A good physical therapy marketing agency can tell you, every month, how many evaluations its work produced and which physicians are sending more patients. A weak one sends a dashboard of clicks and impressions. This guide is for PT owners comparing agencies, including the marketing bundled with some EMR software. It covers what agencies sell, the questions only a PT clinic needs to ask, the reports to demand, pricing models and red flags, and when an agency isn't the right answer.
Demand on the buyer side is small: about 40 US searches a month for "physical therapy marketing agency" (CPC $22.36) and 170 for "physical therapy marketing" ($36.54) (Google Ads Keyword Planner data via DataForSEO, US, 12-month average to Sep 2026). Most clinic owners find agencies through referrals, conferences and their software vendors, so do your own checking.
What PT marketing agencies typically sell
Most packages combine some of these:
| Service | What you should get | What often happens |
|---|---|---|
| Website | A page per condition, service and location | A template with services in one paragraph |
| Local SEO | Accurate Google listings, reviews, location pages | Citation listings and monthly "rank reports" |
| Content | Condition articles reviewed by a PT | Generic posts nobody on your team approved |
| Google Ads | Campaigns by service and payer, negatives for PT jobs | One broad campaign on "physical therapy" |
| Meta ads | Workshops, screens and cash programs | Condition-callout ads that break Meta policy |
| Reputation and email | Requests and newsletters to patients | Often bundled with EMR software |
| Physician outreach | Rarely offered | Left to the clinic |
What good looks like
A strong agency treats your clinic as two businesses: one fed by physician referrals, one fed by patients searching directly. It knows your state's direct-access rules, writes condition pages a PT would sign off on, keeps patient data in systems covered by a business associate agreement (BAA), and reports in evaluations. Our physical therapy marketing hub explains both engines.
Questions specific to physical therapy
Generic agency checklists miss what makes PT different. Ask these in the first call.
Evaluation checklist
- Direct access. "How would you word our ads for our state?" APTA says all states allow provisional or unrestricted direct access (opens in a new tab), but conditions vary. A good answer mentions your state's limits and payer referral rules.
- Referral sources. "What will you do, or not do, with referring physicians?" Anything of value to a referral source can fall under the Anti-Kickback Statute (opens in a new tab), which bans paying or receiving "anything of value" to induce or reward federal health care program referrals. CMS lists physical therapy among the designated health services (opens in a new tab) covered by the physician self-referral (Stark) law. An agency that proposes gift baskets for referring offices hasn't thought about this.
- Free screens and Medicare. "How do you handle free offers to seniors?" The OIG's nominal-value limits (opens in a new tab) for gifts to Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries are $15 per item and $75 a year, never cash or cash equivalents.
- BAA. "Will you sign a BAA for forms, CRM and any call recordings?" Under 45 CFR 164.502(e) (opens in a new tab), you may let a business associate handle PHI only with satisfactory written assurances that it will safeguard it.
- Meta policy. "Show me three ads you've run for a PT clinic." Check them against Meta's personal attributes policy (opens in a new tab), which bars copy implying the reader has a health condition. See our guide to PT Facebook ads for policy-safe examples.
- Clinical review. "Who reviews condition content before it goes live?" The answer should be a licensed PT on your team.
- Ownership. "Whose name is on the domain, Google Ads account, Meta ad account and analytics?" Yours, every time.
This is general information, not legal advice. Confirm how it applies to your practice with a qualified advisor.
Reporting that matters: evaluations booked and referral sources
Leads aren't the goal. A form request that never books, or a booked evaluation that doesn't arrive, costs you staff time. Ask for a monthly report built around these:
| Metric | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Evaluations booked by channel (Google listing, organic, ads, referrals) | Shows which engine is working |
| Evaluations attended | Filters out no-shows and duplicates |
| New physician referrals by source | Tracks the referral engine separately |
| Calls, direction requests and website clicks from each Google listing | The bulk of self-referred demand starts here |
| Ad spend and cost per attended evaluation | The only cost figure that matters |
| What changed this month and why | Accountability for the plan |
Getting this right needs your front desk to record "how did you hear about us" and the referring provider for every new patient, and the agency to connect form and booking clicks to channels. If an agency can't explain how it will match spend to evaluations, the reports won't improve later.
