ADVICE

ASK ALEX

Who should handle my clinic marketing… staff, freelancers or an agency?

ALEX BUGG

Alex Bugg works for Web Marketing Clinic, a family-run digital agency, which specialises in medical aesthetics. The business builds websites and delivers marketing campaigns for doctors, nurses, dentists, distributors and brands. Contact her at: alex@webmarketingclinic.co.uk or follow her on Instagram: @webmarketingclinic

Marketing looks simple from the outside. But once you’re running a clinic, you realise it’s an entire machine: social media, content, lead generation, email, SEO, data, paid ads, all with the constant pressure to produce more. It’s a lot.

So let’s look at the three main ways clinics handle their marketing – in-house, freelancers, or an agency – and what each of them actually feels like day to day.

THE IN-HOUSE MARKETER

Bringing someone into the clinic feels reassuring.

They’re right there, catching the behind-the-scenes moments that patients really respond to on social media: the morning set-up, a quick walk-through of the treatment room, or a snippet of something interesting happening that day. These small, real-life pieces of content often outperform anything planned. But this is also where the strain shows. Social media is now a full-time role on its own. Five or seven years ago, maybe not, but today, you need someone on it consistently if you want results.

Add newsletters, website updates, ads, video editing, planning and analytics… and you can see the challenge. Unless the salary reflects the range of skills required, you may end up hiring one person to do multiple jobs.

Done well, an in-house marketer can be brilliant. Done on too tight a budget, it leaves both sides frustrated. Finding the right person who wants to be a generalist is difficult, too. They might want the job, but you can’t guarantee you’ll keep them. Put simply, they’re a unicorn.

My advice? Hire someone to do a few set tasks very well, and outsource the rest.

THE FREELANCER

Freelancers are ideal for clinics that want consistency without committing to a full salary.

If you mainly need someone to keep your socials moving – writing captions, editing reels, getting posts out on time – a great freelancer can make a huge difference. They bring fresh ideas because they’re exposed to a wide mix of brands, and that outside perspective often sparks new thinking.

They’re also fantastic for specialist tasks like running ads or building landing pages. The only drawback is availability: they juggle multiple clients, so replies won’t always be instant. And unless you book regular content days, they won’t be in clinic capturing those authentic moments that add warmth to your socials. Even so, for many clinics this option offers the best balance of skill, affordability and flexibility.

THE AGENCY

Agencies work well when you want more.

They bring structure and strategy. Instead of relying on a single person, you get a team with different strengths – design, content, ads, email, analytics – all aligned and working towards the same goals.

This is where proper lead generation happens. Not just posting on Instagram, but connecting your content with your ads, landing pages, CRM and follow-up sequences. And when someone is ill or on holiday, your marketing doesn’t grind to a halt.

The trade-off is cost, because a good agency isn’t cheap. If someone offers to run all your marketing for £200 a month… run. Look for one that specialises either in your niche or in your local area.

You’ll still need to be involved, especially for anything requiring a human face or real patient stories. But if your clinic is growing, or you want a system that works even when you’re busy, an agency often gets you there faster.

SO WHICH OPTION ACTUALLY WORKS BEST?

If your biggest struggle is staying consistent on social, an in-house marketer or freelancer is usually the quickest fix.

If you want predictable enquiries, stronger retention and a marketing setup that goes beyond posting and hoping, agency support brings the stability and structure. They can usually handle social too, but your own involvement will always make it feel more authentic.

Most clinics eventually blend the options: someone internal capturing the everyday moments that feel real, and expert external support to turn all of that into a functioning, scalable strategy.