Social Listening and Therapy Insights: Doctors and Their Perspectives

So, How do we Find what Doctors are Looking for ?

Understanding the HCP mindset, their informational needs, concerns, and challenges faced in day-to-day clinical practice is the first step in adding value as an entity – be it a brand, a pharmaceutical company or a platform engaging doctors. Bridging these gaps with focused and specific content, while aligning it with therapeutic and brand objectives is next. More specialized an HCP is, more specific will be his/her informational requirements. In an endeavor towards catering to the needs of the medical fraternity, measuring the pulse of the population is key.

Before we delve right into it, let us bear in mind a few key questions while deciphering HCP therapy insights.

1. How broad do we need the focus to be in terms of target therapy and location? Are we looking at the entire specialty or a particular segment within a therapeutic area? Are we focusing on one major specialty or other adjacent specialties as well? What regions and countries are we most interested in?
2. Are there specific questions we need answers to? Which is the most discussed condition? What is the most recurrent molecule/class of drug on which content is being published? What is the most searched indication?
3. What is the overall sentiment regarding a particular therapy? Are there cost or access concerns? Why is compliance an issue with a certain medication?
4. What is the tone of HCP conversations? Are they optimistic and want to try out newer therapies? Are there challenges that have not yet been addressed? Is safety or efficacy a major concern in adopting a novel treatment regimen?

In addition to the above, it is imperative to assess the quality of data available and to look at the inputs with the right context in mind. Zoning in on discussion themes and segregating conversions based on place of speaker in the overall care-flow can put dialogues into perspective and better organize responses. Quantity does not automatically translate to accurate insights. A small pool of high-quality data is much more valuable than a large volume of information that is pure noise. Also, identifying key metrices that can be compared over time and assessing trends across therapy areas, regions, and time periods (monthly, seasonal, etc.) would enable drawing out more meaningful conclusions and developing actional insights.

Once we are clear as to what we are looking for, making sense of the data becomes that much easier. Well-defined objectives can help identify patterns, derive inferences, and lay the foundation for project strategies and HCP communication models.

Social Listening: What Requires Attention?

To get the most out of Social Listening projects, the bare basics that need to be borne in mind are the following:

• Content Publication Topics: These generally provide a peek into the mind space of HCPs in term of burning issues, challenging cases, most common conditions, and treatment preferences.
• Consumption Formats: At the core of every content marketing strategy is content. Providing formats that are easily palatable and consumable is essential if you want to get them hooked. Is it likely that your audience prefers to have case studies as a video snippet, or do they need a summary of key guidelines as an info graphic? Tapping into audience preferences and delivering what they seek seems like a no brainer, yet sadly not always practiced.
• Keyword Searches: Are there specific areas that doctors are searching for information? Is there a combination of words and phrases that they repeatedly use? Do certain word searches peak during particular times of a month or year? Also, are HCPs really finding what they are looking for? Do some words crop up more often than others? Answers to these can buttress project strategies and make it that much more robust.
• Sentiment Analysis: If you are looking for a warm reception to your content and its messaging from HCPs you need to be able to read the room.Strengthening positive sentiment and addressing negative ones with neutral, unbiased, and credible content is one sure shot way to win over your audience and cultivate strong proponents over time.

So, what if we do not have all the answers? Then it is time to ask the right questions. In addition to being passive observers of online trends, carefully constructed dip-stick surveys also provide valuable information and help measure the temperature of the room. So, the simple rule is ‘If you are not sure what to offer, just ask.’ Although you may receive responses from a small pool of respondents, direct replies are way better than misconstrued assumptions.

Insights Translating to Practice

Once generated, how can companies use these insights to fine tune their plans?

Social Listening has shown to help in the following crucial areas –

1. Refining brand plans and aligning it with the target audience requirements
2. Designing communication channels customized to the core participants
3. Generating content in areas most searched for by HCPs
4. Developing newer treatment modalities and regimen based on inputs received

At MedSynapse, we strive to provide end-to-end solution right from providing HCP therapy insights to building communication strategies that results in optimum engagement form doctors. So, let’s get the conversation started.

Note: Details provided in this article, is a prelude to a series of specialty specific insights that would be shared on a regular and on-going basis. For more in-depth insights relevant to your molecule/brand/therapy area, please reach out to our team with your business requirements.