How to Create Healthcare Ads That Truly Connect with Gen Z
While many healthcare brands have mastered the emotional journey playbook (you know, the soft piano music with slow-motion hugs between patients and doctors in sun-drenched waiting rooms), the latest seismic shift in social media has presented new challenges for the industry.
Healthcare marketers are increasingly exploring new opportunities to elevate their brands and are branching out onto Gen Z platforms like TikTok and Snapchat. And honestly? It’s about time.
Your oldest Gen Z generation is entering the “fun” times of their lives, their 20s, where they’re making actual adult decisions. As they exit their parents’ healthcare plans, many are making care decisions for the first time in their lives. This is your moment to capture them.
But here’s the reality: it’s possible your ads aren’t meeting them where they are.
The downfall is not understanding how to use the interest graph to your benefit, and either lawyers, your 10-year-old company branding, or cost concerns may be holding you back from breaking out from your competition. After 20 years in this business, I’ve always told my brands: don’t forget to focus on your aging and upcoming fanbase.
Early adoption and familiarity with your brand through relevance has LTV value worth its weight in gold.
The Geriatric Millennial’s Guide to Interest Graphs
While I’m not a Gen-Zer myself, I’m raising them and watching firsthand how they make decisions, how they buy, and what research process they go through. I often walk in on mid-YouTube Shorts sessions and just stare in wonder at what holds my pre-teens’ attention. “This is silly, why are you watching this? What is ASMR?” But you know what? I’m old in marketing years, but I’m evolving. This geriatric millennial learned to embrace new tricks, and I want this for my brands.
Let me tell you about the interest graph, so you can tell your CMO, your CEO, the lawyers, and anyone who will listen. Because based on the ads I’m seeing every day, we could be paying more attention. If you’re actively doing influencer marketing, you might have heard about this from your agency, but let’s break it down: An interest graph is a digital portrayal of an individual’s specific interests, fundamentally different from social graphs. While social graphs focus on connections, interactions, and networks that people form, interest graphs serve content based on your interests, regardless of whether you follow the creator or not.
TikTok’s famous “For You” page is the perfect example. The platform doesn’t just care about who you follow. Instead, it pays attention to:
- What you watch
- How long you watch it
- What you like, share, or comment on
- Your language, location, and device
This shift has been so impactful that Instagram, YouTube, Twitter (X), and LinkedIn are all following suit. The integration of artificial intelligence now allows platforms to identify and serve content to niche groups of users who are already engaging with similar and tangential topics, connecting you with more MQLs with less effort. This means advertisers can reach highly relevant audiences without relying solely on follower counts. If you want to advertise in social networks and even Google (I’ll argue), this is hard to avoid.
The Colonoscopy Interest Graph: Your 2026 Creative Playbook
Let’s focus on a topic near and dear to us 30-plus-somethings as we look forward to our first colonoscopy. We are beholden to the interest graph too. I’m prepping (mentally), and I’m not looking forward to scheduling this coming-of-age milestone, because it signifies a lot of things. First, ew. Second, it’s “giving me the ick” because I need to admit my age. I’m researching so I can mentally prepare, LONG before I’ve chosen a provider or location.
I’m about to provide the interest graph playbook right now, so if your healthcare system focuses on colonoscopy screenings, this one is for you.
Here’s your 2026 creative plan.
The Real Interest Graph in Action
That “Spouse Nagging” bubble in the interest graph? That is REAL. Do you know the depths I’ll need to go to get my husband scheduled for this? By my estimation, it’s taking me sending him 20 Reels to prep him ranging from “getting old sucks” humor to serious content about why waiting can be devastating. Telling him that it is important isn’t enough, am I right? I’ll be sending these at night, of course, while I’m lying in bed doom-scrolling, and the algorithm is just flooding me with relevant content because I clicked on one Reel about aging. We’ll laugh about it, and he’ll shrug it off until finally, I’ll have to turn up the heat and bring out the dreaded, “If you care about this family, you’ll go get checked out.” I’m going to guess you’ve sent your significant other at least one Reel this week on various topics.
THAT, my marketing friends, is the interest graph pulling you in. You were part of it, feeding it, and you were likely not even realizing it. My above example is humorous, but relatable.
That is what you don’t want to miss as a brand.
What Healthcare Brands Need to Do in 2026
1. Test Into Humor (The Right Kind)
2026 is the year to test into humor. I’m not talking about the type of humor that’s going to alienate your brand, but you should strive to give influencers a bit more creative license than you did in 2025. They live and die by this algorithm and they know what works. As a digital marketer, we deeply benefit from using that UGC to elevate your brand and provide some variety in your creative for targeting.
2. Embrace the Silly Reels & Test Others
Lean in hard and advocate for the silly Reels where it makes sense – the UGC content that’s going to increase your customer interaction. Work with your agency or AI to develop an interest graph to help set up your testing plan for 2026. Your relevance may depend on it.
3. Remember: Creative IS the New Targeting
In all seriousness, creative budgets moving forward should be evaluated. The same old creative sliced eight different ways is not going to cut it if you’re wanting to branch out where your aging audience is spending their time.
Customer interest in scripted TV ads is declining. They want real. They want relatable.
The Bottom Line
Healthcare marketing is at an inflection point. While you’ve mastered the emotional journey, it’s time to master the algorithmic journey. The interest graph isn’t just changing how content is served, it’s changing how healthcare decisions are made in some of your core target audiences.
Your future patients aren’t just researching procedures; they’re being algorithmically guided through their healthcare journey by content that speaks their language, meets their humor, and addresses their real concerns.
Our experience is the brands that figure out how to authentically plug into these interest graphs with the right content mix will own the next decade of healthcare marketing. Ready to stop giving lawyer vibes and start giving healthcare vibes that actually convert? It’s time to embrace the interest graph.
