The Role of a Digital Opinion Leader

So welcome everyone. Thank you so much for having me back. Pleased to be here. My name is Leanne Levitt from Business for Surgeons, and today I'm going to bring you three exciting short courses, no longer than 10 minutes each, but packed with information, content, and

Everything you need about the role of a digital opinion leader. So collectively, these three courses are how to gain competitive advantage as a digital opinion leader, or DOL.

I would like to thank my course director, Doctor Alex Sharon for his involvement, collaboration, and content.

So let's get started. But before we actually go into the role of the DOL and exploring how to take that further and the necessary steps, we need to

First, explore the traditional role of the KOL, which is a key opinion leader.

Let's explore that key opinion leader role, KOL.

So what is a KOL?

This is a trusted, well respected Influencer with proven experience and expertise in a

Particular field. And historically, this would be a healthcare provider gaining influence through journal publications.

With speaking events both nationally and internationally, but this would be quite a long route to gaining influence. It would take a great deal of time. So we're talking anything for publication from 3 to 4 months up to 2 years. But there was not really any way to measure this influence.

And then along came COVID. So the Online presence for a KOL has been brought to the forefront.

And seeing that KOL role diminishing, which is where the role of a digital opinion leader comes in.

What is a digital opinion leader? DOL. I mean, that's what we're here to find out. I've come across this quote, which I referenced later in the presentation, which sums it up perfectly. The digital opinion leader, DOL is an e-influencer who's a healthcare provider or someone who influences public health, public health policies, and public health implementation.

They transfer many of the meetings to a digital format.

In the shape of or form of educational videos like this one, or like what Docs Social provides. But also, the DOL posts topics of interest, which are high quality content.

And has a broad digital network.

So, in essence, their work.

Their voice, how they are, their presence.

And their specialty is showcased online.

Next we're going to talk about how to gain influence as a digital opinion leader. So there are 3 ways you can do this create your own content, reshare content being mentioned by others.

So with my first point, creating your own content is up to date.

Does it appeal to your audience and also your patients?

Number 2, reshare content. You may find something really interesting that you've read, or that someone has presented, and you may want to reshare it to your followers. And also that may be of interest to your patients. It's a great way to gain trust throughout your network as well. And also to

Spread your

Influence internationally and locally.

And then being mentioned by others.

This is a great way to gain followers and also to gain trust. If you are mentioned by a digital opinion leader, that can boost your profile and people will start to take notice.

Let's look at the most popular platforms for a DOL. So we've got 4 prominent ones here which are Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, and YouTube.

Please look at my introduction to Social Media courses on Docsocial for more information, goes into greater detail on these platforms.

But with this presentation, it's always interesting to have some facts and figures. And Omar Khatib, he is a med tech professional. He's kindly lent me this quote. So, in March this year, there's 17,000 registered orthopedic surgeons on LinkedIn.

2000 of those are actively posting something within 30 days.

But then one month later, just one month in April, the same year, this figure grew 25% to 2500 surgeons posting on LinkedIn.

So that's jumped 500.

By 500 extra surgeons posted within a month.

That figure is astonishing. That's why the digital opinion leader role is so crucial and a growing trend for you to utilize.

Have a look at these references for the information that I've used in the presentation today.

Or drop me an email and I can send you this presentation and we can discuss it.

Thank you so much for watching this presentation. In the series. Watch out for my second course, which will be more Business focused on how to do that switch from the KOL to DOL, the planning and how to utilize your resources. So thank you very much. Any questions, please let me know.