The best-known healthcare marketing agencies work with a wide range of organizations, from hospitals and health systems to multi-location groups and single practices. Our guide to healthcare marketing agencies sorts them by who each one says it serves. That range is exactly why owners of one small practice go looking for alternatives: they want a firm built around a practice like theirs.
This guide covers the kinds of alternative worth comparing for a small cash-pay practice, and how to switch without losing your website, your ad history or your Google profile. We're one of the alternatives, so read it with that in mind, and ask every firm you consider the same questions.
Why small practices look for alternatives
Most owners searching for an alternative fit one of three descriptions:
- One practice, one specialty. They want a firm that already works with practices like theirs and knows their patients' questions and their board's advertising rules.
- They want to own everything. Ad accounts, website, domain, Google Business Profile and data in the practice's name, so the history stays if the agency changes.
- They want to be measured on bookings. Reporting on booked appointments and the cost of each, rather than traffic or leads.
None of these is a criticism of the larger firms. They describe what a small cash-pay practice should ask any agency, including us.
Signs a large agency isn't the right fit
- Its other clients don't look like you. A firm built for hospital systems or multi-location groups may not know your specialty's patients or your board's advertising rules.
- The reports stop at clicks, impressions or leads. You want booked appointments by source, and what each one cost.
- The ad accounts, website or domain are in the agency's name. If you leave, the history may not come with you.
- Nobody owns what happens after the click. A missed call or a slow reply to an inquiry wastes the click you already paid for.
If these sound familiar, compare the kinds of alternative below. Put the same questions to us.
The kinds of alternative, side by side
| Alternative | Best when | Watch for |
|---|---|---|
| A specialist patient acquisition agency, such as Fill The Lobby | You are a cash-pay specialty practice and want ads, booking, calls and follow-up judged on booked appointments | A specialist won't cover hospital brand work or specialties outside its focus |
| A specialty website or SEO shop | You mainly need a better website or search visibility | Someone still has to run the ads and answer the inquiries |
| A larger healthcare-only agency | You are a multi-location group with several service lines | Check who works on your account day to day |
| Doing it in-house | You have someone with time to run ads and follow up every week | Time is the real cost; our marketing for therapists and Google Ads for doctors guides show the work involved |
How to switch agencies without losing ground
Most of what goes wrong in a switch is access. Before you give notice:
- Get admin access to everything. Google Ads, Meta Business, Google Analytics, Google Search Console, your Google Business Profile, the domain registrar and the website host. Admin, not user.
- Read the contract. The term, the notice period, and who owns the website, its content, the domain and any call-tracking numbers.
- Export your history. Ad performance, conversion data and reports, so the next team doesn't start from zero.
- Keep the old site live until the new one launches, and redirect old page addresses to the new ones so search visibility carries over.
- Sort out phone numbers. Ask whether tracking numbers can be transferred to you. If not, replace them on your listings before they stop working.
- Sign a new business associate agreement with the new agency before any patient information moves.
A good new agency will walk you through this before you cancel anything. Our guide to healthcare marketing agencies has the questions to ask any firm before you sign, and links to our side-by-side comparisons with five of them.