Red Flags: Behavioral Healthcare Isn’t For Just Anybody

Recognizing these warning signs can save you time, money, and potential compliance issues. If someone, or some team, has done Google Ads before, that does not mean they are your savior.

Here are a few examples of what bad agencies or vendors do:

HIPAA? What’s that?

This is particularly critical, and can cost you millions.

• Mishandling of patient data or sensitive information: An agency that doesn’t demonstrate a clear understanding of how to handle patient inquiries or data in a HIPAA-compliant manner is a severe liability.
• Lack of understanding or discussion about digital HIPAA compliance: If a prospective agency doesn’t proactively discuss HIPAA, the HITECH Act, or other relevant privacy regulations (e.g., state-specific laws related to mental health or substance use disorder advertising), it’s a major concern.
• Generic or non-compliant landing pages and ad copy: Ad copy or landing page content that makes unsubstantiated claims, promises cures, or fails to include necessary disclaimers can lead to Google policy violations and, more importantly, ethical breaches.

“This worked for Glasshouse Agency, so it’s perfect for you”

Your behavioral healthcare practice is unique, and your marketing strategy should reflect that.

• One-size-fits-all approaches for diverse behavioral health services: An agency that proposes the exact same campaign structure for a general therapy practice as for a specialized addiction treatment center likely lacks the necessary nuanced understanding of the behavioral health market.
• No apparent customization for your specific practice or target demographic: If the agency doesn’t ask detailed questions about your ideal patient, your unique selling propositions, or your geographic service area, their strategy will likely be generic and ineffective.

Drive It Like You Own It

The 1st point is the most obvious but also MOST OVERLOOKED.

• Refusal to grant direct access to Google Ads accounts: Here’s the deal: Any agency worth their salt sets up your Google Ads with and for you, then they ask for the keys to the kingdom. If they’re playing coy, holding back access, or trying to hide the books, RUN. Google Ads isn’t rocket science, and definitely not trade secrets. Data bought with your ads dollars is yours.
• Vague reporting or unexplained metrics: If an agency provides reports filled with jargon you don’t understand, or if they struggle to explain how certain metrics impact your bottom line, it’s a warning sign. Ask for clarification, and talk open and regularly as a partner, not a distant client.
• Obscuring fees or markups: Be wary of agencies that don’t clearly separate their management fees from your ad spend, or those that add hidden markups to your media budget without clear disclosure.

Buy Now & You’ll Pay Later

Google Ads performance is influenced by many external factors, making guarantees impossible. No legitimate agency can— or should—guarantee specific rankings, conversion rates, or patient volumes. Can you guarantee a patient outcome?

Poor Communication and Responsiveness

In many ways Glasshouse was built on this. Account managers— most often— manage nothing and obfuscate the true do-ers. This is a personal call, but Glasshouse doesn’t give you the option. You work with the people who work for you.

Lastly, and this is obvious enough: If it’s consistently hard to get in touch with your assigned contact, or if responses are delayed and unhelpful, it indicates a lack of dedicated support. Every hour they don’t get back to that email you sent, adspend is dwindling.

No Focus on Long-Term Growth

Sustainable patient acquisition involves more than just immediate clicks.

Many Google Ads agencies look for LEADS over sustainable GROWTH.
Think for a second about the difference.

If your “partner” isn’t aligning paid advertising with your overarching patient acquisition strategy, they’re likely wasting some portion of your budget. This isn’t a partnership; it’s a contractual obligation. Which is fine, if that’s what you’d like.

And here’s the kicker: if they’re not thinking about how Google Ads plays nice with the rest of your marketing—SEO, content, web development—they’re operating with blinders on.

Here are a couple easy questions to see how they approach GROWTH vs LEADS:

• How are our lead gen efforts on Google impacted by website performance?
• What landing pages are we leveraging and why? Have we learned anything?
• BIG TIP: Failing is also learning.
• How are you calculating ROAS?

