Beyond Impact Factor: How Pfizer Measures Real-World Engagement
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In this episode of Transforming Medical Communications, Wesley Portegies is joined by MedComms strategist, J.R. Meloro, to discuss why mastering smarter metrics is no longer optional for Medical Affairs leaders; it’s a necessity. Learn how to move beyond outdated metrics and implement smarter, more meaningful measurement strategies. Metrics should be your roadmap to better decisions, but only if you know how to use them effectively. The future of Medical Affairs depends on how well you track and act on data; those who don’t evolve will fall behind.
We’ll talk about how to:
- Shift from traditional metrics to ones that reveal true content engagement and impact.
- Use article-level metrics to measure the real-world reach of your research.
- Make smarter decisions by tracking field content usage down to the slide level.
- Achieve the perfect balance between global consistency and local relevance.
Before you hit play, ask yourself: Are you measuring what matters, or just what’s easy to track?
Guest at a Glance
J.R. Meloro is the Global Team Lead of Medical Communications and Content at Pfizer, overseeing strategy across publications, congress content, social media, and field engagement for the Inflammation, Immunology, and Specialty Care portfolio. With a background in communications and education, J.R. brings a storytelling-first approach to Medical Affairs and is passionate about using smart metrics to prove and improve scientific engagement.
- Connect with J.R. Meloro on LinkedIn
Host at a Glance
Wesley Portegies is the Chief Strategy Officer and Founder of Medical Communications Experts, an agency specializing in effective Medical Communication strategies for pharmaceutical companies. An experienced entrepreneur, Wesley started his first company at 19 and has built multiple successful companies. With over 20 years in the Medical Industry, both on the agency and industry side, he is driven by a passion for Medical Communications.
- Connect with Wesley Portegies on LinkedIn
Hot Takes and Key Highlights
- 02:10 – Evolve or Get Left Behind: The Shift from Volume to Value
Focusing on volume today is no longer enough. It’s no longer about how much content you produce or how many publications you have under your belt; it’s about the value and real-world impact of that content. To stay ahead, leaders must transition from traditional volume-based metrics to smarter, value-driven strategies. Instead of simply tracking output, the focus must shift toward measuring the true impact of each piece of content: how it resonates with healthcare professionals, how it influences decision-making, and how it ultimately drives better outcomes for patients. This shift is vital for staying competitive in an industry that’s increasingly moving toward efficiency, effectiveness, and accountability. If you’re still stuck in old ways of measuring success, you’re at risk of falling behind.
“We want to understand beyond the number of publications that we’ve disseminated. We want to understand whether there’s been impact and whether there’s been reach.”
- 05:05 – Why Article-Level Metrics Beat Impact Factor Every Time
Impact factor has been the traditional measure of success in Medical Communications, but it’s quickly becoming outdated. While it’s useful to know how prestigious a journal is, it doesn’t tell you much about the true influence of your research. That’s why the future lies in article-level metrics; metrics that track how widely your work is shared, discussed, and cited across different platforms. These metrics are a more accurate reflection of your research’s real-world impact and how it’s actually being used by healthcare professionals. By embracing these smarter metrics, you gain insights into how your work is making waves beyond the journal’s reputation. It’s about understanding how your research is reaching the right audiences and driving meaningful engagement. Leaders who shift to article-level metrics will be better equipped to demonstrate the true value of their content, moving beyond outdated ways of measuring success.
“Impact factor is like the reputation of a college or university. That’s not necessarily predictive… Article-level metrics are like the grades and the score of the student, irrespective of the reputation of the university.”
- 07:38 – From Mega Decks to Meaningful Slides: Streamlining Field Content
Creating massive, compendium slide decks might have been the norm in the past, but today’s Medical Affairs teams need to be more agile and efficient. Rather than creating everything “just in case,” teams should focus on creating content that’s specifically designed to meet the needs of HCPs. With advanced tools and smarter tracking systems, you can now measure exactly which slides are being used and how often, providing deeper insights into what’s resonating with your audience. This granular approach to content utilization allows you to refine your materials and ensure that every slide serves a strategic purpose. The goal is to eliminate redundancy, make better use of resources, and ultimately improve the effectiveness of your content strategy. As the content landscape becomes more dynamic, this level of insight will allow you to stay agile and responsive to field needs.
“We’re now able to measure down to the specific slide numbers if it’s a slide deck. So we’re able to measure the sorts of volume metrics. The more qualitative metrics, that’s where the magic is, and that’s an area that we’re interested in.”
- 10:50 – Smarter Conferences: Measuring Engagement Beyond the Podium
Medical conferences are often seen as opportunities to showcase research and engage with healthcare professionals, but the real power lies in how you measure and act on the interactions during these events. It’s no longer enough to simply present data at a podium and hope it reaches the right audience. Instead, you must look at how attendees interact with your content throughout the event. Tracking things like QR code scans, booth interactions, and social media mentions provides a much clearer picture of how your content is being consumed in real-time. These insights allow you to adjust your approach on the fly, improving your ability to engage with attendees and maximize your presence at these events. Smarter conference strategies turn the information overload from these events into a strategic advantage, helping you deliver immediate insights that can be used to refine your strategy and improve future engagement efforts.
