The Ultimate Checklist for Hiring a Digital Agency in a Regulated Industry
What to Look For, What to Avoid, and How to Protect Your Budget and Brand
If you're in biotech, pharma, fintech, health tech, or enterprise SaaS, hiring a digital agency is about getting results and avoiding risk. Your marketing needs to perform, but it also needs to comply with regulations, speak to technical audiences, and support long sales cycles or investor expectations.
Most generalist agencies can't handle that. And if you're preparing for growth or fundraising, you need an agency that understands your space.
This post walks you through a detailed checklist to evaluate your agency options. So you can confidently hire, avoid common mistakes, and move faster.
Download The Ultimate Checklist for Hiring a Digital Agency in a Regulated Industry
Why Regulated Companies Need a Different Kind of Agency
A typical digital agency focuses on traffic, leads, and ad performance. And while those metrics matter, they're not enough when:
- Your product is under FDA, HIPAA, or GDPR oversight
- Investors or compliance teams must approve the marketing
- Your buyer is a technical decision-maker (not a casual shopper)
- The sales cycle involves multiple stakeholders and long timelines
If your agency doesn't understand these dynamics, you'll waste time, go over the budget, and risk platform or legal issues.
Who This Checklist Is For
- Biotech and pharma startups preparing for trials or funding
- Fintech platforms navigating strict advertising policies
- Healthtech products with HIPAA concerns or multi-audience platforms
- Enterprise SaaS teams selling to informed technical buyers
- VC-backed founders with limited internal marketing resources
Download the checklist and read this guide If your company requires both speed and precision.
The Agency Hiring Checklist
Use this list during RFPs, sales calls, or internal evaluations.
1. They Understand Your Industry's Language
- Do they know the difference between an investigator brochure and an explainer page?
- Can they speak to both scientists and investors?
- Have they published compliant content before?
An agency should make your offer more straightforward—not more confusing.
2. They've Navigated Compliance Requirements Before
- Can you show examples of HIPAA-/ADA-/FDA-aware builds?
- How do you handle consent, disclaimers, and data privacy in UX?
- What happens if the content gets flagged on Google or LinkedIn?
If the agency sidesteps compliance questions, that's your answer.
3. They Prioritize Systems, Not One-Off Tactics
- Funnel alignment across services (ads, content, SEO)
- Reusable frameworks: messaging architecture, CMS modules, compliance review workflows
- Strategic guidelines—not just implementation plans
You're not hiring for random blog posts or ad copy. You're hiring to build a system that scales.
4. They Measure Business Impact, Not Just Marketing KPIs
Standard metrics that don't matter: impressions, reach, followers.
What actually matters:
- Cost per qualified lead
- Pipeline contribution (MQL/SQL)
- Time on site and lead quality
- Regulatory readiness
- Landing page performance
Ask: "How do you report on ROI for complex sales or investor cycles?"
5. They Build for Review Cycles and Stakeholder Input
- Version control and tracked changes
- Documentation for legal/compliance approval
- Flexible formats (Notion, Google Docs, review dashboards)
If your content needs approval from legal, clinical, or investor teams, fast revisions and version clarity are essential.
Credentials and Certifications to Look For
- HIPAA-aware teams trained in data handling or UX for healthtech
- ADA accessibility experience (WCAG 2.1 standards)
- Familiarity with FDA digital communication guidelines
- Google Partner status for PPC compliance confidence
- GDPR/CCPA platform experience for global privacy regulations
Even if certifications aren't publicly displayed, ask them how these frameworks influence their builds, review cycles, or audit workflows.
Mistakes to Avoid When Hiring a Digital Agency
Mistake 1: Prioritizing Cost Over Fit
Yes, budgets matter—but neglecting quality here can cost you more later.
A $3K/month generalist agency may deliver vague blog posts or non-compliant ads that must be redone. A focused team at $6K/month may cut time-to-impact in half and reduce compliance risk.
Mistake 2: Hiring a Creative-First Agency with No Strategy Arm
You need precision. A landing page that confuses your investor or gets your ad disapproved is not an achievement. You need a team that understands product, sales, and compliance all at the same time.
Mistake 3: Expecting Results Without Integration
There will be obstacles if your agency doesn't integrate with its CRM, CMS, or analytics tools. Disconnected systems lead to bad data, slower insights, and more meetings to "figure out what's working."
Look for an agency familiar with RevOps, HubSpot, GA4, Surfer SEO, and platform data reviews.
Questions to Ask in Your First Call
Use these to qualify any agency you're considering:
1. "Can you walk me through an example of a regulated campaign you've executed?"
Look for real answers, not hypotheticals.
2. "How do you ensure HIPAA, GDPR, or FDA compliance during strategy or builds?"
Ask them to show their process—not just say, "We're aware."
3. "What happens after onboarding? Who owns what?"
The best agencies will have a kickoff structure, ownership plan, and delivery cadence mapped out.
4. "How do you measure what's working?"
Listen for answers tied to pipeline, conversion, or business growth—not impressions and likes.
5. "Can you integrate with our internal team or tools?"
If they say yes, ask how. Platform knowledge matters.
How to Evaluate Work Without Breaking NDAs
Many top-performing agencies can't publish complete client portfolios due to confidentiality—especially in pre-launch biotech or fintech. But they should still be able to:
- Share anonymized results or audit dashboards
- Walk through redacted strategy decks
- Provide compliance frameworks they've applied
- Describe how they worked with legal teams or investor relations
- Offer a hypothetical project walkthrough based on your industry
If they can't do any of that? Proceed with caution.
Warning Signs the Agency Isn't a Fit
- Vague language about compliance (e.g., "We're familiar with regulations" without specifics)
- confusing HIPAA with FDA or GDPR with CCPA
- Avoidance talking about ad approvals or compliance risks altogether
- Asking you how compliance works instead of demonstrating an understanding
- Promising unrealistic timelines without accounting for legal review
The best agencies should make your job easier—not require you to teach them how your industry works.
What an Ideal Digital Partner Brings
Results You Should Expect
An excellent agency for regulated or technical industries should be able to show:
- Growth in high-intent traffic and qualified leads
- Reduction in time spent managing marketing internally
- Clear pathways for compliance-safe campaign review
- Better investor readiness (messaging, assets, positioning)
- A more substantial digital impression that builds over time
And it should all happen with less managing, fewer revision cycles, and awesome strategic support.
What to Do Next
If you're evaluating digital agencies right now, download this checklist, or send it to every agency you're talking to—and see how they respond.
But if you're ready to build a system—not just get deliverables—we'll help you define goals, find gaps, and get started fast.
We help regulated and complex brands create digital systems that work.
From biotech SEO to fintech PPC and investor-focused web builds—everything we do supports your goals with precision and compliance in mind.
