5 Reasons Not to Cut Your Healthcare & Life Sciences MarCom Budget

Across APAC, many marketing leaders in healthcare and life sciences face budget cuts as planning cycles return. MarCom (marketing communications) is often seen as an easy area to trim, especially in cost-sensitive, regulated sectors. However, this can come with long-term consequences.

Trust, education, and sustained engagement are key to success in healthcare. Cutting your communications budget now may save costs short-term, but it can damage brand trust, reduce visibility, and slow down future growth. Already, marketing budgets in the healthcare sector have dropped from 9.6% of revenue in 2023 to 7.2% in 2024. Going any further may do more harm than good.

Here are five compelling reasons why keeping your MarCom budget is a strategic investment, not just an expense.

1. Trust and Reputation Are On the Line

In healthcare, trust isn’t optional—it’s critical. Patients, doctors, and partners rely on consistent, clear communication from brands. It shows your expertise, empathy, and commitment to transparency.

When communications go silent, it sends the wrong message. People may assume something is wrong or look elsewhere for guidance. During the pandemic, 51% of vaccine-related social media posts contained misinformation. The brands that kept communicating with facts and clarity were seen as trustworthy and reliable, and their reputations improved.

When you maintain regular outreach—like webinars, articles, or patient education—you help fight misinformation and keep your brand top-of-mind. It builds goodwill and reinforces your credibility.

Trust also translates into real results. Patients are more likely to follow treatment plans from brands they trust. Happy customers share their experiences, giving you free word-of-mouth marketing. Lose that trust, and you may lose loyal customers—and pay more to win them back later.

2. Communications Drive Sales—Even Before Sales Start

Marketing communications are critical in both B2B and B2C healthcare sales. Buyers do their research long before talking to your sales team. In B2B, around 70% of the purchasing journey is completed before the buyer speaks with sales. And 81% of buyers already know which vendor they prefer before that first call.

What influences them during this “silent” stage? Your content—like whitepapers, case studies, event talks, or LinkedIn thought leadership. Without it, your brand may not even be considered.

In B2C, the same applies. About 65% of patients search online before contacting a clinic or doctor. They look up symptoms, treatment options, and provider reviews. If your brand isn’t visible, they may choose someone else simply because they found more helpful information.

For example, a biotech company regularly sharing disease explainers can earn patient trust before any medical visit. A hospital publishing community health content becomes top of mind when families seek care.

Each article, video, or social media post acts as a 24/7 digital salesperson, warming up leads and building familiarity. Cutting this off can extend sales cycles—or remove you from the decision-making process entirely.

3. ROI Is Too Strong to Ignore

Healthcare marketing delivers real ROI when done right. During the last economic downturn, brands that maintained or increased marketing saw stronger returns, while those that cut budgets saw up to 18% declines in sales. Two-thirds of those sales losses were due to reduced marketing, not a lack of demand.

In pharma, regular patient education helps improve medication adherence, leading to better outcomes and repeat prescriptions. For MedTech or SaaS companies, educational webinars for doctors can speed up the adoption of new tools, improving the return on R&D investments.

To convince your leadership team, track metrics like:

• Lead conversion rates

• Patient acquisition costs

• Customer lifetime value

• Engagement and retention data

  
  

If some channels underperform, optimize them. But don’t cut MarCom altogether. Even modest, targeted investments in communication drive long-term growth, and protect brand equity that’s expensive to rebuild.

4. Going Silent Gives Competitors an Advantage

If you stop talking, others will take your place. Your share of voice directly affects your share of market. And in a fast-moving region like APAC, silence can set you back quickly.

Recent surveys show that nearly half of healthcare marketers in 2024 plan to increase their budgets, not cut them. Companies that maintain visibility during slowdowns often gain long-term market share. Take this example: Two pharma companies launch similar therapies. Company A invests in doctor education, patient campaigns, and public relations. Company B cuts back to save costs. Six months later, Company A is top of mind with stakeholders. Company B fades from memory—and must spend even more to rebuild trust and visibility. Once brand awareness drops, it’s hard and expensive to win it back.

Ongoing communication also keeps you relevant in a fast-changing space. You might miss partnership or funding opportunities simply because stakeholders aren’t aware of your work. Staying active ensures you're part of key conversations—and part of the future market.

5. You Can Spend Smarter Instead of Cutting

Keeping your MarCom budget doesn’t mean you can’t be more efficient. Many mid-sized healthcare companies in APAC are turning to specialized, agile partners like Rushes Group to reduce costs and increase impact.

Rather than hiring full in-house teams or big agencies, outsource to lean experts who understand healthcare and deliver quality at scale. This converts fixed costs into flexible ones and ensures high ROI without overspending.

Focus on digital tools that stretch your budget:

• SEO content that keeps delivering traffic

• Email newsletters with high open rates

• Webinars targeted at healthcare professionals

• Programmatic ads that reach specific patient or provider groups

  
  

Digital now accounts for over 72% of healthcare ad spend—because it’s measurable, scalable, and cost-efficient.

Repurpose content to extend its value. A single expert interview can be turned into a blog, social post, and webinar clip. Localize successful materials for different APAC markets instead of creating from scratch each time.

In short, it’s about spending better, not more. A smart, lean communications plan helps you stay active, even when budgets are tight.

Conclusion

Marketing communications in healthcare and life sciences aren’t just “nice to have.” It’s a strategic asset. Cutting it might save in the short term, but the long-term costs—lost trust, lower visibility, reduced sales—can far outweigh the savings.

Instead of pulling back, shift to smarter strategies. Use data to guide spend. Partner with experts who know the industry. Focus on high-impact, high-ROI channels.

Staying present ensures that when your audience is ready, they remember you. In this trust-driven industry, communication is not optional—it’s essential.

Consistency isn’t just about brand awareness—it’s about brand survival.