As 2025 comes to a close, it’s time to revisit the most popular Digital Health Briefing stories from each quarter. Gen Z worries, AI search shake-ups, and TikTok trust issues are driving major marketing shifts across all fronts. We unpack each below.

No. 1 story in Q1: Gen Zers want more tools to manage their health and wellness

The trend: Gen Zers recognize how important it is to maintain ideal health and wellness, but just 58% feel like they have the tools and ability to do so. That’s lower than all other generations, according to a Collage Group survey of 4,713 US consumers that was shared with EMARKETER.

Implications for healthcare marketers: While Gen Z values health and wellness, they are falling short in achieving their best health, which provides healthcare providers, marketers, providers, and insurers an opportunity to arm this generation with the necessary support. For example, marketers should meet Gen Z on social media with trusted resources and information about healthcare products and services, while partnering with credible influencers since it’s where many go to receive healthcare information. Providers and insurers could additionally use phone or email alert reminders to engage with this group because they’re open to the idea. This could be to help Gen Z schedule doctor’s appointments, exercise, and engage in other wellness activities.

No. 1 story in Q2: AI Overviews are driving down healthcare clickthrough rates on Google search

The data: Google search clickthrough rates (CTRs) for healthcare content dropped 34.5% from May to December last year, according to our Industry KPI data provided by Databox. Google search console CTRs are the percentage of clicks received from search results compared with the total number of impressions.

Implications for healthcare and pharma marketers: The drop in CTRs aligns with the launch of Google’s AI Overviews, which appear at the top of Google search results for most health queries. Healthcare and pharma brands and publishers must optimize their web content to increase visibility in AI Overviews by having up-to-date, evidence-based information with case studies and statistics. Meanwhile, healthcare and pharma marketers shouldn’t pull back traditional search ad spending just yet, but they’ll want to closely monitor how AI changes consumer search behaviors.

No. 1 story in Q3: People trust TikTok for health advice more than other social media platforms, but that trust is still very low

The data: Less than 10% of social media users say they trust “most” of the health information and advice they see on social platforms, according to a new KFF survey of 1,300 US adults. TikTok is seen as the most reliable platform for health content, with 40% of users trusting most (8%) or some (32%) of the information they see there, slightly surpassing YouTube (39%) and Reddit (35%).

Implications for healthcare brands and marketers: Most consumers are aware that there is plenty of medical misinformation and influencer self-promotion flooding the internet. But they spend a lot of time there, so brands and marketers need to develop strategies for each social platform that can help build customer relationships and trust. On TikTok, for example, brands should lean into partnerships with trusted doctors who can educate younger consumers on the risks of skipping medical appointments, or identify influencers who will endorse a health product because they like it—not because they’re getting paid.