What if your next public health campaign didn’t star a doctor… but instead, a TikTok or Instagram influencer? It may sound risky, maybe even a little absurd, but it’s already happening and it’s working. From promoting sexual health and wellness, to sharing the importance of vaccines, to campaigns focused on smoking cessation, influencers are stepping into roles that were once reserved for public service announcements and health professionals. Why? Because audiences listen to people they trust, and today, trust often looks more like a peer on social media wearing a hoodie than a professional in a lab coat behind a podium.  

Influencer-driven behavior change campaigns are redefining how we talk about public health. They’re not just spreading a message, they’re shifting attitudes, sparking real conversations, and changing people’s actions.  

Here’s how we’re making it happen at Rinck — and why your next campaign may need less infographics and more #FYP energy. 

 

What is Behavior Change Marketing?   

Behavior change marketing isn’t just about selling a product, it’s about shifting mindsets and inspiring people to make better choices. Whether it’s encouraging people to get a flu shot, recycle more, or choose better-for-you foods, the goal is to inspire action that sticks. It combines the power of storytelling, audience insights, and our trusted messengers (in this case, influencers) to meet people where they are and gently influence them towards a better outcome.  

 

Why Influencers Make the Difference   

In many ways, influencers bridge the gap between information and action.  

For starters, influencers reach people where they already are. Unlike a billboard or TV PSA, influencers show up in a user’s daily scroll on social platforms where they’re already spending their time such as TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube. Additionally, influencer content is native and blends in seamlessly with the type of content that audiences are already viewing. 

Unlike traditional PSAs, influencers speak the language of their audiences. Whether the influencer is a doctor, parent, fitness enthusiast, or even a sustainability advocate, they speak directly to their communities in a way that feels natural, not forced. While influencers are known for authenticity and their ability to build trust for a brand, they’re also skilled at making facts feel a bit more digestible by incorporating storytelling and their own personal experiences. It’s no surprise that attention spans are dwindling. Most users would much rather watch a video shared by an influencer that incorporates rich storytelling than read a fact sheet. Influencers’ personal experiences and recommendations hold weight, making them powerful messengers for behavior change.   

Influencers have the unique ability to spark real conversations and shift social norms, often in spaces where institutional voices fall flat. While public health agencies or nonprofits might struggle to cut through the noise with formal messaging, influencers can introduce sensitive topics like mental health, tobacco use, or nutrition in casual, everyday content, making them feel less intimidating and more actionable. We’ve found that influencers are especially effective in behavior change campaigns on TikTok, where the platform’s more anonymous, unfiltered culture encourages open and honest conversations within the comment sections — often more so than on curated platforms like Instagram. In doing so, influencers normalize behaviors, reduce stigma, and encourage peer-to-peer dialogue that drives genuine cultural change. 

 

How Rinck Leads the Way   

We don’t just throw influencers into a campaign and hope for the best. Our approach is strategic:   

• We partner with credible voices who truly connect with their audiences. Our influencer vetting process focuses less on follower count and more on ensuring we’re partnering with influencers who are authentically passionate about the subject and will appear credible; typically having some personal connection to the topic. We look for influencers who are already having meaningful conversations with their audiences — especially face-to-face, as they’re likely to have a deeper and more meaningful connection with their audience.  

• We consider our target audience. When possible, the influencer should align with the target audience we’re trying to reach. If our target audience is Mainers 18-24, we’re looking for influencers who align with this same demographic as content will be more likely to resonate with audiences when it’s coming from someone that looks and sounds like them. Audiences can tell when a message feels out of left field or is coming from someone who has no connection to the state.  We also take influencer niche into consideration – for example, we know that for our Gen-Z audience, niches such as sports, gaming, and music tend to resonate well, so we look to partner with influencers in these verticals when possible, taking the target demographic’s interests into consideration when casting influencers. 

• Collaboration is key. We collaborate with influencers instead of providing them with a script. When executing behavior change campaigns, it’s especially important to ensure messaging feels authentic and relatable. It wouldn’t be effective to ask influencers to follow a script. Instead, we approach things differently and consider our partnership with them to be a true collaboration. Instead of providing influencers a script, we craft an influencer brief that contains campaign guidelines and the facts and ask influencers to select 2-3 talking points while also incorporating their own personal anecdotes and experiences. Incorporating 2-3 key talking points allows audiences to remain interested; including too many can result in audience drop-off as the topic can feel a bit too overwhelming or overbearing.  

• We have influencers provide a clear CTA to ensure that their content not only informs and inspires but also drives measurable behavior. It’s great to give audiences information, but if you don’t provide a clear next step, they may be left wondering what to do with it and the moment to act can be lost. Whether it’s encouraging followers to visit a campaign landing page, to text a number for help, or to book a health screening, a clear and direct CTA gives audiences a simple next step and is critical for turning awareness into action. A well-placed and clear CTA delivered in the influencers’ authentic voice helps bridge the gap between inspiration and impact and is key to empowering audiences to take real, tangible steps. This makes the message not only memorable, but also actionable. 

• We track engagement and adjust strategies for the biggest impact. The world is rapidly changing, as is the social media and influencer marketing landscape. Something that worked and resonated with audiences two years ago, isn’t necessarily going to connect with audiences today. Post-campaign, we do a deep dive into all things analytics.  We look at what posts drove the most shares, saves, and/or comments, which posts drove the highest engagement rate organically vs. the posts that drove the highest paid engagement rate. We also consider whether content style or creator type may have played a role in performance. We layer in AI-driven insights to identify emerging patterns and predict which creative and messaging strategies worked best and are most likely to continue resonating in future campaigns. For our 2024 Maine CDC Sipping Point campaign, which aimed to raise awareness about the negative impacts of alcohol misuse, we found that video content featuring outdoor settings performed the best organically. Not necessarily surprising given the Maine outdoors is so important to so many who live here, but regardless, a great insight that helps inform the style of content we may be looking for in our 2025 campaign. We also analyze comments, as they offer valuable insight into how the campaign is perceived and often help inform strategy for future efforts.  

 

Real-World Impact   

From public health to sustainability, we’ve seen firsthand how the right influencer partnerships can create real change. Whether it’s increasing vaccine awareness, promoting mental health resources, or shifting consumer choices, our campaigns drive measurable results. 

After the tragic mass shooting in Lewiston, Maine in October 2023, we knew Mainers would have an increased need for mental health support as statistics show that mass shootings can have ripple effects through a community for days, weeks, and months after a tragedy has occurred. Trauma can impact those who were directly impacted as well as those who were indirectly affected.  

Knowing this, we worked with the Maine CDC to launch two suicide prevention campaigns, one intended for youth called, Filter Out the Noise, and one intended for adults called, Here to Help Maine. While the two campaigns had different messaging strategies, the goal was the same — to reduce suicide deaths and attempts and improve the mental health and wellbeing of Mainers. 

Influencers were a key component of our campaign strategy for both campaigns, working with them to share their own personal stories of mental health, ultimately reducing the stigma of speaking about mental health and encouraging audiences to get help through both landing page and text resources. 

 

The Future of Behavior Change Marketing   

Influencer marketing is evolving, and we’re proud to be leading the way. By combining AI-driven insights, hyper-targeted messaging, and the authenticity of influencers, we’re helping brands move beyond surface-level engagement to spark real, lasting behavior change. We’ve been leveraging influencer partnerships in public health and social impact spaces for years and we’re excited to see the industry catching up. 

Ready to create meaningful change together? Let’s talk.