HCP Social Media Influencers

Who are they? What influences them? How to best reach them?

HCP Social Media Influencers: Who Are They? What Influences Them? How To Best Reach Them?

To answer these questions, we utilized our most recent M3 MI Sources & Interactions and Digital Insights studies. Within our research we identified Social Media Influencers as those that moderated a group or discussion on professional social media in the last 12 months.

Among those surveyed, these are our findings:

A third noticed drug/treatment advertising on social platforms and found it useful (among social media users)

A quarter practice internal medicine, and surgeons are 33% more likely than any other type of physicians to be influencers

Half agree that social media has overall been a net-positive for the medical community, but 84% worry about reliability of medical information shared by patients on social media

Who are HCP social media influencers?

Majority are male (59%)
They skew younger: 43% are under the age of 45
Half have their primary practice in urban cities, and 57% are in either the northeast or south census regions
88% are current members of a medical association
58% consider themselves key opinion leaders (KOLs), but another 29% are treatment influencers (consulted by other physicians for treatment advice but not KOLs)
A quarter are early adopters (compared to 12% of all physicians who are early adopters) of new drug/ device/procedures, using it as soon as it’s available
Half use the internet 4+ times a day for work

What influences their prescribing decisions?

Nearly all (92%) said scientific data and 75% said cost (coverage by my patient’s health plan) influences their treatment decisions (very likely/likely)
42% rely on published clinical studies and guidelines when selecting treatments for patients, while 29% rely on their personal experience
Posts from their social media connections can also impact their prescribing/treatment decisions:
- 41% Associations (International/National)
- 35% Conferences/Meetings
- 32% Medical Publications/Journals

Information

For more information on detailed study results from M3 MI, including at the specialty level, contact us at info@M3-MI.com.

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The Best Way to Reach HCP Social Media Influencers

Below are the top 5 channels HCP social media influencers value to stay informed of medical developments, note that social media is not among them:

#1 – Medical journal digital/websites

#2 – Professional portals subscription-based (e.g., UpToDate, etc.)

#3 – Attending conferences/symposia on a product/therapy
(in-person or virtual)

#4 – References online/app edition

#5 – Professional portals free-to-use
(e.g., Medscape, etc.)