Who Are Digital Opinion Leaders, and Why Does Pharma Need Them? 

Pharma Talks is back with a timely discussion on Digital Opinion Leaders (DOLs) — a new model of engagement in pharma that goes beyond traditional Key Opinion Leaders or online medical influencers. This episode explores how the landscape is shifting, why DOLs are becoming essential, and what this means for healthcare professionals, patients, and the pharma industry.

To unpack the topic and explore how it connects to marketing and communication, Nataliya Andreychuk invited Pavlo Klymenko, the head of omnichannel solutions for life sciences companies at Viseven, who has considerable experience in executing DOL strategies for clients.

The Shift Toward DOLs, and KOL Fatigue

Pavlo and his team have been actively working with Digital Opinion Leaders in pharma for several years.

Digital Opinion Leaders is not a completely new concept. But in the last couple of years, the shift has become very visible. It’s no longer an additional activity. The landscape has truly changed.

He noted that healthcare thought leaders are no longer just experimenting with digital — they are emerging within it. Digital has become their natural environment.

Nataliya raised an important question: Are we seeing fatigue around traditional KOLs in pharma? Are we trying to fill certain gaps with KOLs that are no longer fully effective?

Pavlo agreed that fatigue is real. The old formats are not always natural or interactive anymore. In today’s busy environment, it’s hard to be everywhere — especially when engagement happens mostly offline. He pointed out that healthcare professionals cannot wait for annual congresses to stay informed. They want constant updates.

Another issue is authenticity. The audience feels disconnected from overly prepared, polished dialogues. Today, people want more openness. Not just titles, but real expertise demonstrated through communication and practical cases — peer-to-peer.

Hybrid Engagement: Not Replacing, but Expanding

Another advantage of DOLs, beside constant updates, is that we can scale engagement across more channels, and we’re not limited strictly to marketing or sales topics. Nataliya added that once the connection is established, discussions can cover broader angles — clinical perspectives, patient perspectives, and real-life challenges. She also clarified that it’s important for medical information to be governed by people with medical expertise.

Pavlo abslutely agreed. He emphasized that this is not about replacing traditional formats but creating hybrid journeys.

We design communication journeys that invite professionals to offline events if they can attend, and offer online engagement for those who cannot — or simply prefer digital.

He added that some speakers lead the offline part, while others engage digitally. We’re not substituting, but filling the gap in the space.

What Problems Can Digital Opinion Leaders Solve?

We now know that DOLs can solve issues with generational shifts, reduced time with doctors, and communication gaps. But what other problems can the DOL pharma concept solve? Why is pharma increasingly interested in this solution?

Pavlo outlined several key reasons.

Patients are already there

The patient is already in the digital space. They follow healthcare professionals online. They look for answers not only during visits, but through social media. If pharma and medically governed voices are not present, others will fill the gap in the patient engagement space.

If you’re not there, other influencers will occupy the space — often without proper knowledge. That leads to misinformation and misconceptions. You need to be there from the beginning.

Speed of information

Another major factor is speed. You can’t wait for new guidelines to emerge, or for congress discussions. You need to react quickly to modern practices. You need to raise questions with peers and discuss them openly — sometimes even directly with patients.

Pavlo shared an example from a recent analysis on obesity.

We saw a huge gap in discussions connecting obesity to depression, sleep disorders, and other comorbidities. The topic is underrepresented online. Patients are literally screaming for answers — and when they don’t get them from experts, they might accept misinformation.

Digital Opinion Leaders vs. Influencers

Nataliya then clarified an important distinction:

We’re talking about more than influencers. Digital Opinion Leaders in healthcare and pharma operate within medical and compliance governance. Influencers promote a lifestyle or products. DOLs operate with guardrails.

She explained that medical affairs teams in pharma companies calibrate messaging to ensure compliance and accuracy. There is control over the messages, the type of engagement, and secure channels. Communication needs to be responsible.

She used obesity as an example again, as it has become a major medical issue. It demonstrates how big the need is for competent information. We need HCP Digital Opinion Leaders to bring these topics safely to patients.

Why Would Digital Opinion Leaders Want to Engage with Pharma?

Engaging DOLs sounds like a great opportunity. But why would healthcare opinion leaders want to work with pharma? What does this relationship mean for them? And how should we approach it?

