The expanding field of healthcare marketing helps health companies market their products and services in the right way. It also helps communicate the organisation’s message to the target audience.
Strengthening your company’s healthtech public relations is essential, as it helps bring in more consumers, allowing the business to grow. But as the landscape grows more competitive with time, companies face various challenges when marketing their organisation.
To ensure that you’re marketing your brand appropriately, using a healthcare marketing agency can help. Hiring the right healthcare marketing agency for your organisation means elevating growth and improving the longevity of your healthcare practice. But how can you choose the right marketing agency to partner with?
Below are some things to look for in a marketing agency.
1. Credibility
An important thing to look out for in potential healthcare marketing agencies is their credibility. Selecting a credible and trustworthy agency for your healthcare practice will ensure you face little to no trouble in the future.
A good approach to determine whether a marketing agency is credible is to look it up online. You will need to check its website and do thorough research about its services and expertise in the field. Browsing through the homepage will help you find out their values and how you can expect the agency to work with you.
Client testimonials are also a great way of learning about the quality of their services. Knowing whether an agency’s previous customers are satisfied can help you make a more educated decision. These reviews will show you that the company has a habit of keeping its promises and taking responsibility for its actions.
You will also find whether the agency brought any measurable results for its old customers. So, make sure to check reviews on platforms like Google and Yelp. Some other things to look out for include certifications, awards, and recognitions.
2. Creativity
Creative talent is a must-have for any marketing agency, regardless of the industry it will be working in. From its website to the healthcare marketing agency’s digital presence, keep an eye out for creativity. It is a good sign when an agency’s creative capabilities are evident from the onset. The best way of finding out what it can do in terms of creativity is to conduct some research about the agency.
You can start by looking through the ‘creatives,’ which includes the various types of content that it produces. This can include videos, ad copies, banners, and infographics. Ask the agency for its previous clients and skim through their social media platforms to see what they have to offer.
While the content will be able to tell you a lot about how they work, conducting a meeting with the agency is still important. Once you have found at least 2 to 3 marketing agencies for your healthcare company, it is time to test their creative skills. You can invite them and find out more about what they offer.
3. Experience
Your in-house team needs creative individuals who know how to attract a particular audience. However, it is also important for the outside team to have excellent expertise in healthcare. After all, these third-party agencies play a huge role in adding perspective to your company’s brand marketing.
If the marketing agency has never worked in the health department before, you may not be able to obtain your desired results. Therefore, ensure the agency has enough healthcare marketing experience and has delivered outstanding results to its previous healthcare clients.
Healthcare marketing is especially different from marketing in other industries due to standard rules and regulations. Hospitals, healthcare units, physicians, and other organisations require following these regulations and report to regulatory authorities. This leaves no room for blunders like naming a patient in a social media post.
For this reason, the marketing agency needs to be familiar with CMS, FDA regulations, and HIPAA compliance. An experienced health-marketing agency will craft appropriate content for their clients.
4. Infrastructure and Responsiveness
When collaborating with an agency, coordination and communication can become an issue. While you cannot eliminate this problem, considering an agency’s infrastructure can tell you a lot about its responsiveness.
A marketing agency that uses well-developed processes is less likely to give you a lot of trouble. With that being said, this does not mean that you necessarily need to hire big health marketing agencies. Even smaller agencies can offer promising support.
There needs to be proper communication between your healthcare organisation and the marketing agency you hire. A good marketing agency will provide you with reports that include an update on the work and results.
Asking questions during the review process will help you get an idea of the core values of your potential health marketing agency. You can also get in touch with their previous or current clients to learn about their responsiveness.
5. Pricing
Costs should be a critical factor when considering a marketing agency. Some companies can overlook an agency’s price and sign a contract ignorantly.
Usually, companies fail to realise that hiring a health-marketing agency is an investment rather than just a price for a service. Therefore, make sure to decide based on the ROI you’re going to get instead of the money.
Additionally, pricing is also the most common reason behind relationships breaking down. To avoid such an unfortunate event, have discussions about the price before confirming the agency you want to work with. Doing so is a great way of preventing any misunderstandings that may show up later on.
Make sure to have a transparent discussion about the rates, billing, payment preferences, retainers, extra charges, etc. Before the health-marketing agency provides any work for your company, you must understand important processes like approvals, authorisations, and change orders.
Wrapping Up
Finding a healthcare marketing agency can be a challenging task. However, it is not difficult when you know what you want from an agency. With the right approach, you can make the process even easier. You should use the above list of factors when choosing a marketing agency for your healthcare company.
