EMARKETER just published a hefty new report: Healthcare Influencers and Creators 2026.
They include new survey data that demonstrates how much people are using social media for health education. If you work in pharma or med device marketing, this data points to consumer behavior that’s been shifting dramatically over the last 10 years: patients are looking beyond their doctor’s advice and even your website for information.
The Shift In Patient Discovery
Among US social media users who look up health information, 70.4% follow or engage with health influencers. For Gen Z (15–29) and Millennials (30–45), that number climbs to 83.2% for both groups.
Why Influencers are the New Mainstream
In practical terms, healthcare influencers are no longer a niche media channel. For younger audiences, they are a primary source of health education discovery. People are learning about symptoms, hearing about treatment experiences, and forming questions they later bring to their doctors.
Of course, social media isn’t replacing clinicians, but patients are researching and learning in a different way than they did previously.
Our CEO, Missy Voronyak, is one of the few industry voices Beth Snyder Bulik interviewed for this report. Along with the data, the research explores how influencer marketing is evolving for healthcare marketers. The quote she included from Missy discusses how influencer collaborations are shifting to longer term partnerships vs. one-off content activations. The report also looks at how creator partnerships are becoming more structured and how AI generated or virtual health creators are starting to appear on the radar.
Key Takeaways for Marketing Leaders
A couple of things stood out from the report:
- First, the scale of consumer engagement is larger than many teams assume. When more than four out of five younger health information seekers follow influencers, we need to acknowledge that social media is now mainstream as part of the for health information ecosystem.
- Second, trust is forming whether brands participate or not. Patients and caregivers are already listening to these voices. They are comparing experiences, evaluating treatment journeys, and shaping expectations before they ever see a branded message.
If your patient and physician influencer initiatives still live in the category of “nice to have,” this report gives you credible data to revisit that conversation internally. The audience is clearly there. And your competitors are already building relationships with those credible voices.
How to Build a High-Impact Influencer Strategy
Our work at Voronyx is focused on supporting brands with patient and physician influencer strategy and execution. They partner with us to:
- study what’s happening publicly through social listening and influencer searches
- build relationships with patient and physician influencers through discovery calls and in-person meetups at events
- learn from patient and physician influencers about how they use social media and how we can best engage with them there through influencer advisory boards we plan and facilitate
- facilitate influencer content collaborations with respect and a collaborative mindset through strategy, outreach and content campaigns
Interested in learning more? Reach out to discuss how we can help you establish a compliant framework for working with physician influencers.
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