Key Takeaways
- Tracking the right KPIs helps life sciences commercial operations teams identify bottlenecks in the promotional material review process.
- Metrics like average time to approval and compliance error rate reveal where delays and risk occur.
- Content approval software and marketing compliance tools improve speed, consistency, and audit readiness across teams.
Promotional review is one of the most critical and time-sensitive steps in life sciences marketing. Every campaign depends on it. Yet many commercial operations teams still struggle with slow approval cycles and inconsistent execution. Why? Most, often, it’s because they lack visibility into how their process is actually performing.
When tracked and applied correctly, KPIs reveal where content stalls, where rework happens, and where teams can speed up without introducing compliance risk. For life sciences commercial operations leaders, running a scalable, compliant, and efficient promotional material review process depends on tracking the right KPIs.
The top 5 KPIs to track in life sciences commercial operations
Promotional content is being created and consumed faster than ever. At the same time, the pressure to launch faster is only increasing. Without clear KPIs, teams are left guessing why delays happen or why review cycles drag on. Instead of refining workflows, they react to fire drills.
To optimize promotional material review, life sciences commercial operations leaders must measure what matters. These five KPIs reveal how your team performs, where delays occur, and how to improve speed and compliance without sacrificing quality.
1. Average time to approval
How long does it take for an asset to move from initial submission to final approval? When the number is drastically above benchmark, it’s a clear sign of delays, review bottlenecks, or too much back-and-forth between stakeholders.
In life sciences commercial operations, every day counts. Long approval timelines can stall product launches and weaken campaign momentum.
How to improve it
Use content approval software to automate routing, centralize version control, and streamline workflows across marketing, medical, regulatory, and legal. The right tools cut down promotional material review cycles and keep content moving.
2. Number of circulations per asset
If materials require multiple rounds of edits, it often means the first draft wasn’t review-ready, or the review process itself lacks structure. Too many revisions drive up costs and frustrate teams trying to hit deadlines.
How to fix it
Pre-approved claims language, standardized review checklists, and in-context feedback tools help content get approved faster. When review criteria are clear and enforced through SOPs, you reduce guesswork and rework.
By focusing on this metric, commercial operations leaders can eliminate unnecessary loops and improve efficiency throughout the promotional material approval process.
3. Volume of submissions per month
Tracking how many assets enter review each month reveals critical insight into team capacity and campaign cadence. It helps leaders understand seasonal workload spikes, forecast staffing needs, and ensure no team is stretched too thin.
This metric is particularly useful for life sciences commercial operations teams managing high volumes of digital content across brands, channels, and markets.
How to act on it
Regularly review submission trends to identify when additional resources or process adjustments are needed. Use this data to proactively balance workloads and optimize throughput.
4. Compliance error rate or vote reason
This KPI tracks how often materials are flagged, delayed, or rejected due to compliance issues. These could be unsupported claims, missing disclosures, or misaligned messaging. A high compliance error rate slows the entire content pipeline and increases regulatory risk.
For life sciences teams under constant FDA and EMA scrutiny, this metric directly impacts risk exposure.
How to improve it
Invest in marketing compliance tools that enable you to pre-align on concepts, provide clarity as to why content was sent back for revision, and link claims to substantiating evidence. Pair that with ongoing compliance training to ensure teams know what’s in scope and what isn’t.
5. Percent of assets reviewed on time
This KPI measures how consistently your team meets agreed-upon review deadlines. It’s essential for launch-critical content, campaign tie-ins, or materials involving agency collaboration.
Missing deadlines creates ripple effects across product teams, sales, and external partners.
How to boost it
Define clear turnaround expectations by content type. Set SLAs, use automated reminders, and monitor reviewer activity in real time using your content approval software.
Tracking this metric strengthens accountability across the promotional material review process and gives commercial operations leaders the visibility they need to ensure reliable execution.
Turning metrics into actionable change
Tracking KPIs is only half the equation. The real value comes from turning those insights into meaningful process improvements across your life sciences commercial operations team.
Start by integrating KPI dashboards into your regular performance reviews. Look for trends: Are your promotional material review cycles getting shorter? Is your compliance error rate trending down? These insights should shape quarterly goals and team priorities.
For example:
- If the average time to approval is dragging, revisit your content approval workflows.
- If compliance errors are high, reinforce SOPs or introduce better marketing compliance tools.
- If assets are consistently late, adjust review expectations or team capacity.
Benchmarking also matters. Use external data to see how your team stacks up. Our 2024 State of Promotional Review report includes real-world performance metrics across life sciences teams so you can set realistic targets and spot improvement opportunities.
Ready to optimize your promotional material review process?
Now’s the time to evaluate how your commercial operations team is performing, and where better tools and tighter processes can help. Download our free checklist, 10 Steps to Faster, Compliant Promotional Review, and start making smarter, data-driven decisions.
