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Hiring the Right Team: Fewer Fires, Better Campaigns, Happier Clients
In healthcare marketing, you don’t have the luxury of hiring “maybes.” This isn’t a place where you can fake it till you make it or pivot every 5 minutes. We’re talking about an industry where accuracy is nonnegotiable, empathy is everything, and every message has the potential to impact someone’s health — or their trust in the system.
Throughout my tenure, I’ve learned (sometimes the hard way) that hiring the right people isn’t just a nice-to-have — it’s the make-or-break difference between brilliance and burnout. You want strategic thinkers, not order takers. People who can decode clinical jargon and connect with real human emotion. Unicorns? Maybe. But when you find them, they’re worth it.
Hiring the right team is the smartest investment you’ll ever make. Here’s how to do it without settling for “good enough.”
The high stakes world of marketing
Healthcare marketing isn’t for the faint of heart or the lazy strategist. We’re not selling sneakers or streaming services. We’re marketing products and services that affect people’s health, their families, and sometimes their survival.
Every headline, every claim, every comma has to be spot-on. One misstep, and you’re not just dealing with a typo — you’re looking at regulatory fines, lost trust, or misinformation with real consequences. The pressure is real, and it’s exactly why you need people who can handle complexity, compliance, and compassion without breaking a sweat.
Fit, core values, and mindset matter
I don’t care how impressive your resume is — if you’re not aligned with our values, you’re not a good fit for our team. In healthcare marketing, fit isn’t about whether we’d grab a drink at happy hour — it’s about whether you truly believe in what we’re doing. This industry demands more than creativity. It requires purpose, precision, and the kind of empathy you can’t fake.
We need people who show up with curiosity, humility, and the mindset to ask, “How does this help real patients?” and “How can I move the needle for our clients?” Our best hires aren’t just great at their jobs — they elevate the conversation. They push for clarity. They challenge respectfully.
Skills can be trained. Mindset? That’s baked in.
The cost of getting it wrong
Hiring the wrong person impacts energy, morale, credibility… you name it. One bad hire can drain your team faster than you realize. You’ll spend weeks (if not months) trying to course correct their mistakes, soothe frustrated clients, and rebuild the confidence of teammates who had to pick up the slack.
And let’s not forget the financial hit. The cost of a mis-hire can be significant when you factor in recruitment, training, lost productivity, and the inevitable “re-do.” In healthcare marketing, where deadlines are tight and stakes are high, that’s a price tag we simply can’t afford. This isn’t just about performance — it’s about trust. One off-brand message or one poorly managed project, and your agency’s reputation is on the line.
I’d rather take longer to find the right person than rush a hire and pay for it tenfold later.
Building a high-performance team in practice
Great teams don’t happen by accident. You don’t “luck” your way into a group of high performers who collaborate seamlessly, deliver under pressure, and build client trust. You build that team intentionally, thoughtfully, and with zero tolerance for mediocrity.
Get the people you want in positions they’ll thrive in by:
- Ditching generic job descriptions and writing roles that speak directly to the kind of thinkers you want — creative, curious, and data savvy.
- Looking for portfolio pieces that show guts and grit, not just gloss.
- Getting a peek into how people think by using value-based interviews and real-world scenarios. Instead of just asking about past roles, ask how they’d pitch your product or rescue a failing campaign.
- Hiring for mindset. Give more weight to the person who shows hunger, humility, and hustle than the one with a mile-long LinkedIn.
- Taking your time to get the right person; but once they’re in, set them up to fly.
Don’t sleep on team development. A high-performing team isn’t built once — it’s nurtured. That means mentorship, clear feedback, space to stretch, and opportunities to lead. The goal? Build a team that doesn’t just get the work done — but makes it smarter, stronger, and more meaningful every single time.
People first, always
At the end of the day, strategies shift, technologies evolve, and even the best-laid campaigns get rewritten. But the one constant? People. The right people are your competitive edge, your client whisperers, your crisis managers, and your biggest growth engine.
You can’t automate heart. You can’t scale brilliance without the humans behind it.
Throughout my career, I’ve learned that when you put people first, everything else gets better. The work is sharper. The team is stronger. The impact is greater. So, hire with intention. Lead with purpose. And never ever settle for “good enough” when “exceptional” is an option.
People first is not just our hiring philosophy — it’s how we win.
See excellence in action. Meet our team or connect with us.