The life sciences industry has always partnered with key opinion leaders (KOLs) for their expertise to raise awareness of new products, treatments, and/or other key issues. Over the past few years, however, the industry has had to adapt how it interacts with KOLs. The COVID-19 pandemic caused many key conferences to either cancel major events or switch to online platforms. When live conferences were still held, event planners often had to implement safety measures that included social distancing policies.
The result was that KOLs—who were very active at these events—were not able to interact with other doctors, researchers, and key figures in the industry as they normally would have. This led to a rise in a different type of opinion leader: the digital opinion leader (DOL). These influencers use digital platforms, such as social media networks, to connect with audiences, other doctors, and key patient groups and suddenly found themselves in a much more important position within the industry.
Can both – COL and DOL – coexist across the healthcare engagement spectrum?
Read more:
A New Era of Influence: Embracing the KOL-DOL Dynamic in Healthcare (pharmexec.com)
