What Makes an Opinion Leader?
It is now increasingly important for pharmaceutical companies to be able to identify leading healthcare professionals and keep them engaged. It is paramount to identify which attributes your ambassadors must possess. Several skills may be required.
The multidimensional nature of the profiling problem also depends on the product development cycle: from research & drug development to marketing activities.
Discussions with the client are key to help determine which profile(s) to look for and which data sources are needed to do so.
A Multidimensional Challenge
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For instance, during research & drug discovery, opinion leaders with a strong level of scientific expertise/medical credibility and experience in management are sought after.
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During the product marketing phase, opinion leaders with strong communication skills, highly connected to peers, a voice for patients are typically sought after.
5 Key Dimensions Shaping Profiles
We query various databases to generate information used to extract the following 5 key dimensions that help shape opinion leader profiles that are sought after.
Scientific Expertise & Medical Credibility
Management Expertise
Digital Communication Skills
Peer-to-Peer Communication Skills
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Patient Communications Skills
The Main Underlying Profile Dimensions
A more in-depth description of the 5 dimensions and their constituents may be found in this table.
Key Opinion Leaders – KOLs – Scientific Experts
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- Design & conduct clinical trials
- Write in peer-reviewed publications
- Member of committees, editorial & advisory boards
- Speaking at meetings, conferences, ...
Management Opinion Leaders – MOLs – Management ExpertsÂ
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They possess experience in managing clinical trials, medical staff and students. They also manage boards, conference and meetings. Some might also demonstrate entrepreneurial skills.
- Supervision of clinical trials
- Management of students & teams
- Board member in hospital departments
- Entrepreneur
Digital Opinion Leaders – DOLs – Digital Experts
They like to use digital platforms and social media to relay info, highlight and expose specific content.Â
They harness the power of digital technology to amplify their message in a catchy fashion.
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- Activity on social networks for research: ResearchGate, etc.
- Use blogs and publish articles on platforms: Medium, etc.
- Use social media: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, ...
Colleagues – Medical Community Opinion Leader – COLs- Peer-to-Peer Communication
They are subject-matter experts and speak at medical meetings, congresses & conferences. They are involved in educational activities.Â
They may use social media to communicate, but they are primarily active on researched-focused medicine.
- Challenge the status quo
- Strong communication skills
- High use of lot digital tools
- Highly connected to peers
Patient Opinion Leaders – POLs –Â Patient Communication
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They like to share experience and communicate information with patients facing health challenges.Â
They are a voice for patients.
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- Educational activities
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- Detailed info in health directories
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- Participation in local events
- Traditional media
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- Public-oriented social media & digital platforms: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Blogs, etc.
Extracted Profiles – Illustrations
Using our approach, several profiles may be identified. The radar plot depicts the 5 dimensions/components used to profile HCPs. A score is generated for each HCP and component. It is easy to identify on which component(s) a HCP scores high and which profile he.she fits in.
A top expert with a high score on scientific expertise​
low use of digital communication tools
Connected to Peers & Patients
highly connected to his/her peers​
How do we Proceed in a Nutshell?
Your Customer List
For a given therapy area, predefined disease state, group of specialties.
Typical Profiles
Identification of opinion leader profiles that are sought after by the client.
Data Sources
Available and additional data sources needed to extract the desired profiles.
Influence Scores
We estimate scores and deliver them for each HCP in your customer list.
Mapping KOLs
Network analysis is also available for mapping relationships in HCPs.