What a practice should ask before signing any marketing contract.
Marketing contracts are written by the vendor, so the defaults favor the vendor. You do not need a lawyer for the first pass. You need seven questions asked early, before a demo has a chance to set the mood. These are the seven we would put to anyone in this category, including us.
Published 2026-08-22 · a four-minute read
- 01
Do you get the full price in writing before you commit?
A vendor that makes the number hard to get is planning to price you by your ability to pay. Ask for the rate card in writing on the first call, and ask whether the number holds at renewal. A refusal is also an answer, and it tells you how every later conversation will go.
- 02
What does the contract commit you to?
Term length alone does not tell you whether a vendor is good. A monthly deal with no measurement is worse than an annual agreement with data access and clear termination terms. Read the scope, who owns the website, the content and the data, how results are measured and attributed, what the vendor is obliged to deliver, and how renewal and termination work. Then ask what leaving early would cost you, in writing.
- 03
What do you own when you leave?
Ask who owns the website, the content, the ad accounts, and the analytics when the contract ends. The good answer is simple: everything published under your practice's name belongs to your practice, in writing. If the answer takes more than a sentence, have a lawyer read that clause.
- 04
Can you inspect the work before paying?
Case studies show the best past client. A live property the vendor runs today shows the actual system. Ask for something running in public that you can open in a browser right now, and judge that instead of the deck.
- 05
Who measures the results?
If the vendor grades its own homework in a slide deck, you will never see a bad month. Ask where the raw numbers live, whether you can see them without asking, and what happens when a month is genuinely bad.
- 06
Does any of it put patient trust at risk?
Paid placement that is not labeled, review gating, and fake testimonials are enforcement risks with real settlements behind them. If a vendor proposes any of these, the risk lands on your license, and this question ends the meeting.
- 07
Who does the work each week?
Ask who writes, who publishes, and on what schedule. Then ask what ships during a slow week, and who notices when nothing does. Cadence survives on a system with named owners; a plan without them is a wish.
How we answer the same seven
We sell intelligence to practices, so hold us to this list first. Our prices are published on the pricing page, with every deliverable in writing. Billing is monthly, and you change or cancel your plan from Settings in the app. Our method runs in public at beautyvetted.com, where you can inspect it before paying us anything. And reaching a practice on beautyvetted.com is never for sale, to us or to anyone.
For the wider decision, start with how to choose practice marketing, then the deeper comparisons: vs RealSelf, vs an agency, vs in-house.
Bring all seven questions to the call.
The link is open, with no qualification first.