Every pharmaceutical and healthcare organisation today is talking about omnichannel engagement, but not everyone is at the same stage. Some are just exploring what it means, others are experimenting but struggling to connect the dots, and a few are advanced and pushing into personalisation at scale.
At Edelman, we see the omnichannel strategy not as a technology race but as a trust-building journey, and the Omnichannel Maturity Curve helps you identify where you are today, understand your challenges, and choose the next step forward. More importantly, it enables you to build trust by delivering consistent, relevant, and meaningful experiences that change healthcare practitioners' and patients' behaviours.
So, where do you stand?
Stage 1: We’re New to Omnichannel
You know omnichannel matters, but it still feels like a buzzword. At the moment, you may be running campaigns channel by channel, with little integration. Engagement relies heavily on sales representatives, events, or standalone email blasts, and digital feels more like an add-on than a core strategy.
Your priorities right now should be to:
Define your vision. What do you want omnichannel to achieve: stronger HCP engagement, better patient support, or more efficient marketing?
Start small. Focus on one initiative, such as digitising a key congress touchpoint or building a modular email programme. Measure its impact.
Build buy-in. Use early wins to show value and secure wider investment.
For beginners taking their next steps, we recommend you avoid trying every channel at once. Focus on one or two that matter most to your customers and grow from there. Include behavioural objectives in your strategy - for example, what is the ultimate behaviour for your audience?
Stage 2: We’re Developing
You’ve started to experiment. Some digital channels are in play (CRM, basic email campaigns), and segmentation is shaping your messaging, but personalisation is still limited. Different teams may run campaigns independently, leading to fragmented experiences for HCPs or patients.
Your priorities right now should be to:
Strengthen integration. Connect CRM, marketing, and analytics to build a fuller view of your customers.
Test personalisation. Use personas and segments to create tailored content, not just generic messaging.
Coordinate efforts. Align brand, medical, and digital teams so channels work together rather than in silos.
For those at this developer stage, we’d advise collaborating with your sales teams to pilot cross-channel journeys and use the results to refine your strategy and update your behavioural goals.
Stage 3: We’re Advanced
You’re delivering omnichannel experiences; data integration is stronger, segmentation is based on behavioral science and drives meaningful engagement, and automation is part of your toolkit. Campaigns feel more consistent across channels, but scaling personalisation and aligning all teams remain challenges.
Your priorities right now should be to:
Scale personalisation. Move beyond segments to predictive analytics and behaviour-driven journeys.
Automate smartly. Expand workflows that adapt content to customer needs in real time.
Unify ways of working. Bring commercial, medical, and digital teams into a single planning rhythm.
For advanced teams, we suggest investing in a central customer data platform (CDP) to unlock deeper insights and more dynamic, tailored engagement.
Stage 4: We’re Leading
You’re ahead of the curve. Omnichannel is fully embedded, powered by AI-driven insights, real-time engagement, and seamless transitions between offline and online. The challenge now is maintaining momentum, governing complexity, and continuing to innovate.
Your priorities right now should be to:
Stay innovative. Keep experimenting with new technologies (e.g. adaptive AI, immersive congress experiences).
Focus on governance. Ensure compliance and ethical use of data remain strong foundations.
Embed culture. Make customer-centricity the mindset across every function and market.
For leaders in this space, we encourage sharing your learnings across regions and building frameworks to continuously refresh your strategy each year.
Wherever you are on the journey, consistent progress is what sets true leaders apart. We believe omnichannel maturity goes beyond technology and data; it is built by aligning data, creativity, and behaviour change around a single goal: earning and sustaining the trust of healthcare professionals and patients through communications that are relevant, responsible, and genuinely useful.