How to Choose a Healthcare Marketing Agency in Singapore: Questions to Ask

Choosing a marketing agency is one of those decisions most clinic owners only make a few times. It is also hard to judge from the outside. Every agency deck looks confident, and the terms get technical quickly.

I run an agency, so take this with that in mind. But I would rather clinics ask sharp questions of every agency they speak to, including us, than sign on the strength of a nice presentation. The questions below are the ones I would ask if I were on your side of the table.

From this guide, you will learn:

• Which compliance questions separate agencies who know healthcare from those who don't
• What you should own, and what the agency should only have access to
• How to set up reporting so you can judge results yourself
• What to check in the contract before you sign

Start with compliance questions

In Singapore, clinic marketing sits under the Healthcare Services Act and its advertising regulations, plus the Singapore Medical Council's Ethical Code for doctors, the Singapore Dental Council's code for dentists and the TCMPB's code for TCM practitioners. If an agency gets these wrong, it is your licence at risk, not theirs.

Ask:

1. "Can you look at one of our current ads or pages and tell us what you would change for compliance?" This is the single most useful question. A good answer is specific, for example pointing out a testimonial, a "from $X" price or a before/after image.
2. "Who checks content against the HCSA rules before it goes live, and how?" Look for a named step in their process, not "we're careful".
3. "How do you handle doctor titles and qualifications?" They should know that only doctors on the Specialist Register can be called specialists. See our guide to doctor profile pages for why this matters.
4. "How do you brief influencers or creators?" Creator content for a licensed clinic is still advertising, so testimonials and outcome claims are out.

If you want a refresher before these meetings, our guide to HCSA advertising rules covers the basics.

Ask about relevant experience

Healthcare experience is useful, but it is worth being specific about what kind. A dental group, a specialist surgeon, a TCM clinic and an aesthetic clinic have quite different patients, rules and channels.

• "Which clinics like ours have you worked with, and what did you do for them?" Listen for the work itself, not only logos.
• "What didn't work, and what did you change?" Every agency has campaigns that underperform. One that can talk about it honestly is more likely to tell you when yours isn't working.
• "Which channels would you not recommend for us, and why?" An agency that recommends every channel to every clinic isn't really diagnosing anything.
• "How do you work with our doctors?" Doctors are busy. Ask how much of their time the agency needs each month, and for what. Filming days, interviews and clinical accuracy checks all need a slot in the doctor's diary.

Keep in mind that healthcare case studies are harder to publish than in most industries. Clinics are often reluctant to share numbers, and some results can't be shown at all. So a thin portfolio page isn't automatically a bad sign. Ask to talk it through instead.

Ask who owns what

This is the question clinics most often forget until they try to leave an agency. Your clinic should own:

• Google Ads and Meta ad accounts
• Google Business Profile
• Google Analytics, Search Console and Tag Manager
• Your domain name and website hosting
• Your website's content, photos and videos
• Social media accounts, including RedNote if you use it

The agency should be added as a user or manager. That way you keep the history, the audiences and the data if you ever change agencies. Ask: "If we part ways, what do we keep and how do we get it?" The answer should be short and comfortable.

Ask how results are measured

Clicks, impressions, followers and "reach" are easy to grow and easy to report. They are not patients.

Ask:

• "What will you report on each month?" The answer you want is enquiries, and ideally booked appointments, by channel.
• "How will you track calls, WhatsApp messages and form enquiries?" Many Singapore patients WhatsApp the clinic rather than fill a form. If that isn't tracked, you are missing a large part of the picture.
• "Can you connect enquiries to the campaign or page that brought them in?" This is what lets you cut what doesn't work.
• "Do you track how AI assistants describe our clinic?" Patients increasingly ask ChatGPT, Gemini and Google's AI Mode for recommendations. See how to get your clinic recommended by ChatGPT.

Also be honest with the agency about your front desk. If nobody records how new patients heard about you, even the best tracking will have gaps.

Ask how patient data is handled

Under the PDPA, your clinic is responsible for personal data it collects, including enquiry forms and data sent to ad platforms. Ask:

• "Where do enquiry form submissions go, and who can see them?"
• "Will any names, phone numbers, NRIC numbers or health details reach Google, Meta or other tools?" The answer should be no, with an explanation of how they prevent it.
• "Will you sign a data processing agreement?"
• "Do you use AI tools in your work, and does any of our patient data go into them?" We use AI throughout our own work, and The Marketing Clinic is part of the Claude Partner Network, so I'd expect this question. With any agency, what matters is that patient data stays out of AI tools and a person checks everything they produce.

Ask who actually does the work

The person pitching is not always the person doing the work. Ask:

• "Who will manage our account day to day, and can we meet them?"
• "What is done in-house and what is outsourced?" Outsourcing isn't wrong, but you should know who writes your copy and who has access to your accounts.
• "Who writes in Mandarin?" If Chinese-speaking patients matter to you, native Mandarin content reads very differently from translated English. It matters most on RedNote (Xiaohongshu).
• "Who reviews clinical accuracy?" Usually that should involve one of your doctors or practitioners, and the agency should build that step into the timeline.

Ask about fees and the contract

Agency pricing in Singapore varies a lot, and the structure matters as much as the number. I go through typical cost structures in our guide to clinic marketing costs. For the contract itself, ask:

• "Is the ad spend separate from your fee?" You should be able to see exactly what goes to Google and Meta and what goes to the agency.
• "What is the minimum term and notice period?" SEO needs time to show movement. Paid ads can be judged sooner. Match the term to the work.
• "What exactly is included each month?" A list of deliverables, not "full management".
• "What happens to content you've written if we leave?" It should stay on your site and belong to you.

Red flags to watch for

These don't always mean an agency is bad, but they deserve a follow-up question:

• Guaranteed first-page rankings or a guaranteed number of patients. No one controls Google or AI assistants.
• Proposals that include testimonials, before/after photos, discounts or "free consultation" offers for a licensed clinic.
• Ad accounts or your website set up in the agency's name.
• Reports that only show clicks, impressions and followers.
• Case studies with large percentages and no explanation of what was measured or over what period.

On the other side, some good signs: an agency that asks about your capacity before promising more patients, tells you a channel isn't right for you, or pushes back on an idea because of the rules. That friction is usually a sign they are thinking about your clinic, not just the retainer.

Finally, ask for a reference from a current healthcare client and actually call them. Ask what the agency is like when something goes wrong, not only when it goes right.

If you want to see how we answer these questions, our pages on medical SEO and performance marketing set out the process and deliverables. Ask us the same questions you would ask anyone else. Before you brief an agency, it helps to know what a full digital marketing plan for a medical practice looks like, so you can tell which parts they actually cover.