How should a fertility clinic write a marketing agency RFP?
A fertility clinic should write a marketing agency RFP in eight parts: clinic background, goals, scope by service line, a budget range, compliance requirements, weighted evaluation criteria, a timeline, and a fixed set of questions every agency must answer. Asking the same questions of each agency is what makes the proposals comparable. The compliance section does most of the filtering.
- Describe the clinic, not just the wish list: sites, service lines, current lead flow, intake process and what has and has not worked.
- Put compliance in the RFP itself: a signed BAA, HIPAA-safe tracking, clinic approval of success-rate claims, and no review buying or gating.
- Set your own scoring weights before proposals arrive, so the most polished pitch does not win by default.
- Ask for a sample monthly report and a handover plan. They show more about an agency than any case study slide.
- Every practice welcome — retainers from $499/mo, Goals-Driven engagements, Performance-Linked Payout Models available.
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“They were able to get all my ideas and work with me over a period of three to four months and create this amazing website. It's super customized, very modern, and it incorporates all the elements that I had wanted — the patient portal, nice pictures, a very interactive website, patient reviews. I would highly recommend their company to anyone who wants to make an excellent website.”
Does a fertility clinic need a formal RFP to hire an agency?
A formal RFP is worth the effort when a fertility clinic is spending real money on ads, running more than one site, or replacing an agency that disappointed. It forces the clinic to define goals and compliance needs first. It also gives every agency the same brief, so proposals can be compared line by line.
A smaller clinic can use a shorter version: two pages, the same headings, and a call with each shortlisted agency. The structure matters more than the length. Without it, each agency pitches what it sells best, and you end up comparing an SEO proposal against a paid-social proposal against a website rebuild.
Fertility adds pressure that general practices do not face. Patients research for months, compare clinics on outcomes and cost, and share deeply private information on intake forms. An agency that is excellent at retail lead generation can still be a poor fit. The RFP is where you find that out, cheaply, before a contract.
If you have not yet decided between an agency and an in-house hire, read fertility marketing agency vs in-house first. The RFP assumes the agency route.
What sections should a fertility marketing RFP include?
A fertility marketing RFP should include eight sections: background, goals, scope, budget, compliance, evaluation criteria, timeline and required questions. Each section should be specific enough that two agencies reading it would propose comparable work. Leave the budget figure for the clinic to fill in, but always give a range.
| Section | What to include | Fertility-specific detail |
|---|---|---|
| Background | Clinic history, sites, physicians, current marketing and agency history | Service lines offered; satellite offices; partner OB-GYN and urology referral sources |
| Goals | What success looks like in 6 and 12 months | Booked new-patient consults by service line, not total leads |
| Scope | Channels and deliverables you want proposed | Which of IVF, egg freezing, IUI, PGT, LGBTQ+ family building, donor recruitment and second opinions are in scope |
| Budget | Management fee range and ad budget range, filled in by the clinic | Whether donor recruitment has its own budget line |
| Compliance | Mandatory requirements, pass or fail | BAA, HIPAA-safe tracking, claims approval, consent for patient stories |
| Evaluation | Criteria and the weight you give each | Weights set by the clinic before reading proposals |
| Timeline | Issue date, questions deadline, due date, presentations, decision, start | Avoid a start date during a site launch or EMR change |
| Questions | A fixed list every agency must answer in order | See the copy-ready list below |
Share real numbers in the background section if you can: monthly inquiries, consult bookings and current cost per consult. Agencies propose better plans when they can see the starting point. Ask them to keep it confidential.
What does a copy-ready fertility clinic RFP outline look like?
Copy the outline below into a document and fill in each bracket. Keep the numbered questions exactly as written for every agency. Ask for answers in the same order, under the same numbers, so your team can score responses side by side without hunting through slide decks.
- About [clinic name]. Sites: [list]. Physicians: [number]. Service lines: [list]. Patient mix: [insured, self-pay, employer-benefit]. Current agency or in-house setup: [describe].