Set a baseline before you sign
Write down the last three months before any agency starts: new evaluations by source (physician name, Google, website, word of mouth), calls and direction requests from each Google listing, and your current ad spend. Then agree on a 90-day check-in against those numbers. A clinic that knows it booked, say, 40 self-referred evaluations a month before the contract (a hypothetical figure) can judge month four honestly. Without a baseline, every report looks like progress.
Pricing models and contract red flags
Common pricing models
- Monthly retainer: a fixed fee for an agreed scope. Simple, but check what's actually included each month.
- Ad management fee: flat or a percentage of ad spend. Percentage fees reward spending more, so set a ceiling.
- Project fee: for a website build or redesign, sometimes with a separate hosting and maintenance fee.
- Pay per lead: you pay for each form or call. Define a lead tightly, or you'll pay for spam and existing patients.
- Pay per new patient: sounds aligned, but per-patient payments tied to federal program patients can raise Anti-Kickback questions. Ask counsel before signing.
What drives the cost
The number of locations, how many services get their own pages and campaigns, whether content is written and clinically reviewed for you, ad budget size and channel count, and how much reporting integration is needed with your EMR or scheduler.
Red flags
- Promised new-patient numbers or page-one rankings.
- The agency owns your domain, ad accounts or website code.
- Long contracts with early-termination fees and no performance exit.
- No BAA for forms or CRM, or "we don't need one."
- Pixels on patient forms, or patient lists uploaded to ad platforms.
- Reports with no evaluation counts.
- Ad spend billed through the agency with an undisclosed markup.
Agency vs platform vs in-house
| Option | Best for | Trade-offs |
|---|---|---|
| Full-service agency | Multi-location groups wanting hands-off execution | Highest cost; quality varies by account manager |
| EMR-bundled marketing | Clinics wanting patient communications tied to the EMR | Website and accounts may not leave with you |
| Software platform | Owners who want the work done and the numbers visible | Less custom strategy; you still handle physician outreach |
| In-house marketer | Larger clinics with steady budgets | Salary plus tools; one person can't cover every skill |
Our guides to healthcare marketing agencies and agency vs in-house marketing go deeper on each.
Where Medfy fits
Medfy is a software platform, not an agency. The base plan is $349/month and includes your website rebuilt on your own domain with a page per service (see PT clinic websites), automated SEO with weekly articles drafted from MedlinePlus and PubMed for your approval, AI visibility tracking across ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Perplexity and Google AI Overviews, first-party analytics for calls, forms, booking clicks and directions, an AI CMO dashboard with leads by source, and a patient CRM. Add-ons: Google Ads management $199/month, Meta ads + AI creatives $199/month and a HIPAA AI chat widget $49/month. Ad spend is paid directly to Google and Meta, never marked up. Billing is monthly and you can cancel anytime. Medfy signs a BAA with every practice.
Medfy doesn't do physician outreach, review requests, email or texting, or organic social posting. Many clinics pair it with their own referral work. See Medfy pricing, and get a free audit before you hire anyone, so you have a baseline to measure them against.
Frequently asked questions
How much does a physical therapy marketing agency cost?
It depends on the model: a monthly retainer, a management fee on top of ad spend (flat or a percentage), project fees for a website, or pay-per-lead pricing. Get quotes that separate the agency's fee from ad spend and one-time setup. Compare the total monthly cost with evaluations booked, and be wary of per-patient fees for Medicare patients, which can raise Anti-Kickback questions.
What should a PT marketing agency report every month?
Evaluations booked and attended by channel, new physician referrals by source, calls and form requests from your Google listing and website, ad spend and cost per evaluation, and what changed during the month and why. Clicks, impressions and follower counts belong in an appendix. If a report can't connect spend to evaluations, ask the agency to fix tracking before the next invoice.
Should my EMR vendor run my clinic's marketing?
It can make sense for tasks that need EMR data, such as discharge follow-up, if the vendor's BAA covers them. For your website, Google listing and ads, check who owns the domain and accounts, whether you can leave without losing the site, and whether reporting shows evaluations by channel. Bundled marketing is convenient, but switching EMRs shouldn't cost you your website.