I took last week off to do some home improvement projects. We're expecting our second child soon, which means our oldest is getting promoted out of the nursery and into his big boy bedroom. Simple enough, right?
It was not simple.
It started with replacing an overhead light fixture. Straightforward 30-minute job. Except when I got into the wall, I discovered the original cable running to the electrical box wasn't grounded. So now I'm not replacing a light fixture. I'm replacing the entire cable. A 30-minute project turned into an 8-hour project, and that kind of set the tone for the whole week.
I got a lot less done than I planned. The room isn't finished. But my son is very excited about it, which honestly makes the whole thing worth it.
I'm bringing this up because (smooth transition alert) it's a feeling a lot of healthcare marketers know well: you go to fix one thing and discover three things underneath it.
And that's the theme for this week. Here's what I've got for you:
Product updates to help you move forward (instead of taking 3 steps back)
Come to NOLA with us! Or Vegas. Or NYC
The little-known tax marketers are paying
Find your next job?
Let's get into it...
Product Update: ICYMI
We've shipped a lot lately, and two releases deserve a second look.
Freshpaint Consent Manager closes the gap that gets healthcare organizations in trouble: the difference between what a consent banner shows and what actually fires. Because it's built natively into Freshpaint, consent preferences are automatically enforced across every connected analytics and ad tool. Visitor location is detected automatically, the right state-level model is applied, and every consent event is logged for audits. No new scripts, no extra vendors, no gap.
Freshpaint Insights answers the question that follows: what are we actually getting for our spend? It turns your existing Freshpaint first-party data into real-time marketing performance intelligence. You get multi-touch attribution, full funnel visibility from impression to appointment, and unified dashboards across platforms and service lines. No manual exports, no month-old reports.
Together, they give healthcare marketing teams what's been missing: a foundation where compliance and performance aren't in tension. If you haven't seen either in action, reach out to your AM or schedule a demo →.
House Call New Orleans
House Call New Orleans is Freshpaint’s private, invite-only gathering for senior healthcare marketers ready to reset, recharge, and reimagine what’s possible in 2026. It’s where real conversations happen.
The event brings together leaders across healthcare verticals to trade playbooks, share outcomes, and uncover what’s next in data-driven growth.
You’ll dig into:
What’s driving pipeline right now
How teams are measuring impact with tighter budgets
How to turn privacy into a real performance advantage
No vendor pitches. No crowded halls. Just practical strategies you can use immediately. But spots are limited because we're keeping the event intentionally community-focused. Good news though, if you do get a spot, Freshpaint covers flights, hotel, and meals. Too good to pass up, right? Sign up now:House Call New Orleans.
House Call Miami was a reminder that healthcare marketers don't have to solve today's challenges alone. In one room, leaders shared how they're navigating tighter budgets, breaking free from "Google-only" strategies, and using privacy as a true performance enabler, not a constraint. The event brought those conversations to life, featuring real talk, new Freshpaint launches, and why getting together in person matters more than ever. 👉 Watch the Miami recap video
Exclusive Dinner in NYC
Pull up a seat with us at Le Veau d'Or, one of the Upper East Side’s most talked about spots right now.
We’re hosting a private dinner with our friends at C Squared Social and MNTN at this newly revived Manhattan classic for an intimate evening of great food and even better conversation. No panels. No presentations. Just healthcare marketing leaders around the same table, talking shop and navigating the same pressures together.
Healthcare marketing is operating in a rapidly shifting privacy environment. State laws are expanding, AI adoption is accelerating, and digital advertising practices are under scrutiny.
That's why we're hosting a live virtual fireside chat with a privacy lawyer who lives in this space every day.
Mason Fitch, special counsel at Kelley Drye, advises organizations on HIPAA and emerging state privacy statutes. He previously led privacy work in-house at a digital health company and at Meta.
Join us online as Mason opens with a quick regulatory update, then spends the bulk of the session answering your questions on digital marketing, AI, and health data use.
Here's a question worth asking: how much of your "new patient" acquisition budget is actually going to win back patients you already have?
Our latest article breaks down the "re-acquisition tax." That's the hidden cost of paying full auction prices for patients who are already in your system but defaulted back to generic search when a new care episode arose. It's one of the quiet reasons CPCs keep rising without corresponding growth.
The fix isn't abandoning paid search. It's building a multi-channel motion that creates demand before intent exists, reinforces familiarity between care episodes, and lets search do what it's actually good at: capturing preference, not making introductions.
If your payer marketing budget is mostly Google Search, our latest episode of Marketing Rounds is for you.
Ray Mina sat down with Craig Blake (Amsive Health) and Aaron Mauck (Oboe Healthcare Insights) to dig into why bottom-of-funnel overreliance is hitting a ceiling: seniors are more digitally savvy than ever, AI is eroding search behavior, and more budget into Google isn't producing proportional returns.
A few themes worth your time:
The re-acquisition tax is real. When existing members default to generic search at their next care episode, you're paying auction prices to win them back. Sound familiar?
Brand investment isn't optional. Pulling back during a windfall enrollment period might help the budget today, but the 60-year-old you're ignoring now is your Medicare prospect in five years.
AI is already here. 5% of global AI queries are healthcare-related. If you're not thinking about discoverability in AI-driven search, you're already behind.
And Craig's single piece of Q1 advice: check your year-one retention. If you're churning out the members you just acquired, more acquisition spend won't save you.
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