- Goals. In 12 months we want [booked new-patient consults per month] across [service lines], at a cost per booked consult of [target], with [specific priority, such as growing egg freezing or a new satellite office].
- Scope. Please propose work across [search, Google Ads, Meta, Google Business Profile, website and CRO, content, email nurture, reviews, donor recruitment]. Say clearly what is excluded.
- Budget. Management fee range: [buyer to fill]. Monthly ad budget range: [buyer to fill]. Ad spend will be billed to accounts we own.
- Mandatory requirements. Listed in the compliance section below. A proposal that does not meet them will not be scored.
- Required questions.
- Which fertility service lines have you marketed, and what did you measure?
- Who would work on our account, and how much of their time is ours?
- How do you track conversions without placing ad pixels on intake or consult-request pages?
- How do you handle success-rate claims, and who approves them?
- How would you handle our long decision cycle in nurture and reporting?
- What does your monthly report look like? Attach a redacted sample.
- What happens to our accounts, content and phone numbers if we leave?
- What is your pricing model, and what is billed on top?
- Format and deadline. Proposals due [date] to [contact]. Questions by [date]. Shortlisted agencies present on [dates].
Once you have picked an agency, the fertility agency contract checklist turns these answers into enforceable clauses.
Which compliance requirements belong in a fertility marketing RFP?
Make compliance a pass-or-fail gate, not a scored item. Every agency should confirm it will sign a Business Associate Agreement, keep advertising pixels off intake and portal pages, route every success-rate and clinical claim to the clinic for approval, and never buy, fake or gate reviews. Ask them to describe how, not just agree.
Mandatory requirements to paste in
- BAA. The agency signs a BAA before handling any protected health information, and lists the tools and subcontractors that will touch it. HIPAA sets the required contract terms in 45 CFR § 164.504(e).
- Tracking. The agency explains its HIPAA-safe conversion setup. OCR's online tracking guidance still covers authenticated pages such as patient portals after a June 2024 federal court ruling narrowed it for some public pages.
- Success-rate claims. Any figure must be clinic-approved, sourced and dated. Clinics report ART outcomes to the CDC under the Fertility Clinic Success Rate and Certification Act of 1992, and ASRM expects advertised rates to be accurate, comparable and not misleading.
- Reviews and testimonials. No fake, bought or insider reviews, and no suppression of negative ones, in line with the FTC rule on fake reviews and testimonials.
- Consent. Patient stories, photos and texts used only with documented written consent, and marketing texts only with prior express written consent.
- Ad platform policy. Familiarity with Google and Meta restrictions on health-related targeting.
Clinics in states with fertility coverage laws can also ask how the agency would present insurance and self-pay options. Our state-by-state fertility insurance overview is a useful starting point. None of this is legal advice; confirm with your counsel.
How should a fertility clinic score agency proposals?
Score only the proposals that pass the compliance gate. Set the weights before you open them, have at least two people score each one independently, then compare. A simple 1-to-5 score per criterion, multiplied by its weight, gives a total you can defend to partners or a board.
| Criterion | What a strong answer shows | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| Fertility understanding | Knows the decision cycle, service lines, referral sources and claim rules | [set by clinic] |
| Strategy fit | A plan built from your background data, not a stock package | [set by clinic] |
| Measurement | Reports booked consults and cost per consult by service line, with HIPAA-safe tracking | [set by clinic] |
| Team | Named people, realistic hours, clear escalation | [set by clinic] |
| Commercial terms | Transparent fees, ad spend in your accounts, short notice period | [set by clinic] |
| Ownership and exit | Clinic owns all accounts; written handover plan | [set by clinic] |
Warning signs in a response
- Guaranteed rankings, patient numbers or pregnancies.
- Success rates quoted in sample ads with no source.
- A report sample that shows only clicks and impressions.
- Vague answers to the tracking question.
