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.

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