflects quality and high standards of care. Have they talked about supplements, vaccines or medications previously? Is their content fear-based or fact based?
When evaluating healthcare professionals, such as MDs and NPs, we go even deeper. We look up their license to ensure it’s active and prioritize board-certified physicians who regularly reference clinical evidence and peer-reviewed research in their content. We review publicly available CMS Open Payments data to see if they’ve previously accepted money from pharmaceutical companies for clues to past behavior, and assess past paid partnerships to see if they align with our client.
We also rely heavily on our industry relationships. Healthcare communications is a small world, and asking some of our peers if they’ve worked with various creators often reveals important context that never appears publicly.
Our Approach to Compliance
We maintain a very conservative approach when it comes to compliance. We work closely with legal, medical and regulatory team to align on guidelines from the beginning. FDA and FTC expectations are not areas where companies should experiment or take unnecessary risks.
We always advocate for following the most strict guidance from the FTC and FDA when it comes to disclosures and risk information. We believe it’s better to be clear, forthright and obviously compliant vs. shady and deceptive.
The Industry Needs Ethical Standards
At the center of all of this are real people. Patients looking for answers. Caregivers trying to make informed decisions. Healthcare professionals working hard to educate their communities responsibly.
Healthcare influencer marketing carries enormous potential when it’s done ethically and thoughtfully. The companies that succeed long-term will be the ones that protect trust with the same level of care they bring to every other part of the patient experience.
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