Online advisory boards are now a core engagement tool for pharmaceutical and life sciences teams. When designed well, they deliver deeper insight, broader participation, and greater efficiency than traditional in-person formats. When designed poorly, they risk low engagement and superficial output.
Drawing on industry research and real-world experience, here are ten practical tips to help teams design online advisory boards that generate meaningful, actionable insight.
-
Design for reflection, not speed
One of the greatest advantages of online advisory boards is time. Asynchronous engagement allows healthcare professionals to review materials, reflect and contribute more thoughtfully than in time pressured meetings. Research consistently shows that HCPs value the ability to engage on their own schedule, particularly alongside clinical workloads (Petrus & Lam, 2024).
-
Combine asynchronous and live engagement
Purely asynchronous boards can lack momentum, while live-only sessions often limit participation. Hybrid models consistently perform best. Asynchronous discussion builds depth and invites carefully considered input, while live debates introduce energy, challenge assumptions, and support consensus building. Industry data suggests that together, they deliver richer insight than either format alone (BCG, 2023).
-
Keep everything in one place
Fragmented experiences create friction. Multiple links, platforms, and logins increase drop-off and reduce completion rates. A single, centralised hub for content, discussion, surveys, and live sessions helps maintain focus and improves retention, particularly in longer programmes (Deloitte, 2023).
-
Structure the programme over time
Spreading activity across several weeks allows insights to evolve. Longitudinal engagement gives participants time to absorb information, respond to others, and revisit topics as their thinking develops. This approach consistently produces deeper qualitative insight than one-off meetings (McKinsey, 2022).
-
Set clear expectations from the start
HCPs are more likely to engage when they understand what is expected of them. Clearly outline time commitment, activities, and objectives upfront. Transparency builds trust and helps participants plan their involvement, which is especially important for global boards spanning time zones.
-
Use prompts that encourage discussion, not just answers
The quality of insight depends heavily on the quality of questions. Open prompts that invite comparison, debate, and real-world experience consistently outperform closed or overly technical questions. Encouraging participants to respond to each other, not just the sponsor, drives richer dialogue (Bain & Company, 2023).
-
Monitor engagement in real time
Waiting until the end of an advisory board to review engagement is a missed opportunity. Monitoring participation, sentiment, and emerging themes during the programme allows teams to adapt content, refine live sessions, and probe areas of interest while the board is still active. Agile programmes consistently outperform static ones (McKinsey, 2022).
-
Turn discussion into insight, not just transcripts
Collecting comments is not enough. Discussion boards, polls, surveys, and live session transcripts should be analysed together to identify trends, alignment, and points of tension. Combining qualitative insight with engagement metrics helps teams understand not just what was said, but how strongly views were held.
-
Think globally, act locally
Online boards make it easier to engage geographically diverse experts and ground insight in local context. Layering feedback with regional context, such as healthcare system differences or population characteristics, helps teams interpret insights more accurately and design more relevant strategies (Deloitte, 2024).
-
Close the loop with participants
Advisory boards should never feel extractive. Sharing high-level outcomes and next steps reinforces the value of participation and builds long-term trust. HCPs who feel heard are more likely to engage in future initiatives and provide candid feedback (Pharmaphorum, 2024).
Final thought
Online advisory boards are no longer a digital substitute for in-person meetings. When designed intentionally, they are a superior insight engine. By combining flexibility, structure, and real-time intelligence, teams can generate insights that directly inform strategy, accelerate decision-making, and ultimately support better patient outcomes.
References
- Bain & Company (2023). How to Make Your Drug Launch a Success. Available here.
- Boston Consulting Group (2023). For Physicians and Pharma, Hybrid Engagement Is the New Normal. Available here.
- Deloitte (2023). Insights-Driven Commercial Excellence in Life Sciences. Available here.
- Deloitte (2024). Pharmaceutical Market Access and Evidence Strategy. Available here.
- McKinsey & Company (2022). Beyond the Storm: Launch Excellence in the New Normal. Available here.
- Petrus, C. & Lam, H. (2024). Considerations for Planning Effective and Appealing Advisory Boards and Other Small-Group Meetings with Health Care Providers. Pharmaceutical Medicine, 38(4), 311–320. Available here.
- Pharmaphorum (2024). Do HCPs Really Want the Return of In-Person Meetings? Available here.
