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doc2doc
Brief
The BMJ (British Medical Journal) was established in 1840 and continues to be one of the most respected publishers of medical information for clinicians in the world.
In the past, BMJ Group’s publishing model has been dependent on disseminating information to medical professionals. However, the advent of the web has meant that BMJ Group must become a facilitator for the exchange of ideas, experience and opinion between clinicians as well as a trusted source of information. This shift in emphasis, which led to the decision to establish a social network under the BMJ Group brand, represents significant cultural change for BMJ Group.
BMJ Group’s suite of websites, all of which may be accessed via www.bmj.com, attract a staggering 3million unique visitors per month who between them have a great wealth of clinical knowledge, experience and expertise that would be of enormous value to other practitioners, junior doctors and trainees. Through doc2doc, BMJ Group hopes to encourage these medical practitioners to engage with the BMJ Group’s published content and with each other to drive improvements in effectiveness and efficiency in clinical practice around the world.
The BMJ Group appointed digital agency Fortune Cookie (www.fortunecookie.co.uk) to design and build doc2doc, who in turn deployed the Pluck (www.pluck.com) integrated social networking platform to provide a sophisticated social networking solution. Pluck provides BMJ Group with the ability to reflect the values of the BMJ Group brand while facilitating the creation of user generated content by clinicians, many of whom would not have used a social networking site before.
BMJ Group set four initial objectives:
1. To become the world’s first international social network for clinicians;
2. To stimulate discussion between clinicians;
3. To attract participation from doctors who may not have used BMJ Group products in the past (such as juniors and medical students) and to retain their interest as their careers progress;
4. To establish a revenue model that would generate revenue from Year Three.
Strategy & Execution
The doc2doc integrated launch strategy comprised four parts:
1. Content. It was essential that the site contained a sufficient amount of good quality user-generated content prior to the official launch in June 2009. In the five months that the site ran in beta form, BMJ Group clinical staff were recruited to seed and establish quality content and interaction before doc2doc was made available to a wider audience.
2. Functionality. In order to stimulate discussion, and to focus the minds of clinicians on active participation, BMJ Group deliberately avoided using too many ‘bells and whistles’ on doc2doc. As many clinicians would be using a social networking environment for the first time, BMJ Group made a conscious decision to limit the amount of widgets and features so as not to distract users from the main purpose of doc2doc (discussion and knowledge exchange). doc2doc’s architecture therefore guides users to create their personal profile and to begin to actively participate in discussion from their very first visit.
3. Control. Bloggers have been recruited tactically to stimulate conversations around topical subjects. However, the volume of bloggers has been restricted to begin with to promote BMJ Group’s transition from ‘publisher’ to ‘publisher and facilitator’. There was concern that if every visitor was permitted to blog that many would post opinion pieces but fewer would engage in discussion about what they’d read. One of the stated objectives of doc2doc is to facilitate debate and discussion. BMJ Group’s readers have been used to consuming BMJ Group’s published output but not necessarily engaging with or reacting to it. In order for the required cultural shift to take place BMJ Group recognised that too many bloggers initially could have a detrimental effect on the volume of interactivity.
4. Marketing. BMJ Group decided to initially prioritise the promotion of doc2doc to those clinicians who were receptive to opening emails from BMJ Group. Once happy that the content was of a quality that reflected well upon the respected BMJ Group brand, doc2doc was promoted to the rest of BMJ Group’s customer database.
Results
doc2doc underwent a beta launch in January 2009, followed by an official launch in June 2009.
In just a few short months, doc2doc has brought a range of measurable business benefits to BMJ Group, including:
• An ear to the ground. What are doctors really talking about? What are their greatest challenges? What can BMJ Group do to help them?
• Consolidation of BMJ Group’s group-wide activity. doc2doc has helped BMJ Group to break down internal silos by providing all business areas with their own social networking platform.
• Greater reach. The core readership for the BMJ Group has traditionally been senior clinicians. doc2doc attracts a younger audience of junior doctors and medical students, a notoriously hard-to-reach group.
• BMJ Group is now in a stronger position to compete with other medical publishers, especially those who may also be looking to engage through social media.
• doc2doc will eventually provide BMJ Group with a new revenue source.
The results so far have exceeded BMJ Group’s expectations, with Pluck (providers of the integrated social media platform from which doc2doc is generated) describing doc2doc as ‘one of the most impressive implementations’ they have seen.
BMJ Group set a target of 10,000 registered members in doc2doc’s first year of operation. By August 2009, just two months after its official launch, this target had been exceeded by 35% and by September 2009 the target had been reached.
The average member-to-activity ratio on social networks is notoriously low at 1-5%. Interactivity on doc2doc is presently running at 8%, well above the industry average.
A target of 25% was set for referrals from other BMJ Group sites. However, this number has been exceeded and traffic from other BMJ sites presently stands at 28%.
Without a doubt, the global swine flu pandemic has accelerated the profile of doc2doc as an international discussion platform for clinicians. As news of the pandemic broke, doctors used doc2doc to talk about their thoughts on vaccines, restrictions on travel, risks to themselves and patients, etc.
An e-book for junior doctors entitled ‘You will survive’ has just been launched on doc2doc. It can only be accessed by registered members and has proved to be a great means through which BMJ Group can use doc2doc to engage with junior doctors.
Feedback from clinicians who have registered with doc2doc has been extremely positive. A doctor in New York writes, “Combined with the amazing resources of the BMJ Group doc2doc is, in my opinion, world class, and far away the best web content for the much-needed socialization of physicians. Getting traction among busy doctors is always a challenge but doc2doc is setting the standard. I noted an editorial in the Lancet proposing that the UK could lead the world in medical education. I think doc2doc is one outstanding example.”
www.doc2doc.bmj.com
Fortune Cookie is a full service digital agency based in London.
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