Read on to learn the highlights from our ASCO 2018 “conference listening”, or social listening of the online congress content, and join us July 5th 15:00 UK for the full Social Check-up at ASCO 2018.
Together with Ogilvy Healthworld, we will share the full Social Check-up at ASCO 2018, illustrating how the top pharma companies leveraged Twitter to connect and engage at ASCO 2018 and share actionable steps on how pharma companies can use social listening and these learnings at future conferences and congresses to increase engagement.
Earlier this month, (1st to 5th June) The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), held the world’s most influential cancer conference in Chicago, Illinois; The ASCO Annual Meeting. Attracting thousands of experts from around the globe, including cancer researchers, scientists, journalists and pharmaceutical companies and clinical trial specialists, the event was a hub of knowledge that helped experts share and publicize new discoveries and research. The presentations spanned a range of different therapies and clinical trials expected to revolutionise cancer treatment in the near future.
Social Listening: Twitter Coverage of ASCO 2018
Like many medical congresses or conferences, Twitter is used as the main conversation channel by attendees and, as a result, was the channel on which we focused. Despite a slight dip in overall Twitter traffic in 2018, HCP participation grew as a % of traffic, giving us an increased data pool from HCPs.
During the conference period the conversations on Twitter surged for the first two days to reach a peak on the third day. Volumes then gradually declined on day four and further dropped during the last day of the conference.
With 90k posts in 2018, the conference created approximately 500 million potential Twitter impressions. On social media, around 20.6k authors tweeted about the conference. The Twitter users referencing ASCO included various stakeholder groups attending the sessions, typically HCPs and pharmaceutical companies but also the media and organisations active in the healthcare field.
In tweeting about the conference, authors relied on conference specific hashtags, such as #ASCO18 (78k mentions), #ASCO2018 (8k mentions) and #ASCO (5k mentions) to keep the conversation focused. Hashtags such as #LCSM (5.3k) (lung cancer social media) and #BCSM (3.7k) (breast cancer social media) were also popular .
Breast and lung cancer were the most prominent tumour types discussed, followed by skin cancer, pancreatic cancer, brain cancer and colorectal cancer.
Hashtags of different cancer conditions and therapies were also prominent within these posts, with #cancer (4.1k), #breastcancer (2.4k), #immunotherapy (2.2k), #gerionic (1.7k) and #lungcancer (1.5k) among the most common ones, allowing participants to focus the conversation on specific therapeutic areas.
Based on the number of mentions, the organization account @ASCO was the top author during the conference period. Also among the top authors were healthcare professionals, media and organisations. Experts were the most prominent author segment.
Apart from authors, posts which generated the most engagement in terms of retweets, likes and comments covered clinical trials, awareness and the recognition of the National Cancer Survivors Day. The tweet generating the most engagement was by the pharmaceutical company @Amgen, published on National Cancer Survivors Day, to honour patients who had beaten cancer and encourage those still fighting the disease. Other notable posts were by @ASCO, reporting on the findings of a study on early-stage breast cancer and adjuvant chemotherapy and a post by @theNCI (National Cancer Institute) on CAR T-cell therapy.
Experts and healthcare professionals represented the key audience of this conference, many of whom took to social media to share their experiences. These Twitter users reported on the conference in general, specific sessions, presentations of clinical trial results or groundbreaking therapies with the potential to change the face of cancer treatment.
Below are examples of key influential healthcare professionals with a large following on Twitter, who led the conversation at ASCO 2018.
HCPs represented 40% of all of the posts during the conference period. This stakeholder group discussed a range of topics and commonly used the hashtag of the conference as a way to spread awareness of both cancer and ASCO. Confident in the new therapies, they expressed an interest in the results of the clinical trials presented and shared details of the studies referenced.
Clinical trials dominated several of the sessions and presentations at the conference with TAILORx, CARMENA and KN 042 as the most noteworthy trials mentioned.
These trials were discussed in terms of the study results, potential improvement in the recruitment, targeted tumour type and combination drug therapies (where relevant).
Presented by some of the major pharmaceutical players in the oncology field, the conference sessions on study results generated engagement and increased awareness of these companies within the ASCO Twitter discussion.
These mentions were comprised of retweets of the pharma companies’ posts, mentions of hashtags related to the company, @-mentions of their Twitter handle or posts referencing the company name within ASCO related posts. Amgen, MSD, Merck, Roche, Novartis and AstraZeneca enjoyed the largest mention share.
These pharma companies actively posted during the conference period in their aim to spread cancer awareness and share trial or study results. They also encouraged visitors to attend the sessions hosted by their speakers.
Amgen, MSD and Merck attracted the highest engagement per post, while Roche and AstraZeneca were the most active with the highest number of posts.
To map the engagement and the overall impact generated by the Pharma companies, a ConvoScore was generated, which takes into account the overall engagement and reach generated by all the Twitter channels of the company and performance of its posts during ASCO 2018. Relative and comparative, the score helps brands understand their competitive standing within the context of the conference.
Wondering why Amgen ranked 1st for mentions but only 5th for our ConvoScore? Join us for our webinar to learn more.
Each year, ASCO gives pharmaceutical companies, experts, HCPs and other stakeholders a platform to discuss the latest developments in research and therapy trials. The scale of the event and the level of participation makes listening to tweets and posts around the conference vital for pharmaceutical companies and healthcare providers.
ASCO also plays an important role for patients, caregivers and HCPs at it showcases potential new therapies. The demonstration of positive trial results offers hope that improvement in cancer treatment and maintenance will become reality in the near future.
We hope to see more innovations in cancer research through ASCO in the coming years.
To learn more about the ConvoScore and performance of Pharma companies at ASCO 2018, please sign up for the Convosphere & Ogilvy Healthworld Webinar at 15:00, UK Thursday, July 5th
Register now for the Social Check-up of ASCO 2018, July 5th 15:00 UK
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With an MBA in Marketing, Abhinab Bhanja has rich experience in social media analytics in domains including life sciences. CPG, BFSI and technology. As Head of Insights (APAC) and Pharma (Global), he manages some of the company’s key accounts, supporting clients’ research and analytics endeavours and enabling them to make better decisions across the business, from R&D to comms strategies. Prior to joining Convosphere, Abhinab worked with the world’s top consulting and analytics firms, including Genpact, ZS Associates and Fractal.