“At our larger national and international congresses, we’ll typically have a presence on the congress floor… in addition to our scientific dissemination, together [these things] are part of how we look at the engagement at conferences and congresses.”
- 15:29 – Social Media Requires Precision, Not Just Presence
Social media has become an essential tool for amplifying research and connecting with healthcare professionals, but it must be used with purpose and compliance. Platforms like X, LinkedIn, and YouTube are powerful tools, but without a clear strategy and compliance guidelines, they can easily become a liability rather than an asset. Tracking engagement metrics like impressions, clicks, and shares provides valuable insights into how your content is performing across different platforms. This data is critical for refining your strategy, ensuring that your content is reaching the right people and having the desired impact. It’s not just about being present on social media; it’s about using these channels strategically to amplify your research, drive real-world engagement, and stay compliant with regulations.
“We are currently using Medical Affairs handles in social media… and those channels lend themselves very well to metrics for engagement and impact. So it’s an area that we use to amplify when there is dissemination of research.”
- 18:22 – Field Insights: The Power of Ride-Alongs and Real-World Feedback
Metrics alone won’t tell you the full story of your content’s effectiveness. To truly understand how your materials are being used in the field, you need to see it firsthand. Ride-alongs with field teams offer invaluable insights that no dashboard can provide. By observing how your content is used in real conversations with healthcare professionals, you gain critical feedback that can help fine-tune your strategy and optimize content. These real-world insights ensure that your content isn’t just created, but actively deployed and truly engaging the audience it’s designed for.
“One thing that I’m personally deploying is to go out into the field and not to leave it up to the metrics and the systems, but to observe and do some primary research myself, which is in the form of ride-alongs.”
- 22:05 – Bridging Global and Local: The Future of Medical Content Systems
The challenge of creating content that works across different regions can be daunting, but it’s essential for maximizing efficiency and ensuring consistency in your messaging. Rather than reinventing the wheel for each market, leaders should focus on creating master content sets that can be adapted and reused across different regions. This approach reduces redundancy, ensures content relevance, and saves time and resources. The key is finding the balance between global consistency and local adaptability, ensuring that content remains effective no matter where it’s used. By integrating both global and local needs into one seamless strategy, teams can streamline processes, optimize resources, and ultimately improve the effectiveness of their communications.
“So we’re highly engaged and coordinated in creating parent materials and then either translating or adapting those materials into a use case for a particular country or a particular language.”
- 26:28 – Dashboards Are Just the Start, Context Makes the Metrics Count
Dashboards are only the starting point in your data journey: an overview, not the full picture. Yes, dashboards give you a snapshot, but without context, they are just numbers on a screen. It’s crucial to dig deeper and understand the story behind the data: What does the number of impressions or views really tell you? The metrics are only meaningful when they are analyzed through the lens of what you’re trying to achieve and how they translate into action. Context brings the numbers to life. It helps you understand whether a spike in engagement is meaningful or just a fluke. Metrics like article-level data are useful, but understanding the real-world context behind that data will give you a true measure of your content’s impact. By layering context on top of the raw metrics, you can make smarter, more strategic decisions that move the needle and ensure you’re focusing on what matters.
“Not everything meaningful fits in a dashboard.”
- 30:42 – Smarter Metrics Start with Budget, Audience, and Actionability
Tracking the right metrics isn’t just about having more data; it’s about having the right data. Before diving into data collection, leaders must step back and ask the critical strategic questions: What is our budget? Who are we trying to reach? What actionable outcomes do we want from this data? Without aligning your metrics to your business goals, your efforts will be misdirected, wasting valuable time and resources. Smart leaders focus on metrics that are tied to decision-making and tangible outcomes, not just volume or vanity metrics. By understanding your audience’s needs, your content strategy, and your financial resources, you can identify the metrics that will give you insights that truly matter. This clarity ensures that every metric you track moves you closer to your goals and doesn’t just sit there as a statistic.
“What insight is that going to deliver… and will it give us an opportunity to adjust or change our activities or to think of it in a new way?”
YouTube Chapters
- [00:00] Intro
- [04:27] How a Publishing Job Sparked a Career in MedComms
- [07:38] From Impact Factor to Article-Level Metrics
- [11:57] Booths, Congresses, and Multi-Channel Engagement
- [15:29] Social Media Metrics and Platform Strategy[
- [18:22] Slide-Level Usage Metrics in Field Medical
- [26:28] Contextualizing Metrics with Dashboards and Ride-Alongs
- [30:42] Advice for Teams Starting Their Metrics Journey
- [33:57] Health Literacy and Measuring the Immeasurable
- [35:24] Final Reflections