1. Measure your influence

Track, evaluate and report on the broader influence of your published research and clinical trials. Altmetric lets you browse by author, group or department to explore the attention your published research is receiving.

2. Find out who’s saying what – and where

Follow online conversations and shares to find out who is engaging with your content and that of your peers. With Altmetric you can explore specific topic areas and regions to see which outlets and individuals you should be getting your work in front of, using the data to inform your strategy and expand your reach.

3. Build relationships and grow your network

Altmetric tracks and collates mentions from thousands of sources in real-time, so you can determine who is drawing attention to your research and driving the discourse. This makes it easy to identify not only Key Opinion Leaders, but also their online counterparts, Digital Opinion Leaders, and successfully engage with them.

4. Manage your reputation

With Altmetric, you can track the activity and discussion surrounding ongoing clinical trials and monitor public response to your research as soon as it’s published, facilitating proactive and effective reputation management.

5. Stay up to date

Search and filter real-time attention data for over 23 million research outputs, including; articles, books, clinical trials, datasets, and more. The immediacy of our data makes it possible to identify emerging trends and topics whilst monitoring the broader research landscape at the same time.

6. Easy data visualization

Heatmaps and bubble charts can be used to visualize your data, making it even easier to analyse and assess your performance, and share the results with your organization so that everybody understands the bigger picture.

7. Plan ahead

Make data-driven decisions to ensure maximum return on investment (ROI) from your publishing and marketing activities. Insights gathered with Altmetric not only serve as evidence of success in reporting to key stakeholders but can also be used to inform future plans and budget allocations.

The post 7 reasons to choose Altmetric appeared first on Altmetric.

Altmetrics take the familiar concept of Share of Voice and widen its scope by exploring new facets related to digital communication styles. These include:

1. Social Share of Voice: based on original social media content, shares and followers 
2. Viral Share of Voice: based on how far the content has been shared 
3. Media Share of Voice: based on high profile media coverage, the status of media outlet and its readership 
4. Blog Share of Voice: the reach of any blog content.

Share of Voice that uses altmetrics data recognises the influence of different platforms, whilst analysing specific types of engagement, such as original posts, shares, likes and comments, which all indicate differing degrees of interest.

As a result, it presents a clearer picture of how a pharmaceutical company’s brand is perceived. It can identify whether or not recent research publications have been well received, and the extent to which specific demographics are aware of a brand’s products or indeed those of their competitors’. All of this can help companies map the overall effects of their outreach efforts and redefine their strategic objectives accordingly.

Improved forward planning

One major benefit of using Social Share of Voice for publication planning teams is that it offers more targeted information on the audience receiving and engaging with a pharma company’s message. It pinpoints Digital Opinion Leaders (DOLs) and reports how each one, in a specific therapeutic area, is talking about a company’s research – and whether they are promoting it or critiquing it.

This type of insight not only helps in the planning of new campaigns, it also enables medical affairs teams to better measure return on investment (ROI). They can see exactly where a message has landed, where it’s been shared, and its relative influence. It’s much more difficult to measure the impact of investment in traditional conferences and publishing.

Deeper insights

Beyond this is the increasing ability for altmetrics data to detect the tone of conversations, known as sentiment analysis. On platforms like Twitter, negative opinions often appear to dominate the space, especially when those delivering them use strong language and ‘shout the loudest’. Sentiment analysis offers a way to delve deeper into this dialogue, getting under the skin of some of this information. Armed with in-depth qualitative data, pharmaceutical brands have the power to shift the conversation in their direction; they can understand their current position in the market and which messages are landing, as well as any potential challenges or critiques that require a swift response.

There’s no doubt that social media and online conversations will play an increasingly important role in building understanding, knowledge and credibility for new pharma research and products. As we get smarter at tracking those conversations and their influence, every brand will see the contribution they are making to specialist therapeutic debate. This is crucial for any forward planning, to ensure budget and attention is focused where it’s most needed.

Read our report ‘Building a bigger picture to’ to learn more about supersizing your Share of Voice.

The post Supersizing Share of Voice appeared first on Altmetric.

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:

• Twitter
• Facebook
• 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.

The post Measuring Share of Voice in a digital age appeared first on Altmetric.

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.

The post Measure value and maximize reach with altmetrics appeared first on Altmetric.

‘KOLs play a vital role in the development and successful launch of novel products and, due to their interaction with both medical specialists and patients, they can also help companies identify needs and gaps.’

What is a DOL?

Like KOLs, Digital Opinion Leaders (DOLs) are experts in their fields and exert significant influence in the sector. It’s their digital-first mentality that sets them apart. DOLs have mastered the use of online channels and can quickly share or amplify information, sparking conversation amongst their followers and reaching a wider audience in the digital sphere.

DOLs are actively engaged on social media and well-connected to researchers, doctors and other Healthcare Professionals (HCPs). They build strong online communities through relevant knowledge sharing and by starting and facilitating topical discussions that involve their followers. When new information becomes available, DOLs are the first to communicate this. They catch the attention of HCPs, cutting through the noise with the most relevant updates in a therapeutic area.

DOLs are also distinct from KOLs in another key way. In the past, only certain people could become KOLs, those whose voices resonated in the scientific community. They established themselves as trustworthy experts with publications in respected medical journals and by presenting clinical data at conferences. DOLs, however, can make their voices heard through the sheer power of their digital communication. By cutting through the digital noise and conveying key points in an impactful way, DOLs make the lives of HCPs easier. They take the facts and turn them into a compelling story that resonates with diverse audiences.

‘DOLs can help pharmaceutical companies achieve communication objectives, particularly in terms of product perception.’

Engaging with DOLs

DOLs help pharmaceutical companies achieve communication objectives, particularly in terms of product perception, right from highlighting early research findings through to commercialization on both the medical and patient sides. DOLs also provide key input to clinical trial recruitment and shape perspectives on particular conditions that will, in turn, influence which treatments are chosen. Moreover, DOLs influence the work of advisory boards as well as patient advocate groups, and they can provide insightful feedback on marketing messages. The fact that DOLs operate so effectively online also means they are able to reach a far more diverse range of people than those using more traditional platforms and means of communication.

Read our report ‘Building a bigger picture to’ to learn more about DOLs and how you can engage with them.

The post The rise of the Digital Opinion Leader appeared first on Altmetric.