In a sector defined by constant growth and evolution, pharma companies have always had to be adaptable, swiftly responding to external pressures and market shifts. Now more than ever, they must pick up the pace and seize the opportunities digital adoption can bring.
Here, advanced analytics that identify how, when and where people are talking about you and your research play an essential role. They allow brands to understand their perceived image and customer sentiment, as well as any unmet needs or potential sources of dissatisfaction, and act on these with speed. Today’s decision makers crave this kind of contextual insight – the ability to find out not only how much people are talking about their research but also the context in which it’s being discussed, which is far more nuanced.
For example, analysing the response to a publication, is someone critiquing the article itself? Are they critiquing the company’s drug within that article? Or is it the role the pharmaceutical company has played in sponsoring the article that’s being questioned?
‘With altmetrics, pharmas can gain a better measure of the broader societal impacts of their research and products.’
Scientific Share of Voice
One well-used key metric has been Scientific Share of Voice (SSoV) – an analysis that looks at the appearances in research literature for one company’s products in comparison to its competitors. The focus in the past has also been the dissemination of clinical data in what could be seen as a silo of specialist abstracts and journal papers, plus medical conference reports. Extra weight accrued if mentions come from recognised Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs).
Yet in an era of digital transformation for the pharma industry, this manifestation of SSoV misses key audiences – such as Health Care Professionals (HCPs) and patient advocate groups. These individuals are likely to engage more with social media and other emerging online channels, rather than simply interacting in the world of peer-reviewed specialist outlets.
In this more digitally aware view of reach and influence, the impact of Digital Opinion Leaders (DOLs) becomes important, and through them increased prominence for a broader range of factors, such as the ‘tone’ of online conversation around a product, or a company itself. As such, supplementary metrics are required that provide insights into the non-traditional publication arenas having an ever-increasing influence on wider perceptions – this includes digital platforms such as:
- YouTube
- Online news
- Blogs
- Forums
- Podcasts
Read our report ‘Building a bigger picture to’ to find out more about DOLs and how you can engage with them.
Altmetrics complement traditional indicators like time to publication and citation analysis; they track online sources in real time to measure engagement. This makes it easy for pharma brands to identify Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs), and perhaps more importantly, Digital Opinion Leaders (DOLs).
Using Altmetric’s data, pharmaceutical brands can see how these communities are using their research, what they’re saying about it and how that compares to competitor offerings. It’s at once a means to measure and maximize influence and a way to manage your reputation.
Practical benefits
By incorporating altmetrics with traditional analysis methods, medical affairs teams can improve their publication planning efforts with ease, ensuring that key scientific statements reach a diverse audience. Immediate insights into the degree and type of engagement in both the scientific community and wider public sphere facilitate better refinement of upcoming strategies.
Data-led insights
Previous applications of altmetrics have helped shed light on how organizations can enhance their publication planning strategies to maximize reach, increase influence in their therapeutic area and attract greater public attention.
Leading authors do not always have a strong influence online. Those researchers who publish highly-cited papers often have little authority with broader, non-academic audiences who use social media and other online platforms to learn about a disease state or therapeutic area. With altmetrics, it’s possible to find out exactly who’s saying what – and where – making it easy to find DOLS who are talking about your specific area of influence and including them in your communications strategy.
Strategic plans built on engagement
Effective publication planning requires an understanding of not only who has seen your work, but also those who are actively engaged with it. Citation analysis provides a limited perspective which ignores the subtleties found in wider digital discourse.
To gain a more accurate measure of influence, publication planners and medical affairs teams should explore both qualitative and quantitative data. Altmetrics can show which companies and what drugs are dominating online discussion – this also has important implications when it comes to Share of Voice (SOV) and attention from physicians.
Ensuring maximum return on investment
Altmetrics data has uncovered that, surprisingly, industry-sponsored research doesn’t necessarily correlate with the overall volume of attention that it receives online. Moreover, that the sponsorship status of research doesn’t negatively affect the degree of attention that research receives. This is reassuring for medical publication professionals, as it may demonstrate an increase in public trust in industry-sponsored research. This demonstrates the benefits of following good publication practices when communicating sponsored medical research. By promoting transparency and staying accountable, pharmaceutical organizations can protect their integrity and improve public perception of their brand, using altmetrics to stay on track.
To sum up, there’s hard proof that altmetrics can help pharmaceutical brands to find unique DOLs, illuminate the growth of therapeutic areas, measure influence and test assumptions about industry-sponsored research. An essential counterpart to citation counts and other quantitative measures, altmetrics are an invaluable source of insights for organizations to measure value and maximize reach.
Read our report ‘Building a bigger picture to’ to learn more about how you can measure value and maximise reach.