The data: Fewer than half (41%) of health and wellness influencers describe themselves as some kind of healthcare professional, according to Pew Research analysis published in May. The research evaluated more than 6,800 influencers with more than 100,000 followers who regularly post about health and wellness on Instagram, TikTok, or YouTube.

• Among influencers who list a healthcare profession in their social media bios, only 17% have traditional medical backgrounds (e.g., doctors or nurses).
• And among those without health-related backgrounds, 31% identify as coaches and 28% as entrepreneurs.
• Another 13% cite credentials such as life experiences such as a medical condition, health or fitness journey, or a caregiver role.

Why it matters: Consumers engage with content from health and wellness influencers who don’t have medical backgrounds.

• 40% of US adults get health and wellness information from social media influencers, rising to about half among folks ages 18-49, per Pew.
• Among them, 65% say they trust some of the information they get from health influencers.
• But just 10% say they trust all or most of it, while nearly one-quarter (24%) have little to no trust.

Implications for healthcare and pharma marketers: While social media has become a primary health discovery engine for adults (especially those under 50) engagement does not equal endorsement. We are seeing a clear credibility gap where consumers are utilizing these platforms for health inspiration and trends while maintaining a high baseline of skepticism over the content on them.

This creates a new mandate for health marketers: to ensure that health influencer partnerships don’t come at the cost of patient safety. Credibility is emerging as a key metric in health marketer-influencer relationships—ultimately trust affects patient loyalty and treatment adherence. It’s putting the onus on marketers to rethink how to blend science and medical authority with the conversational content that resonates in social feeds and comments. Marketers should pair influencer content with verified expertise or clinical backing where decisions carry risk, as credibility will directly shape patient trust, loyalty and adherence.

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