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What numbers can’t tell you about your customers

Pharma teams have unprecedented data on customer engagement and campaign metrics, but numbers alone won't unlock better decisions. 

Only by understanding the motivations and needs behind the data can teams design digital experiences that genuinely resonate.

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by Graphite digital
  • Customer Experience
  • User Research
  • White paper

Pharma teams have access to more data than ever, from customer engagement metrics to campaign performance and platform analytics. But while this information is useful, it doesn’t always lead to better decisions. Numbers can show what’s happening, but they don’t explain why. Without understanding the motivations, frustrations, and needs behind the data, it’s difficult to design digital experiences that truly connect with customers.

Our recent Digital Reality Check survey suggests that many organisations are still relying heavily on digital behaviour and operational data, while underutilising the rich insight that can come from speaking directly to patients, HCPs and frontline staff. This can uncover valuable context that digital metrics often miss.

Data is not insight, until it’s understood

Metrics such as time on site, email open rates, and chatbot interactions tell us what customers are doing. But they rarely tell us why. Why didn’t that HCP complete the form? Why did the patient abandon the journey? Why is a particular message resonating, or not?

“Pharma manages a humongous amount of data from various sources... But we still haven’t mastered how to translate those data into actionable insights.”
Susana Bento
Global Omnichannel Operations Lead, Grunenthal

There’s often a disconnect between data collection and real understanding. As Susana points out, technical challenges like disconnected and siloed systems, underdeveloped data architecture and limited martech integration all play a role. But even when the data flows freely, it needs the right strategic mindset to be made useful.

Closing the insight gap: Speak to people

One of the clearest opportunities from the survey is the need to better balance quantitative data with qualitative insight. While analytics can show patterns at scale, only conversations with real customers—patients, carers, and HCPs, can help explain motivations, barriers, emotions, and unmet needs.

And it doesn’t need to be complicated. Qualitative insights can come from:

  • One-on-one interviews with patients or HCPs

  • Frontline feedback from reps, MSLs, or support teams

  • Open-ended survey responses

  • Social listening and online forums

“Other sources such as solicited and unsolicited customer feedback, and frontline employee insights, are often underused… These can be faster and more cost-effective than traditional market research.”
Ksenia Levina
Global Customer Experience Lead, Grunenthal

A call for hybrid thinking

The most effective digital strategies are built on a foundation of hybrid insight, where operational data meets human experience. This means integrating data streams, yes, but also making space for conversations, empathy, and qualitative learning.

The shift isn’t only technical. It’s cultural. Teams need to be empowered to ask questions that data alone can’t answer, and to value listening as much as measuring.

From data to direction

At Graphite, we’ve seen time and again how first-hand insight transforms digital strategy. It helps teams make smarter decisions, spot problems early, and design experiences that truly resonate.

So before jumping into your next campaign, product sprint, or customer journey redesign, ask yourself: Have we spoken to the people we’re designing for? If the answer is no, it might be time to stop analysing, and start listening.

Download our new white paper.

In 2025, the drive for digital progress in pharma is stronger than ever — but bridging the gap between ambition and execution remains a persistent challenge.

We’ve spoken to 100 senior leaders across the life sciences sector to uncover how organisations are really progressing — and where the roadblocks still lie. Our new report brings together these insights to provide a grounded, up-to-date view of digital maturity in pharma today.

From the rapid rise of AI tools to the realities of omnichannel implementation, from compliance complexities to the challenge of turning data into insight, and the major decision on CRM between Salesforce and Veeva — this white paper explores what’s accelerating transformation, and what’s holding it back.

If you’re shaping digital strategy or planning your next bold move, this is for you.

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