Written By Jack Woods | 12/02/24
If you’re running a health and wellness brand, there’s an urgent shift happening in digital advertising that you can’t afford to ignore.
Meta (AKA Facebook/Instagram) is rolling out new policies that are already drastically impacting how advertisers in this space can optimize campaigns. These changes are already affecting our clients here at ROI Marketplace, and we’re here to make sure no one is left scrambling as the rules tighten further.
The clock is ticking. Brands that fail to diversify their ad strategies risk losing a significant chunk of their revenue. Here’s what’s happening, why it matters, and how you can act fast to protect your business.
What’s Changing at Meta?
Meta’s updated advertising policies are categorizing health and wellness brands as “sensitive,” placing restrictions on the events advertisers can optimize for. While this may sound vague, the impact is clear:
- Bottom-of-the-Funnel Restrictions: Many health and wellness brands can no longer optimize for high-converting events like “Purchase” or “Add to Cart.” Instead, they’re being forced to focus on top-of-funnel events such as “View Content,” which are less effective for immediate sales.
- Global and Regional Limitations: In some cases, these restrictions apply only in certain regions, but for others, they’re global. This inconsistency makes planning even more challenging.
- Broad Categorization: Even brands that don’t directly align with traditional health and wellness (e.g., beauty or fitness) are being swept into these restricted categories.
Our clients are already feeling the pinch. Campaigns that were once delivering solid ROIs are now underperforming. And while Meta hasn’t officially rolled out all these changes, we’ve seen enough evidence – both online and through our network – to know this is real and happening now.
Now is the Worst Time for This to Happen...
Anyone in the health/wellness vertical knows that Q1 is the biggest time of year, and having a good January/February could provide you with the budget to carry your entire 2025.
With these changes coming in right before Q1 can put your entire year at risk.
Your brand needs you to have an alternative solution in the pipeline, if not completely ready, by a Q1 launch. That gives you little more than a month to be ready to set your entire year up in the right way.
Why Native Advertising is the Solution...
Diversifying your advertising strategy is no longer optional – it’s essential. Native advertising platforms like Taboola, Outbrain, Revcontent, and MediaGo are the perfect complimentary alternative to maintain and grow your revenue.
Here’s why native advertising should be part of your game plan:
1. Bypasses Meta’s Restrictions
Native platforms don’t rely on the same event optimization structures as Meta. They’re built to drive awareness, engagement, and clicks directly to your website or landing pages, making them an ideal choice for health and wellness brands now facing restrictions on conversion-focused campaigns.
2. Lower Cost-Per-Click (CPC)
Platforms like Revcontent and Taboola often deliver traffic at a fraction of the cost of Facebook or Instagram ads. For health and wellness products that need education and awareness before purchase, this is a goldmine.
3. Flexible Content Guidelines
Native advertising platforms are generally more lenient when it comes to the type of content you can run. While Meta might flag or reject ads with certain health claims, native platforms allow you to tell your story more freely.
4. Untapped Audiences
Native platforms reach audiences where they’re already consuming content – on major publisher sites like CNN, Fox, NBC, and Business Insider. Letting you tap into new audiences who may never see your Meta ads.
5. Scalable Traffic
Unlike Meta, which often caps your audience size based on targeting restrictions, native platforms enable broader scaling. This is especially useful for health and wellness brands looking to expand their reach.
What ROI Marketplace is Seeing...
Our clients are already feeling the effects of Meta’s new policies. Campaigns that relied on optimized conversions have seen performance decline as events like “Purchase” are restricted.
But for clients who’ve diversified into native advertising, the story is different.
We’re seeing clients scale up their spend in waves against their budgets on Meta. Getting more predictable results at scale, with effective targeting, helping them to transition a lot of their budget over to Taboola or Outbrain.
Then, depending on what the product is, we’re adding some RevContent or MediaGo into the mix to drive even more spend (profitably) and wider scale than they could ever see on Facebook alone.
Our clients are doing more in the face of these changes… not doing less…. not scrambling… not failing.
How to Act Fast:
To get ahead of Meta’s evolving policies, here’s what you should do right now:
1. Audit Your Meta Campaigns
Check your Events Manager to see if your campaigns have been affected by restrictions. Look at the performance of bottom-of-the-funnel events and assess the impact.
2. Diversify to Native Platforms
Begin testing native platforms like Taboola and Outbrain. Start with small budgets and creatives specifically designed to engage a native audience (we have a ton of blog posts on the creative elements of Native marketing if you need help). Focus on curiosity-driven headlines and engaging content to drive clicks.
3. Shift to Upper Funnel Objectives
If Meta is your primary advertising channel, adjust your strategy to focus on objectives like “View Content” or traffic-based campaigns. Use these to drive leads into your retargeting campaigns. This is a huge opportunity for our clients right now.
4. Need Help? Leverage Us…
We spend multiple millions per month on Native advertising. Needless to say… we know a thing or two. We’ve helped countless health/wellness brands to profitably scale their campaigns throughout policy changes and come out stronger.
Don’t Get Left in the Dust!
The changes at Meta are happening now, and they will only escalate in the coming months. By diversifying your strategy to include native advertising, you can safeguard your revenue, reach new audiences, and future-proof your business.
At ROI Marketplace, we’re already getting ahead of the curve. Don’t wait for your ad performance to drop before you act. The best thing you can do is reach out to our team today, start up a test campaign with us and replace the lost profit from your Meta ads.
Let’s get started. Fill out the contact form below today and book in a call with our CEO, Joe Burton for further information on how we can lend a helping hand.
