How to choose a medical device marketing agency: eight questions to ask before you sign

Choose a medical device marketing agency by how it works. The portfolio matters less than the process behind it. Ask who on the team has worked inside a device company, how claims get reviewed, what gets measured and who owns the work when the contract ends. Those answers separate a specialist from a generalist with a few healthcare logos.

I spent 14 years as an executive on the OEM side before I started MedTech Momentum in 2014, so I have sat on both sides of this table. Here are the questions I would ask, and what a good answer sounds like.

1. Who on your team has worked in medical devices?

Ask for names and roles. A good answer tells you who has worked inside a device company or a manufacturer, and who will actually touch your account. MedTech experience shows in small things, like knowing the difference between a 510(k) and a PMA, or knowing that a surgeon and a sourcing manager read the same page very differently.

2. How do you review claims before anything goes out?

This is the question that protects you. Every claim about safety, performance or outcomes has to match your clearance and your evidence. The FTC expects “competent and reliable scientific evidence” for health claims in every format, from your website to social media, as its Health Products Compliance Guidance explains. Ask the agency to walk you through its review: who checks the claims, against which documents, and how your regulatory team signs off. If the answer is “we send it to you,” all of the checking falls on you.

3. Which of your clients look like us?

Ask for work with companies at your stage and in your part of the market. A spine implant launch, a capital equipment campaign and a contract manufacturer chasing OEM programs need different playbooks. Then ask to speak with one or two of those clients. A case study tells you what happened. A reference call tells you what it was like to work together.

4. Who will do the work every week?

The people in the pitch are not always the people on the account. Ask who your day to day contact will be and how often you will meet. Ask what happens when that person is out or leaves.

5. What will you measure, and how often will we see it?

Agree on measures that connect to revenue: conversations with target accounts, meetings, evaluations and opportunities. Website traffic and followers are useful signals, but they will not convince a board. Ask to see a sample report. For our manufacturer clients, we hold a quarterly strategy review with their leadership, alongside weekly and monthly action reports.

6. Who owns the website, the files and the ad accounts?

You should. Ask whether you will own your domain, website, design files, photography, content and advertising accounts, and whether all of it comes with you if you leave. At MedTech Momentum, the client owns every asset we create. When an agency keeps the source files or runs your ads through its own accounts, leaving gets expensive.

7. How do you use AI, and who checks it?

Your agency will likely use AI tools to research and draft. That can save time. What matters is that a person who knows your clearance checks every claim before it goes out, and that your confidential information never goes into a tool that keeps it. Ask how they handle both.

8. What does it take to start, and to stop?

Ask about the contract term, the notice period and what the first month looks like. A good agency can tell you exactly what happens in the first 30 days: who you meet, what they audit and when you see a plan.

What answers should worry you?

Be careful with an agency that promises rankings or a number of leads before it has seen your data, cannot explain how it checks claims, or keeps your files and accounts in its own name. A guaranteed result is a warning sign in any market. In a regulated one, it can also be a compliance problem.

When does a specialist medical device marketing agency make sense?

A specialist earns its fee when your marketing makes claims, reaches clinicians or hospital buyers, or has to pass regulatory review. For work with no clinical content, such as a print run or a local event, a good general agency or freelancer may be all you need. Some companies use an agency as their whole outsourced marketing department and bring in others for single jobs. The eight questions apply either way. If you are still working out what you need, start with my guide to medical device marketing and the five decisions behind a strategy.

If you are comparing agencies now, see how we work with device companies and manufacturers, then put these questions to me on a strategy call. I will answer every one.