How to spot digital influencers for partnership opportunities
Looking for digital opinion leaders in your disease category?
Welcome, you’re in the right place! First, let’s define "digital opinion leaders"…
(If you’re already familiar with the definition, skip to the next section)
What are digital opinion leaders?
Digital opinion leaders (DOLs) are HCPs with a significant audience and influence on social media:
Audience includes HCP followers and non-HCP followers such as analysts, journalists and patients. Typically, a higher percentage of HCP followers indicates a stronger audience.
Influence includes replies, retweets, likes and impressions for an HCP’s posts, in descending order of priority. For example, a high number of replies from followers indicates a stronger influence than likes.
So when looking for digital influencers, make sure to prioritize HCPs with a strong audience and influence.
How to find digital opinion leaders
How can you find digital opinion leaders in your disease category? 3 ways:
Search on social media
Search on Google
Ask for recommendations
1. Search on social media
If you’re looking for digital opinion leaders in lung cancer, try searching Twitter for "lung" and "oncologist." Select the "People" tab and mouse over the HCP’s name to view his or her audience and influence.
You can also search Twitter for key words based on your brand strategy. For example, try searching for "EGFR," "NSCLC," "PD-1" or your product name.
Since HCPs typically use the generic names of products, make sure to use the generic name and not the brand name.
2. Search on Google
Try searching Google for "top oncologists on Twitter."
Under the search box, click "Tools" and select "Past year" to limit your results to the previous year.
These results may include oncologists across all tumor types, not just lung cancer. To find treaters in lung cancer, search within the web page for "lung" or "thoracic" and click the HCP’s name to view his or her audience and influence.
3. Ask for recommendations
When you find a digital opinion leader, ask him or her for suggestions on others to follow. DOLs love to recommend their colleagues, collaborators and rising stars.
Helpful tips
When assessing DOLs, remember to monitor the results of the content they share with their audience. Does your audience change their behavior?
When you find DOLs matching your criteria, you can follow them and add to a Twitter list, spreadsheet or CRM.
Since social media evolves rapidly, it’s good practice to update your DOL lists every quarter.
Still need help finding DOLs in your disease category? Reach out to us.