The State of Healthtech Marketing - Mid-Year Check-in

Over the last month, I have spoken with more than 30 health tech marketing leaders who are part of the Healthtech Marketing Network. I wanted to hear firsthand from them about how the first half of the year has gone and how they're feeling about the rest of 2026.

I was surprised by what I heard.

In this episode, I sit down with my colleague Mark Erwich, Chief Strategy Officer at Health Launchpad, to discuss what we learned.

We get into what happened in the first half of the year versus what people expected, and why almost nobody feels comfortable heading into the second half. One thing that stood out was that success is uneven. Some companies are doing better than others, and we unpack why.

We also cover some real shifts in the buying process this year: How the C-Suite is getting more involved, how expectations are changing, and changes in buying committee dynamics.

If you want a genuinely candid, no slides, no frameworks read on where healthtech marketing stands right now, this is the episode for you.

Key Topics Covered:

• "(00:00)" – Introduction
• "(01:00)" – One word to describe H1: change
• "(03:00)" – Mark's take: positive policy and funding shifts
• "(05:00)" – Where healthcare tech spending is actually shifting
• "(06:00)" – Headwinds: Medicaid uncertainty, ROI scrutiny, Epic's expanding footprint
• "(09:00)" – The bifurcating "(or trifurcating)" market
• "(12:00)" – Three shifts in the buying process
• "(14:00)" – The dynamic buying committee concept and champion enablement
• "(17:30)" – AI maturity self-assessment: most teams landing at four to five out of ten
• "(18:00)" – AI-driven lead scoring
• "(19:00)" – Mark's perspective on tracking 100+ AI marketing use cases
• "(21:00)" – The AI volume paradox: more efficient tools, harder workloads
• "(22:00)" – Health Launchpad's GTM strategy offer for H2 planning
• "(23:00)" – The direct mail renaissance
• "(25:00)" – Brand awareness at scale
• "(27:00)" – Turning happy clients into brand ambassadors
• "(28:00)" – LLM optimization and the debate over signal capture versus unique content
• "(32:00)" – Reflections on differentiation across competitors this year
• "(33:00)" – Mark's closing advice: pick one thing and do it well
• "(34:00)" – Adam's five takeaways and episode wrap-up

If you are interested in discussing this or any other topic, let's have a chat.  Reach out to me directly to schedule a no-obligation discussion. This isn't a sales call, but rather an opportunity to talk through your questions and challenges.

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