Common Mistakes Pharma Leaders are making with Omnichannel Strategies

Pharma brands are challenged in today's digital environment to engage HCPs more effectively. With digital chaos, increasing marketing costs, shifting behavioural influences, and increasing channels, pharma marketers are constantly evaluating new approaches to better reach and engage HCPs and, ultimately, patients in need.

Pharma has traditionally relied on a single channel for customer interactions; however, the way HCPs interact with information over the last few years has changed significantly. Also, with the ever-increasing prevalence of digital, HCPs are increasingly expecting personalized and engaging experiences. Pharma is gaining confidence in its ability to engage customers via both traditional and digital channels. True omnichannel engagement, however, has been the fairy tale of marketing. While multichannel engagement is becoming more prevalent, pharma has yet to truly adopt the omnichannel engagement model, which is more dynamic and nuanced.

It takes time, effort, and several iterations of strategy to develop and implement an omnichannel marketing plan. Here are some of the most common mistakes I've witnessed business leaders make when developing an omnichannel strategy:

• NOT building the plan with people at the center of the strategy is the most prevalent oversight that slows down the progress of Omnichannel. You won't be able to move past siloed multichannel without cross-functional alignment and collaboration.
• Omnichannel is far greater than just adding more channels to your marketing plan. Numerous data points indicate that the new norm calls for a more tailored experience on the channel of choice. It's all about orchestrating the experience and providing content that resonates with customers, irrespective of the number of channels in the mix.
• Broadcasting the same message to all customers via low-cost digital channels. An effective omnichannel marketing plan relies heavily on its content. Any campaign will only succeed if there is a strong content approach. Today HCPs engage with the brands via a variety of channels, including social media, mobile applications, websites, etc., and if you go with a spray-and-pray strategy, customers won't find the content relevant, and you may end up losing them.
• The term "digital" is frequently linked with "innovation” in the pharma world. "We're doing something innovative by leveraging digital" is the common phrase I hear from a lot of marketers. Innovation is defined by how you are addressing the customer's issue or assisting them in achieving their JTBD (Jobs to be done) in a more efficient manner. Digital is an enabler in today's digital-first world, stimulating and fostering processes and enabling outcomes.
• The most significant one is template-driven omnichannel; what worked for one brand/therapy will not work for another. An omnichannel strategy requires a solid contextual foundation and customer understanding, and your omnichannel approach must be continuously optimized for it to be effective.
• Many digital leaders view digital engagement as an alternative to face-to-face interaction. In many situations, this is not accurate. In situations when you don't want to make any further investments in either your brand or your portfolio, turning to a digital-only model could prove to be the best solution. However, digital should be viewed as an enabler, as the offline activities of the field force can be amplified by leveraging technology.
• Measuring the Impact of Individual Channels; true omnichannel operations are moving away from the method of trying to measure the absolute impact of individual channels. Instead, the emphasis should be on the engagement that comes from all channels working in tandem. Omnichannel refers to the order in which various channels are used along the journey, and the multitude of touchpoints ultimately defines the outcome.
• Failure to adapt to change quickly; The external environment is always changing, and agility has always been an ongoing challenge for every pharma organization. To keep up, business leaders need to keep an eye on the changing landscape and adapt their omnichannel marketing approach. Failure to do so may result in missed opportunities, lower engagement, and a loss of competitiveness.

For omnichannel orchestration to be effective, you must be able to create workflows across every conceivable touchpoint the HCP may have with your brand. It is unlikely that the first version of your strategy will be the most effective in the long run; however, digital tools today enable real-time optimization and strategy refinement based on the outcomes of each interaction.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are of the author and not of Medical Dialogues. The Editorial/Content team of Medical Dialogues has not contributed to this article's writing/editing/packaging.