Business
In this episode of E-Coffee with Experts, host Ranmay Rathod sits down with Stewart Gandolf, CEO at Healthcare Success Agency, a top marketing agency serving hospitals, providers, SaaS, and healthtech companies, to unpack his 20+ year journey in healthcare marketing.
Stewart shares how he accidentally fell into marketing after starting as an engineering student, and how he went on to dominate the healthcare niche long before SEO and Google Ads were mainstream. He reveals the early mistakes that almost crushed the agency, like hiring based on friendship, scaling with freelancers, and ignoring operations.
You’ll also hear Stewart’s honest take on where AI fits into healthcare marketing, why podcasting is a powerful trust builder, and what most healthcare CEOs still misunderstand about investing in growth.
He breaks down the shift toward brand authority, reputation, and digital PR as key SEO strategies in a world ruled by zero-click search and Google’s AI overviews.
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In this episode, we discuss:
00:00 - 02:00: From engineer to agency CEO
02:00 - 03:15: Why he chose healthcare marketing
03:15 - 04:50: How Healthcare Success got started
04:50 - 06:20: Winning early with SEO and Google Ads
06:20 - 07:30: Life before “digital marketing” was mainstream
07:30 - 08:50: Scaling with freelancers, no office, no systems
08:50 - 10:10: First big mistakes and learning operations the hard way
10:10 - 11:40: The power of niching down in healthcare
11:40 - 13:00: What healthcare CEOs still misunderstand about marketing
13:00 - 14:10: The HIPAA and compliance marketing challenge
14:10 - 15:20: Why healthcare is afraid of real marketing investment
15:20 - 16:30: Using podcasting to build brand trust
16:30 - 17:45: Turning relationships into real business through content
17:45 - 19:10: How AI is changing healthcare marketing today
19:10 - 20:25: Google AI Overviews and the future of SEO
20:25 - 21:30: Why brand-building matters more than ever
21:30 - 22:30: Advice for new agency owners
22:30 - 23:14: Final thoughts
Connect with Stewart Gandolf
https://www.linkedin.com/in/stewartgandolf/
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