A healthcare marketing agency proposal is readable when four lines sit in the same document as the fee: who owns the accounts and lists, how HIPAA-aware tracking is set up, what the monthly report contains, and how cancel or pause works. Catalyze Care publishes fees, referral marketing $5,000/month (3-month minimum), SEO $799/month, paid ads $2,500/month management with media separate. Next, read how to choose a healthcare marketing agency, questions before signing a healthcare marketing contract, and how Catalyze Care works.
In one sentenceIf fees, ownership, reporting, and cancel terms are not in the same packet, the proposal is incomplete, do not sign it yet.
Seven checks, in order
- Match the fee line to a published number. Write the retainer, what it includes, and what is billed separately (media, directories, print). Catalyze Care’s published numbers are $5,000 / $799 / $2,500 as above. A proposal that swaps those for an unnamed “performance fee” or a guaranteed multiple is selling a slide, not a channel.
- Confirm the practice owns accounts and lists. Google Ads, Meta, GBP, Analytics, Search Console, and the CMS should sit under the practice. The agency works as a user. Referral target lists, suppression lists, and approved fax or email copy should transfer if you leave. Ask for the export format in the SOW.
- Read the HIPAA-aware tracking paragraph. Conversion events should measure booked inquiries the front desk can confirm. Do not put diagnosis-level values in pixels or URL parameters. HHS OCR has published tracking-technology guidance for covered entities. None of this is legal advice.
- Ask what month-two reporting looks like. Month one is usually a build. By month two you should see activity plus intake fields you already own, offices contacted, GBP or page work, spend and policy status, and booked-inquiry counts from your system. If a number cannot be checked against intake, it does not belong on the slide. Process: how Catalyze Care works.
- Find cancel and pause terms next to the fee. Referral marketing has a published 3-month minimum because a single month is not a test. SEO and paid ads are monthly retainers at the published fees. Ask for notice period and what happens to logins on the last day.
- Reject unnamed performance slides. Client results appear only with the client’s written permission. If the deck leads with “4x ROI” and no practice name, treat it as marketing. Permissioned client results: case studies.
- Write the pause conditions. Intake full, a license lapse, or a policy disapproval should stop spend or outreach. Pause is not a promised result. When not to hire yet: when not to hire a healthcare marketing agency.
Source: HHS OCR, Use of Online Tracking Technologies. Source: HHS, HIPAA and marketing.
What each fee line should disclose
| Line | Published Catalyze fee | What the proposal must still say |
|---|---|---|
| Referral marketing | $5,000/month · 3-month minimum | Who owns the target list; what “booked” means in your intake; cancel after the minimum |
| SEO | $799/month | GBP and site access; no first-page guarantee; monthly page/GBP work you can see |
| Paid ads | $2,500/month management (+ media) | Practice-owned ad account; media billed separately; conversions without PHI |
Those three numbers match the homepage and service pages. Reports show outreach and booked-inquiry fields from your intake.
Proposal red flags
- The agency keeps admin on Google Ads, Meta, or the website “for convenience.”
- Tracking language is missing, or the pixel plan includes clinical page views.
- The report is a vanity dashboard with no booked-inquiry field from your system.
- Cancel terms live in a later “legal packet,” not next to the fee.
- Unnamed case-study percentages or a guaranteed rank appear on page one.
Some questions should be settled before anyone sends a PDF, and questions before signing a healthcare marketing contract lists them. To score the firm itself, use how to choose a healthcare marketing agency. If the proposal bundles several channels, check it against how healthcare digital marketing should share one plan.
Source: Google Search Central, Creating helpful, reliable, people-first content.
FAQ
What fees does Catalyze Care publish on a proposal?
Referral marketing $5,000/month with a 3-month minimum; SEO $799/month; paid ads $2,500/month management (media spend separate). A proposal should repeat those numbers, not replace them with an unnamed performance SLA.
What are proposal red flags?
Unnamed ROI multiples, agency-owned ad or website accounts, diagnosis-level pixels, a report you cannot check against intake, and cancel terms missing from the same document as the fee.
Who should own the data and accounts?
The practice. The agency should work as a user on Google Ads, Meta, GBP, Analytics, and the CMS. Referral lists and approved copy should transfer if the engagement ends.
What should the proposal say about monthly reporting?
Activity plus booked-inquiry fields from the practice's own intake. If a number cannot be checked against your system, it does not belong on the slide. Process: how Catalyze Care works.