First of all, it’s not about branding, product placement, or pushing products. Pavlo emphasized that DOLs are highly conscious about their credibility:

They are responsible for shaping narratives on social media. If pharma wants to work with them, it needs to build honest and transparent communication.

According to Pavlo, the relationship should be based on dialogue — not promotion. You need to share your thoughts, studies, dedicated materials, and the challenges you see. But you also need to listen, get feedback, help them. He shared insights from workshops with Digital Opinion Leaders. They often struggle with how to coexist with influencers who have much larger audiences but are less accurate.

For example, in discussions around obesity, patients sometimes hear simplistic advice like, “Just eat less.” That’s not the answer. Pharma can help DOLs raise their voice and bring medically sound perspectives into these conversations.

Supporting DOLs Without Pushing Promotion

Pavlo explained that many DOLs are willing, but overloaded. One thing we often hear is: ‘I have a lot to say. I have an audience. But I don’t have enough time to create content.’ This is where pharma can provide value. You need to propose mechanisms. Content blocks. Structured tasks. Ongoing collaboration — not one-off campaigns.

Instead of pushing product information, we can create serious medical conversations. We can help clinicians communicate innovations and ideas, and provide them with tools and formats. And they will appreciate the support — if it’s genuine.

Don’t push. Don’t hide promotional information. Honest conversations must remain honest.

A New Role for Pharma in Medical Communication

Nataliya reflected on how this represents new territory for the industry. We are stepping onto new ground. We can use everything we’ve built over the years — compliant medical engagement, governance tools, structured communication — and apply it to support clinicians in expressing themselves.

Our goal shouldn’t be to control the voice, but to empower it. We should help leaders and clinicians reach communities with the message they want to deliver without making them spend excessive time on content production.

From a patient perspective, Nataliya called it a potential game changer.

As patients, we benefit immediately. We hear safe conversations. We receive advice that can actually be applied. That’s powerful.

Where Should Pharma Start with Digital Opinion Leaders?

If a company wants to engage with Digital Opinion Leaders — where should they begin? Starting is often the hardest part. It’s always difficult to enter a landscape that is still evolving and not fully defined.

Pavlo outlined a practical roadmap.

1. First, you need to understand which therapeutic area you want to step into. Clarity of focus is essential before searching for voices.
2. After defining the area, companies should research regions and communities where they want to be present. Look for voices that are already active and aligned with your focus. And most importantly — find someone willing to have the conversation. Engagement cannot be forced.
3. Next comes format. Will it be dialogue-based? Educational? Case-driven? How will you shape it into a real conversation Pavlo stressed that Digital Opinion Leader engagement cannot be a one-off activity. It has to be constant. It’s an ongoing dialogue you need to build.
4. Sustainability is crucial. You need to constantly support these leaders. Share pharma marketing trends. Provide relevant information. Listen to what they are asking for. Helping them prepare content in reusable formats makes collaboration easier and more efficient. You should work hard to make sure it stays easy for them.
5. Finally, Pavlo highlighted the importance of building a full ecosystem. Patients, too, need to feel the impact. They need quick access to information and instant benefits — which doctor to visit, which direction to take.

This creates a loop, and it is crucial:

• DOLs receive support and relevant insights
• They create credible, engaging content
• Patients receive trusted guidance and companies improve pharma brand trust
• Pharma remains present responsibly within the conversation

Hot or Not: Challenging the Status Quo

Nataliya moved to the final part of the discussion: the Hot or Not section, where she shares some statements with the guests, and their task is to give brief answers “Hot” or “Not”:

• Digital opinion leaders are replacing traditional opinion leaders and advisory boards — Not.
• Medical affairs are the natural owners of digital opinion leader programs — Hot.
• Qualitative insights are becoming more valuable than quantitative data — Both hot and not. Quantitative data helps to understand trends, social media mentions, reach, and the overall landscape. But after that, you need to assess the quality — whether the information is accurate or a myth. Both need to be merged into a data-driven approach with a deep understanding.
• Brand teams funding digital opinion leader programs from the start — Not.
• Podcasts are becoming a core format for digital engagement in healthcare — Hot.
• Influencer-style engagement is disappearing from pharma — Not.
• Digital opinion leaders are becoming essential for launch readiness — Double hot.

Nataliya thanked Pavlo for the conversation, noting that it was not about replacing existing engagement models, but about challenging the status quo and rethinking how pharma works in digital while embracing the new generation of experts.

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