We’ve come back in 2025 to a swath of paid ad platform updates, from Meta’s free speech policies changes to the worldwind of the TikTok ban, and we’re not slowing down with Meta’s announcement of changes impacting health & wellness advertisers.
What Is Changing?
Meta is changing how it handles ads for health and wellness brands. Kicking off from January 2025 healthcare businesses can no longer use lower funnel optimisation events like "Purchase" or "Add to Cart" for ad delivery. This is due to Meta's new categorisation of health and wellness products as a "sensitive category" to protect user privacy. Instead, advertisers in this space will need to move higher in the funnel and rely on non-restricted events like "Landing Page Views" or "Engagement" for their campaigns.
The important thing to understand is how Meta is categorising a a health and wellness brand and who will be impacted by the change. As usual, it’s nuanced and Meta may not get it right. What they are restricting are those brands that are targeting specific medical conditions or marketing prescriptions for conditions. An example may be an advertiser who has a website for vitamins which are not specifically marketed for a medical condition, that data source may not have data sharing restrictions. However, if instead the website for vitamins was marked as treatment for arthritis it would be classed as a data source with data sharing restrictions because it is talking about a specific medical condition.
On the classifications and restrictions, the critical thing is the domains sending the signals back to Meta. So we are looking at website or app content, rather than adverts which may contain products or services. Long story short - Meta is reviewing domains, not ads, to make this judgement. Therefore, you should be looking at it the same way.
What Does it Mean for Health & Wellness Advertisers?
This change means health and wellness advertisers may see a dip in ad performance, especially for campaigns that rely on those restricted events for targeting or measurement. Advertisers impacted will need to create new campaigns with different objectives and strategies to drive business results. Industries impacted include:
- Health and Wellness Brands:Supplement companies, fitness programs, wellness products.
- Pharmaceutical and Medical Services: Telemedicine, pharmacies, healthcare providers.
- Legal Firms: Potentially personal injury law firms.
- Fitness and Lifestyle Apps: Workout, dieting, and mental health apps.
What Should They Be Doing About It?
If you are impacted by the change, first and foremost double check your claims and ensure Meta has correctly categorised your business. If so, consider the below:
- Shift to Non-Restricted Events: Focus on events like "Landing Page Views," "Search," "ViewContent," or "App Install" for targeting and optimisation of your ads.
- Review Restricted Events: Identify restricted events and find alternative standard events that align with business goals.
- Make adjustments to your reporting methodology that uses non-restricted events as leading indicators to what was previously achieved.
- Avoid Workarounds: Don't create custom events that mimic restricted ones.
How Can Reload Help?
- Expert Guidance: We can help you navigate these changes and develop new strategies to maintain ad performance.
- Campaign Optimisation: We can optimise your campaigns for non-restricted events to ensure continued effectiveness.
- Account Review and Support: We can help you review your account categorization and request a review from Meta if needed.
- Stay Ahead of the Curve: We'll keep you informed about any further updates or changes to Meta's policies.