Five Years Of Pivots, Proof, And The Ultimate Expansion
How Suade supported Care First through uncertainty, transformation, and sustained growth.
By Erin Ashby / July 17, 2025
Planting Roots In Liberty Hill
In 2017, two small companies opened their doors in Liberty Hill, Texas—Care First Clinic and Suade Marketing.
Unbeknownst to us at the time, we had been eyeing each other with mutual curiosity, watching as the other took root in the community. In 2019, we made it official: Suade would handle all things marketing for Care First.
From Startup To Steady Growth
We hit the ground running—launching a pop-up clinic initiative in nearby communities, creating geotargeted Google search ads, managing their website and social media, and building a drip email campaign to onboard new patients.
Within a few months, the impact was clear: more qualified calls from Google Ads with <25% CTR, a 40% increase in organic reach on social media, and an impressive 40–50% open rate on their new email campaign.
Then, COVID hit.
“Within a few months, the impact was clear…Then, COVID hit.”
When The Plan Became Survival
Overnight, everything changed. Every carefully laid plan was tossed aside. The content calendar? Gone.
The rest of the year became a masterclass in pivoting—how fast, how often, and with how little notice.
Our “marketing plan” became change management and crisis communication. Everyone had to stay agile, navigating shifting protocols, community needs, and the resulting ripple effects on operations, patient volume, and revenue.
Care First became a trusted local voice for health updates—sharing screening requirements, operational changes, and evolving protocols through social media and a new landing page. By year’s end, Care First had implemented triage rooms, partitions, outdoor screenings, carside service, and telehealth. In the aftermath, only telehealth and a streamlined triage system remained permanent.
Growth Mode: Scaling With Intention
But even when the dust had settled, “taking it easy” has never been part of Care First’s ethos. The owner soon found even more ways to live up to their new motto: More Options. Better Healthcare.
The clinic soon expanded into the suite next door. At one point, I asked the owner if it would be fair to say Suade had contributed to 50% year-over-year growth. Her reply: a firm “yes.”
Over the years, Suade has produced newspaper ads, Google campaigns, testimonial videos, in-clinic TV footage, a self-published cookbook with locally crowdsourced recipes, signage, brochures, flyers, business cards, loyalty cards, ebooks, and educational handouts—and more than a few website revisions along the way.
Bigger Space. Broader Mission.
By 2023, the clinic was busting at the seams, ready for an even bigger expansion—and in the summer of 2024, we celebrated the grand opening of their new, custom-built clinic with more than twice the capacity of the original.
Within six months, their IV hydration suite, Hydration Haven, was up and running. Six months after that, they expanded their hours to meet growing demand. And in 2025, we launched the new Care First Clinic supplement line.
Navigating Change, Building Resilience, And A Foundation For The Future
Together, we have navigated an epidemic, the addition and loss of medical providers, legislative changes, the digitizing of medical records and patient care systems, an evolving brand, the growing demands on a CEO, some necessary boundaries, and an ever-expanding mission.
It’s here that our stories begin to diverge. 2025 has brought big changes for many. But with a solid foundation, a loyal patient base, and a strong internal team, Care First is positioned to meet the moment—and it’s been our absolute pleasure to help support that growth.