Healthcare · brand studio
Hiring a branding or marketing partner is a significant decision for a hospital. The wrong choice costs money, but it can also create compliance risk and damage trust with patients.
Use these questions to compare options.
1. Do they understand healthcare?
Ask how they handle professional-conduct rules for doctors, patient privacy and clinical review. A good partner will talk about approvals, evidence and what not to say—not only about creative ideas.
2. Do they start with a diagnosis?
Be cautious if a proposal arrives before anyone has looked at your journey. A useful partner asks about your patients, services, team capacity and where requests are lost, and may recommend fixing operations before spending on promotion.
3. Is the scope written and specific?
Ask for a statement of work that lists deliverables and quantities, revisions and timelines, what the hospital must provide, what is not included (media spend, shoots, software, specialist review), and how the work will be accepted.
Tip: If a package promises “unlimited” or “360-degree” everything, ask what exactly will be delivered in the first 90 days.
4. Who owns the accounts and files?
Your website, domain, Google profiles, ad accounts and social pages should be in the hospital’s name. The partner should work with role-based access and hand over all final files and an access record if you part ways.
5. Can they show real work—with permission?
Ask for examples with the client’s permission and a clear description of what the agency actually did. Be wary of unnamed results, suspiciously precise growth figures or case studies that cannot be verified.
6. How will they report?
Good reporting separates work done, enquiries handled and outcomes recorded by the hospital, and explains what cannot be measured. Ask to see a sample report.
7. Red flags
- Guaranteed patient numbers or rankings.
- Offers to buy reviews or post fake ones.
- Requests for patient medical data “for campaigns”.
- Accounts created in the agency’s name.
- Pressure to sign long contracts before any diagnosis.
Questions to ask in the first meeting
- What would you look at first in our hospital, and why?
- How do you handle clinical and legal review?
- What will we receive in the first 90 days?
- Who owns the accounts, and how do we get them back?
- Can we speak to a client you have worked with?
- What will you report every month?
Partner selection checklist
- Healthcare rules and privacy understood.
- Diagnosis before proposal.
- Written scope with exclusions.
- Accounts and files owned by the hospital.
- Permission-backed examples.
- Honest, layered reporting.
- No guarantees, fake reviews or data grabs.
These are also the standards we hold ourselves to—see our about page and pricing. If you would like a no-obligation first conversation, contact us.
Sources and further reading
- Google Maps: Prohibited and restricted content
- National Medical Commission: Code of Medical Ethics Regulations
Frequently asked questions
What should a hospital look for in a marketing agency?
Healthcare understanding, a diagnosis before a proposal, a written scope with exclusions, accounts kept in the hospital’s name, permission-backed examples and honest reporting.
Is it a red flag if an agency guarantees patients?
Yes. No agency controls patient demand or clinical decisions. Guarantees often lead to aggressive or non-compliant tactics.
Should a hospital sign a long marketing contract?
Start with a bounded first engagement, such as a diagnosis or one journey fix, with clear acceptance criteria. Extend once you have seen the quality of the work.
Want this checked for your hospital?
Clear healthcare information. Better enquiry handling. A more dependable appointment experience. Start with diagnose the problem from ₹7,500, or take the free two-minute brand check.