The Omnichannel Dilemma in Pharma
By Emilie Genero , Senior Research Director at Day One Strategy.
Omnichannel communication is all the rage, and rightly so – more touchpoints, more content, more engagement, right? Well, not exactly…
Let’s start with a personal tale of too many touchpoints
Picture this: I was doing some online shopping for a new outfit for Day One’s 6th Anniversary party, found the perfect look. Clicked ‘order’. Easy.
Then it stared – a text AND an email confirming my order, updating its dispatch status, notifying me of its delivery…
It continues. Daily newsletters? Check. Offers I’d never consider all over my FYP (For You Page)? Double check. Birthday emails, Black Friday text, Happy New Year pop ups, yes please! ?
Or not. Since then, I’ve hit the ‘unsubscribe’ button, blocked the retailer everywhere and sworn to never return. It was TOO MUCH.
Now imagine, I’m an HCP with dozens of pharma companies knocking on my (virtual) door.
A 2023 study by Across Health revealed that while HCPs receive communications from an average of 10+ channels, only 3-4 of these are truly impactful. ?
Just like me, HCPs can feel bombarded from all angles, leading to communication saturation, fragmented messages and worst of all, disengagement.
At Day One Strategy , we believe omnichannel success isn’t about adding more noise. It’s about orchestrating smarter, more meaningful connections using data integration and AI to help you increase the impact of your communication strategy.
A 2024 Veeva Pulse report highlighted that optimised channel sequencing, can increase prescription intent. For example a rep meeting, followed by a digital follow up within 10 days can increase likelihood to prescribe by 30%.
The challenge with omnichannel is that it can feel complex with no clear solutions on how to optimise impact:
So, what’s the potential fix?
The need for consistent integration – unifying engagement mapping
We often hear clients challenges with having a clear view of the full customer journey across touchpoints.
We see AI playing a huge role in this by aggregating data from multiple sources – email campaigns, CRM interactions, rep visits, social media, websites.
This would mean identifying which touchpoints genuinely influence behaviour and which are redundant, leading to more targeted and effective strategies.
The need for continuous optimisation – dynamic channel optimisation
Pharma clients struggle to understand which combinations of channels and messages drive the best outcomes, despite investing heavily in advanced analytics
Using machine learning, AI has the potential to analyse historical and real-time data to uncover hidden patterns of engagement. It identifies which sequences of touchpoints are most effective for different audience segments.
This could optimise channel mix dynamically, shifting resources to the most impactful activities.
Research from IQVIA shows that using predictive tools and integrated data analysis can increase prescription intent by over 20%.
The need for relevance – hyper-personalised engagement strategies
Omnichannel strategies often treat HCPs and patients as monolithic groups.
Again, could technology and predictive AI be leveraged here? Imagine being able
to use predictive analytics to forecast individual preferences, recommend personalised content, timing, and channels for each audience segment.
You’d think that would increase engagement rates, wouldn’t you?
Why should pharma clients care?
In conclusion. the future of omnichannel is intelligent, not just integrated. It’s about using the right channels, at the right time, with the right message.
Think smarter, not louder!
If any of this rings true to you, reach out for a chat on how to optimise your omnichannel approach!
Day One is a global healthcare insight and strategy agency at the forefront of tech-led innovation. We bring together technology and human intelligence to enhance existing approaches and deliver deeper insights, more agility and greater engagement.
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