Trends in DOL engagement not to ignore
Myths spread fast. Pharma companies are turning to digital opinion leaders (DOLs) to fight misconceptions, raise disease awareness, and promote their products.
Unlike key opinion leaders (KOLs), DOLs don’t wait for a major Congress or publication cycle. They get accurate medical content out quickly and create two-way conversations with the people who are paying attention and tired of polished, scripted pitches.
So, who are DOLs in pharma? When is it time to turn to them? How should they be engaged with?
DOLs explained
To understand who DOLs are, first it is necessary to understand who they are not. DOLs are not just influencers in a traditional sense. They operate within medical and compliance governance. Medical affairs teams collaborate with them to spread accurate information and debunk online myths.
DOLs are also not KOLs who deliver formal academic information through peer-reviewed journals and conferences. They engage with their audiences in more entertaining ways and through higher-velocity channels. If a KOL publishes an article on PubMed, a DOL might host a YouTube podcast with an HCP, reaching a wider audience, including patients who don’t have deep medical knowledge.
The line between scrolling and learning is already blurred for many HCPs. Instead of fighting that habit, DOLs capitalise on it. Patients benefit too, as many turn to online resources for help even before booking a doctor’s appointment.
DOLs can be HCPs with credentials who care to share their expertise and insights with their audience. They can also be patients who talk about their experiences of living with a condition and have a documented history of their recovery or disease management.
When DOLs in pharma move the needle
The faster the right treatment reaches patients, the better the clinical outcomes. The more patients purchase the drug, the more funding pharma has to continue research and development. DOLs can speed up the moment a drug reaches a patient’s shelf by reaching large followers’ base. This is especially valuable for rare diseases, where patient populations are small and dispersed.
Marketing isn’t the only reason life sciences brands approach DOLs. There are cases where no medically accurate information exists online. In a recent Pharma Talks podcast, Pavlo Klymenko said that his team worked with a pharma brand to raise awareness about the connection between obesity and insomnia. As he put it, “Patients are screaming for this information, yet, almost no one is raising it. Instead, misconceptions fill the gap.”
Opinion leaders help them combat the army of myths, which buries the facts and evidence alive. Medical myths appeal to emotions, rather than reason. That’s why they grab attention, occupy mental real estate, and often go viral rapidly. DOLs have a hard job bringing the audience back to common sense.
For example, a recent myth suggested that Tylenol causes autism in children if taken by pregnant women. People are wired to pay attention to such “news” because it taps into deeply personal fears, like parental guilt.
Dr Shilpa, a child neurologist and developmental specialist, uses her Instagram platform to combat this myth. “The research is clear that Tylenol doesn’t cause autism. But many of us make decisions based on our own life experiences. Ask yourself a few questions: Did you take Tylenol during pregnancy? What was the outcome? Do you have family members who took it? What happened to them? I took Tylenol during pregnancy, and my child does not have autism.”
What makes this message effective is that she speaks in a way patients can easily understand and relate to. She doesn’t rely on the distant world of clinical trials, but connects through personal experience.
Latest trends in DOL engagement
Here’s what can be done to engage with DOLs effectively based on Viseven’s experience and industry observations:
Preparing assets for content velocity
DOLs shouldn’t have to waste time worrying about compliance; shoulder this burden for them. Give them a solid foundation like approved modules, but creative freedom to tell the story in their own voice. That’s how to preserve the connection they have with their audience.
Yet, to keep up with the pace of social media, these modules need to be supplied quickly. The best way to do it is to get the asset approved on the first try. Once it’s greenlit, all modules in that asset are safe to reuse and repurpose for DOLs.
Quick tip: to boost chances of first-pass approval, use AI. Tools like eWizard allow content to be checked against MLR rules, including any local regulations set. An approval score is received and, if it’s below target, AI suggests ways to improve it.
Creating new content with creative agencies can add unwanted days to a timeline. For quick, fresh content that doesn’t need to be exceptionally creative, lean on AI agents like eVa. Marketers can build and deploy assets on their own, and because eVa is trained on the DAM and knowledge base, there won’t be generic, hallucinated slop.
Reaching out through medical representatives
The industry is still deeply relationship-driven, and face-to-face interaction remains the most effective way of engagement. When medical representatives engage HCP digital opinion leaders in person, digital initiatives become much easier to implement and scale.
Yet, HCP DOLs are often sceptical and selective about partnerships. They prioritise their reputation and can sense a purely marketing agenda from a mile away. This means planning each visit carefully. One common frustration among HCPs is that reps often resort to reading from iPads with minimal effort to actually engage or build a connection. As a result, providers often stay silent. No questions are asked, and no information is remembered.
But if reps manage to grab a DOL’s attention, and they start raising objections, that’s actually a good sign. Use AI simulators to prepare for these challenging conversations. Recently, we have launched a solution that trains reps to respond to HCPs’ doubts based on custom-built personas. This makes it possible to prepare for each visit in a highly personalised way, taking the doctor’s specific personality traits into account.
Creating continuous dialogue
Ideally, engagement with DOLs never stops. As Klymenko says, “it’s a constant dialogue, not a one-off interaction.” Reaching out to opinion leaders only a couple of weeks before a product launch won't help you create an authentic and honest connection with them.
So, if the ambition is tokeep the conversation going between DOLs and their audience, they need to be consistently supplied with fresh materials they can easily reuse. In fact, 30% of providers highly value content that they can easily pass on to their patients.
Continually ask for their feedback on the assets provided. Klymenko believes this requires combining quantitative data to identify major patterns with qualitative insights that help explain them.
DOLs are tech-savvy. They understand how algorithms work and track their own analytics, so they can often tell exactly what resonates with their audience and what does not.
Additionally, look at indicators such as product adoption, sample dispensing in the DOL’s region, and shifts in treatment protocols over time. Combine these metrics with DOL qualitative feedback to refine medical content strategy.
On the role of DOLs
DOLs are not a substitute for KOLs in any way. Each plays a different role in product and disease awareness campaigns. Yet, it’s hard to imagine today’s marketing without fast-paced, two-way communication with the audience.
DOLs offer a way to reach providers faster with the information they need, in a format that doesn’t interrupt their day like an ad, but instead provides the value they have been searching for.
Need a hand with DOLs’ engagement? Let’s talk!
About Viseven
Viseven is a global MarTech company specializing in digital content solutions for the Life Sciences and Pharma industries. With over 15 years of expertise, Viseven empowers pharmaceutical companies and their production agencies with AI-driven content management and automation solutions.
Our flagship eWizard Platform streamlines content planning, creation, distribution, and management—enhancing efficiency, reducing operational costs, and accelerating brand time-to-market. Designed for omnichannel and multichannel engagement, eWizard optimizes campaign management, data collection, and performance analysis, ensuring continuous message improvement for Brand Managers and Content Operations teams.
Visit us at viseven.com or follow us on social media: LinkedIn
