Top medical marketing agencies are searched for by a practice owner who wants a shortlist and needs a brief first, because a medical agency is chosen on what it may say, to whom, under which rules, before it is chosen on its work. This page says what pharmaceutical marketing agencies, health and wellness marketing agencies and chiropractor marketing agencies each do, what a practice's brief must carry so the agency can work inside the practice's rules, and how to score any of them on patients rather than impressions. The free in-house versus agency worksheet on this site sizes the retainer against a hire; Retainvia Pro keeps the brief, the shortlist and the scorecard for $49 a month.
Three kinds of medical agency
Pharmaceutical marketing agencies work for manufacturers under regulatory review and are rarely the right counterparty for a practice. Health and wellness marketing agencies work for clinics, spas and practitioners selling elective and cash-pay services, where the brief is about the offer and the audience. Chiropractor marketing agencies, and their equivalents for dental and physiotherapy, sell one specialty's patient acquisition and know the practice's economics. A practice should shortlist from the second or third kind and brief the difference.
What the brief must carry
The services the practice wants patients for, the area it draws from, what may and may not be said in advertising under the practice's own compliance rules, and the value of a new patient over a year. Whether a claim is permitted is the practice's adviser's question and belongs in the brief as a rule the agency follows, never as the agency's judgement. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics handbook cited below puts the median pay of a marketing manager at $165,780 a year, the in-house alternative the free worksheet on this site compares against the retainer.
Score them on patients, not impressions
A medical agency's scorecard reads new patients by service against the brief's value per patient, monthly, with the media spend as a separate line. Impressions, followers and website visits are the agency's working figures and not the practice's result. Retainvia Pro keeps the brief, the shortlist and a scorecard per agency, with the retainer record of what was agreed and delivered, for $49 a month.
Questions people ask about top medical marketing agencies
Are pharmaceutical marketing agencies right for a clinic?
Rarely; they work for manufacturers under regulatory review. A clinic briefs a health and wellness or specialty agency.
What should chiropractor marketing agencies be scored on?
New patients by service against the value per patient in the brief, with media spend shown separately.
Who decides what a medical ad may claim?
The practice's adviser, written into the brief as a rule the agency follows.
Does Retainvia keep the compliance rules with the brief?
Yes; the brief carries the rules the agency works inside, and the scorecard reads results against it.