Omnichannel marketing has long been hailed as the future of engagement in life sciences — a seamless experience where healthcare professionals (HCPs), patients, and caregivers receive the right message, through the right channel, at the right time. Yet for all the investment and ambition, the reality still falls short of the promise.

Eighty percent of healthcare providers report receiving generic, impersonal communications from pharmaceutical companies, and fewer than 20% feel truly engaged, both according to a recent report from Indegene. On the consumer side, patients increasingly expect brand experiences that mirror what they receive in retail, entertainment, and tech — but most pharma communications remain static and one-size-fits-all.

The disconnect is stark: while nearly all pharma leaders recognize omnichannel as a strategic imperative, few organizations have advanced beyond “multichannel” execution, simply pushing the same content across multiple channels without meaningful integration or personalization. 

This gap has created growing urgency for AI-powered solutions that can finally turn omnichannel’s vision into measurable, human-centered engagement.

Three major barriers to true omnichannel marketing

Pharma’s omnichannel challenge is not about lack of intent or interest — it’s about infrastructure. Three fundamental barriers continue to slow progress:

1. Data silos and fragmented views
Marketing, sales, medical affairs, and patient engagement teams often maintain their own disparate systems and data sources. This results in incomplete and inconsistent customer profiles. Without a unified view of HCPs and consumers, marketing teams can’t deliver connected experiences or measure engagement holistically.

2. Poor data quality
Even when data is accessible to all stakeholders, it’s often riddled with errors, such as inconsistent formats, incomplete records, and outdated information that makes it next to impossible to lock in accurate audience segmentation and personalization.

3. The content explosion
True omnichannel marketing demands exponentially more content — localized, targeted, and versioned for different audiences and channels. In fact, pharma content requirements have tripled in recent years. Yet each piece of content must pass through the medical, legal, and regulatory (MLR) process, which was never designed for this scale or speed (more on that below).

The MLR bottleneck: The hidden enemy of omnichannel

Among all the challenges, the MLR or promotional review process has quietly become the biggest threat to omnichannel execution for pharma and life sciences companies. Traditional approval cycles can stretch from weeks to months — with some companies reporting approval times of up to 162 days. 

This creates review bottlenecks where existing MLR capacity can't keep up with demand.  Multiple rounds of review result in weeks or even months of delay, significantly impacting marketing momentum and product visibility, and creating a domino effect:

• Campaigns miss launch windows.

• Teams resort to reusing the same “safe” content across multiple audiences, sacrificing personalization.

• Audience insights are outdated or irrelevant by launch time.

• MLR teams become overwhelmed, leading to burnout and compliance risks.

• Marketing momentum stalls — while competitors move faster.

In this environment, the promise of omnichannel collapses. The ability to deliver rapid, relevant, and personalized content at scale becomes impossible when each asset takes a month or more to approve.

Unlock true omnichannel marketing

AI is reshaping what’s possible in healthcare marketing. By combining automation, intelligent workflows, and predictive insights, leading pharma companies are beginning to break through the barriers that have held them back for years.

Pharma’s next competitive frontier isn’t just about reaching audiences — it’s about resonating with them. Whether the goal is to support HCP education, encourage patient adherence and persistence, or drive product awareness among consumers, the brands that win will be those that can combine speed, scale, and personalization without compromising compliance.

Revisto is working at the intersection of AI, pharmaceutical marketing, and the MLR review process. Our solution cuts the promotional review cycle times by 90%, reducing bottlenecks and giving marketing teams and reviewers the bandwidth to create truly omnichannel marketing, without sacrificing quality of compliance. Learn more at Revisto.com.