Meta's 2025 advertising shift: what health & wellness brands need to know
Advertising • February 25, 2025
By Emily Kunkel, US Ad Business Marketing
For years, brands have relied on Meta’s ad platform to drive conversions, optimize campaigns, and build audiences based on real user interactions. But as of January 2025, Meta has rolled out new restrictions that significantly impact Health & Wellness advertisers. These changes make it harder to track conversions, optimize for performance, and retarget high-intent users.
Meta’s New Data-Sharing Restrictions
Meta has tightened its data-sharing policies for brands categorized under Health & Wellness. Here’s what that means:
Restricted Audience Building – Advertisers can no longer create audiences based on conversion events, limiting retargeting opportunities.
Limited Optimization – Without conversion data, Meta’s optimization tools become less effective, reducing campaign efficiency over time.
No Bottom-of-Funnel Tracking – Brands can no longer track purchases, conversions, or other key bottom-of-funnel events within Meta’s platform.
Why this Change?
Meta has introduced these restrictions to align with privacy regulations like HIPAA and to protect user data. The platform now classifies purchases of health-related products as “health data.” Sharing this information with Meta would violate its advertising policies.
If you advertise supplements, medical devices, wellness services, health-tracking apps, or other health-related products like pharmaceuticals, telehealth, fitness, beauty, and nutrition, these changes will likely affect you. For context, Health & Beauty brands rely on a repurchase rate of 25%, while Supplements brands see an even higher rate of 48%. Without retargeting capabilities, customer retention will become significantly harder.
How SmartNews can Help
With Meta tightening its grip on health-related advertising data, brands need new ways to reach high-intent consumers and drive measurable results. SmartNews provides a brand-safe platform with access to a highly engaged audience, delivering high-quality traffic to help fill the gap left by Meta’s restrictions. As an alternative to Meta ads, SmartNews offers brand-safe digital advertising solutions that ensure visibility and performance without data-sharing limitations.
Why SmartNews? SmartNews connects brands with millions of engaged readers who actively consume news content daily. Unlike social media platforms, SmartNews prioritizes premium content and high-quality native ad placements, ensuring your message reaches the right audience in a trusted environment.
Key Benefits for Health & Wellness Advertisers
High-Quality Traffic – SmartNews delivers engaged, intent-driven audiences who actively read and interact with content, increasing conversion potential.
No Data-Sharing Restrictions – Unlike Meta, SmartNews allows full visibility into bottom-of-funnel tracking, so advertisers can measure success accurately.
Efficient Spend – With competitive CPCs and CPMs, SmartNews helps advertisers maximize ROI while reaching highly relevant audiences.
Contextual Targeting – Target users based on the content they engage with (e.g., health news, fitness articles), ensuring relevance without relying on restricted personal data.
Seamless Setup & Optimization – SmartNews provides real-time performance insights and flexible campaign options, making it easy to test, optimize, and scale.
How to Shift your Strategy
Adapting is key. SmartNews ensures your brand continues to thrive despite these changes. Here’s how:
Focus on High-Intent Users - Instead of relying on Meta’s conversion-based targeting, leverage SmartNews’s premium placements to reach users actively consuming health-related content.
Build Brand Awareness & Consideration - With Meta forcing advertisers to shift budgets toward top-of-funnel efforts, SmartNews helps you reach receptive audiences at scale, keeping your brand top of mind for future purchasing decisions.
Optimize for Engagement & Conversions - Use SmartNews’ performance insights to refine your messaging, creative, and placement strategies for maximum impact. For categories like supplements, where purchase frequency averages 2.9x per year, staying top of mind between purchases is crucial.
Diversify Your Marketing Mix - Adding SmartNews to your marketing mix helps reduce reliance on Meta, ensuring you continue reaching your target audience effectively.
Conclusion
Meta’s new restrictions may pose challenges, but they also present an opportunity—one that allows Health & Wellness brands to diversify their advertising strategy and engage with high-quality audiences in brand-safe environments.
By partnering with SmartNews, Health & Wellness brands can continue to drive high-quality traffic, optimize performance, and maintain strong ROI—all without the limitations imposed by Meta.
Want to Learn More?
Reach out today to see how SmartNews can help your brand navigate these changes and drive success.
