Struggling to engage your DOLs? Here’s why and what you could do about it.

Despite investing time and resources, many teams find their DOL engagement falling flat—here’s what might be going wrong and how to turn it around.

Many medical and commercial teams have, to varying degrees, explored the concept of HCP Digital Opinion Leader (DOL) engagement. For those that have started to include DOLs into their strategy planning, significant effort has gone into envisioning the team and allocating resources. But then what? 

Many teams are left frustrated as they struggle with DOL engagement. They have often:

• Been provided with a list of names but no support on what to do next. 
• Tried reaching out to DOLs with little response and are left wondering why.
• Collaborated with DOLs with little impact.

I will address some of the reasons the healthcare sector struggles to engage DOLs and what you can do about it.

Are you identifying the right DOLs?

We have spoken to many clients who have been led to believe they have a full list of their Digital Opinion Leaders. However, when we dig deeper this isn’t always the case. Confusion around DOL terminology and lack of access to advanced DOL identification technology can mean pharmaceutical teams are missing out on the full picture of online influence. 

Digital Opinion Leaders are online medical influencers who impact the views and behaviours of physicians, policymakers, and patients. Confusion can occur when agencies refer to the work they are doing as DOL identification whilst their focus is really on identifying the online presence of Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs). Recognising KOLs who also have a strong presence online is extremely useful; however, it is important to know that they are not necessarily DOLs.

A digital first approach looks at all HCPs discussing a specific topic online and then identifies those with the biggest impact. For example, understanding whether HCPs are being amplified by other HCPs, through sharing, quoting or commenting on posts allows you to get a sense of the influence they have within their community of online peers. Having access to technologies that provide peer impact and audience analysis, can help you find all influential online HCPs. Using this approach the DOLs you find will often not be your KOLs and potentially in roles outside of your typical target audience. 

Do you know enough about your DOLs?

The second reason we see limited success with DOL engagement is due to the need for more information on the HCP. In order to work effectively with your DOLs, the more you know the better. Ask yourself, for your DOLs do you know:

• What they care about.
• Who their audience is.
• What resources they share. 
• How they feel towards products, companies or treatments.
• When and how they impact their audience.
• How they typically engage as a DOL.

The more you know about your DOLs the more you can choose those aligned with your goals. For example, if your objective is to work with a DOL to help raise disease awareness then it is useful to find influential HCPs who talk about this topic.

We have seen the most powerful DOL collaborations develop when an HCP’s interests align with the clients goals and they have an engagement strategy tailored to their needs, preferences and online behaviours.

The issues with approaching DOLs like KOLs 

One final reason we see ineffective DOL engagement is linked to the way DOLs are approached. DOLs and KOLs can be very different and simply transferring your KOL engagement strategy on to a DOL might not be the best approach. 

A key area of differentiation between KOLs and DOLs is motivation. Many DOLs have become influential among other HCPs online because they talk about topics they are passionate about, and have gained credibility among peers through their online interactions.Having interviewed many DOLs we know their passion for educating and learning is often what originally drove them online. Authentic DOLs are more likely to respond to a relational approach, built on understanding their needs and supporting their objectives, rather than transactional connections. They value the trust their peers have in them, and if they decide to work with pharmaceutical companies it must be in an authentic, collaborative way in order for them to remain trusted.

If needed, get consultancy support

Finally, engaging DOLs is still a fairly new concept to many professionals. For many teams, it is their first time running a project like this. Not all will have the experience to take their DOL list and create a first-class DOL engagement plan. If you struggle to understand how to work compliantly with DOLs, want advice on what has or has not worked previously or need support to create goals around tracking your ROI then it is essential to work with a consultancy that provides this level of assistance and support.

Working with a consultancy that has plenty of experience managing DOL engagement projects and understands how to succeed, as well as mistakes that can be made, can help save you money and time later down the road.

Ready to elevate your DOL engagement strategy? Download our free e-book, ‘Activating DOLs’, join our webinar The beginner’s guide to DOLs or book a meeting with our team of consultants to hear how we can help you identify and activate DOLs.