Checking references and presentations
Ask each shortlisted agency for references from healthcare clients, ideally clinics with a long consult cycle. Ask those references three things: how quickly problems were raised, whether reports matched what the front desk saw, and how the last handover went if they ever changed agencies. In presentations, insist that the people who will run your account attend, not only the sales lead. Give them one live scenario to work through, such as a satellite office opening in a new city or a sudden drop in egg freezing inquiries. How they reason in the room tells you more than a rehearsed deck. Write scores down before the group discussion, so the loudest opinion does not reset everyone else's.
Price should rarely be the deciding factor. A cheaper plan that cannot show booked consults costs more over a year. The guide to choosing a fertility marketing agency has more questions to use in presentations.
What timeline should a fertility clinic RFP follow?
Most clinics can run a fertility marketing RFP in four to eight weeks: one week to write it, two to three weeks for agencies to respond, one to two weeks for scoring and presentations, and a week to negotiate the contract. Build in time for your counsel to review the BAA.
- Week one: agree goals, budget range and scoring weights internally. Send the RFP to a short list of agencies.
- Weeks two to four: answer agency questions in one shared document, so everyone gets the same information.
- Weeks four to six: score responses, invite the top two or three to present, and check references.
- Weeks six to eight: negotiate the contract and BAA, then plan onboarding.
Try not to start the new agency in the same month as a site launch, EMR change or physician departure. The first weeks need clean data and staff attention. Our page on the first 90 days with a new agency covers what comes next. If you would like Ichelon Consulting US to respond to your RFP, book a call with the US team, or read more on our fertility and IVF marketing agency page.
Related pages from the US team
Fertility & IVF marketing agency USA
How Ichelon Consulting US scopes and runs fertility clinic accounts.
How to choose a fertility agency
More questions to ask in agency presentations.
Fertility agency contract checklist
Turn RFP answers into contract clauses.
Fertility marketing self-audit
Audit your current marketing before you write the brief.
Every practice welcome — Goals-Driven engagements from $499/mo
We benchmark your last 90 days, agree monthly goals with you, and track them live on Ichelon Agency OS with a report every Monday. Performance-Linked Payout Models are available. Our US leadership is based in Dallas, and strategy calls run in US business hours.
Common questions
What should a fertility clinic include in a marketing agency RFP?
A fertility clinic marketing RFP should include clinic background, goals, scope by service line, a budget range, mandatory compliance requirements, weighted evaluation criteria, a timeline and a fixed list of questions. The compliance section should require a BAA, HIPAA-safe tracking and clinic approval of success-rate claims. Asking every agency the same questions makes their proposals comparable.
Should a fertility clinic share its budget in an RFP?
Yes, share a range for the management fee and the ad budget. Without one, agencies guess, and proposals swing from too small to unaffordable. A range lets each agency show what it would do at your level of spend. State that ad spend will be billed to accounts the clinic owns, so management fees and media costs stay separate.
How long does a fertility marketing agency RFP take?
A fertility clinic can usually run a marketing agency RFP in four to eight weeks. That covers writing the RFP, two to three weeks for responses, scoring and presentations, and negotiating the contract and Business Associate Agreement. Avoid starting the new agency during a website launch, EMR change or physician departure, because onboarding needs clean data and staff time.
How should fertility clinics score agency proposals?
Score only proposals that pass the compliance gate, using criteria and weights set before reading them. Typical criteria are fertility understanding, strategy fit, measurement, team, commercial terms, and ownership and exit. Have two people score each proposal independently on a 1-to-5 scale, multiply by the weights, then discuss any large differences before shortlisting.
What compliance questions should a fertility RFP ask agencies?
A fertility RFP should ask whether the agency will sign a Business Associate Agreement, how it tracks conversions without ad pixels on intake or portal pages, who approves success-rate claims and how figures are sourced, how it handles patient consent for stories and texts, and whether it has ever bought or gated reviews. Ask for a description, not a yes.
A note on this guide: it explains marketing practice, not legal advice. Rules on privacy, advertising and insurance change and vary by state, so confirm anything compliance-related with your own counsel.
Writing a fertility marketing RFP?
Book a 30-minute call with the US team. We'll review your draft brief, suggest the compliance questions worth adding, and respond to your RFP if you'd like us to.