Green Flags: This Guy’s Legit & Here’s Why

Okay, great. We know how to identify caution signs, but what about going in the right direction? Some of these points directly address red flags, others stand on their own.

Proven Expertise in Behavioral Healthcare Marketing

This is by-and-far the best and most obvious. If they are doing it well now, and it’s directly correlated to what you need today, good chance they can help. Here are easy ways to validate this:

• Case studies and testimonials: A legitimate agency will share success stories and offer client contact information. Glasshouse does, just ask.
• Know the lingo: If you actively work in the field, they know Google PPC jargon AND behavioral healthcare jargon too. If you mention if they don’t know the difference between PHI or PHP, we have an issue.

Customer Service and Relationships

This is the cornerstone of a healthy agency-client relationship. You have to like them to some degree— you’ll be spending a good amount of time together. You also have to like how they communicate. Great agencies communicate like this:

• Regular, detailed reports with actionable insights: Expect comprehensive reports that are easy to understand, highlight key performance indicators, and offer clear recommendations for future optimizations.
• Proactive communication and strategic discussions: Your agency should initiate regular meetings to review performance, discuss strategy adjustments, and keep you informed of industry changes.
• Willingness to grant access and walk you through campaigns: They should be happy to grant you at least “view-only” access to your Google Ads account and walk you through the campaign structure, ad groups, keywords, and ad copy, explaining their rationale.

Competent Beyond the SERP

Non-negotiable for behavioral healthcare. They need to be able to bridge the security gap between the SERP and your ad, and your admissions team (really, all of your platforms). HIPAA is a serious matter, and scaling adds complexity. Here’s Glasshouse’s exact playbook:

• Clear policies and procedures for data privacy and security: They should be able to explain how they protect any sensitive information and ensure all data handling aligns with privacy regulations.
• Demonstrable knowledge of HIPAA and other relevant regulations: Someone in the agency should be well-versed in the specific legal and ethical considerations of marketing behavioral health services, including advertising restrictions and disclaimers.

Nice to Have

This is a bit of a stretch, I can see that. BUT, there is a very tough question that needs to be answered when you consider running GREAT, and not just good, Google Ads: How does this fit into the rest of my marketing—let alone digital marketing?

Great agencies really understand how Google Ads integrates with SEO, web design, Content Marketing, etc. They recognize that paid advertising is just one piece of the puzzle and can advise on how it complements other digital strategies for comprehensive online visibility.

Glasshouse goes to painstaking efforts to answer just that question. We have commitment to overall success through complementary services. Beyond our core paid advertising offering, we double down and vest interest in your broader success. This involves offering a wide array of expertise, including:

• Web Design and Development
• Business Operations
• Video Production
• Search Engine Optimization
• Paid Ads
• Branding
• Social Media
• Content Marketing
• Video and Media
• Marketing Strategy
• Consulting
• Custom Reporting and Analytics
• Digital HIPAA Compliance
• Reputation Management
• Print & Traditional Marketing

ANONYMOUS SELF TEST

Answer— or ask your marketing team— these questions, and if you answer 3 or more with ‘No’, call someone immediately and pause the adspend.

• Do I have direct, view-only access to my Google Ads account, and can I see exactly how my ad budget is being spent and what keywords are being used?
• If I called right now, would they be able to walk me through HIPAA and other digital compliance requirements?
• If I email or call them, will they get back to me within 2 hours? If not, is that common or rare?
• When they send me reports, do I totally understand what I am looking at?
• Do I know at least one other company/person that can vouch for their healthcare experience?
• Can I call them and talk about my industry or service offering without having to spell it out?
• Have I ever talked about my LTV with them?

Let’s Grow

That test may have been humbling. It’s all good. Now you know.

We can go on and on about the stuff we hear and see when it comes to digital marketing. Although it is fun, it’s not productive. I want to equip you with the tools you need to move forward and grow.

You need a partner— not a vendor. Call our team at Glasshouse today to see if we can be your next best partner.