What’s Happening

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Attention Health & Wellness DTC Brands! Meta has introduced new restrictions involving conversion data in your industry, limiting allowable optimization points on your campaigns. Starting January 15 2025, businesses in this space have lost access to key lower funnel event tracking like “Purchase” and “Add to Cart.” Yep, that means it’s going to be significantly more difficult for you to track back conversions and values, leaving your campaign performance blind.

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Here’s the reason behind it all: Meta’s introducing a new, broader definition of health and wellness. If your products or services fall under this “sensitive category,” you’ll be hit with restrictions designed to “protect user privacy.” For the record, those are Meta’s words - not ours! With definitions this broad, even brands not directly tied to health and wellness might get caught up in this net. Definitely not ideal. 

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Who’s Affected

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Surprisingly, these changes could mess with a pretty wide range of industries, including: 

• Health and Wellness Brands: Think supplements, fitness programs, or wellness products. 
• Pharmaceutical and Medical Services: Telemedicine platforms, pharmacies, or healthcare providers. 
• Legal Firms: That’s right– personal injury law firms could get flagged too. 
• Fitness and Lifestyle Apps: Apps for working out, dieting, or mental health are on Meta’s radar. 

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If your business is anywhere near these categories, it’s time to stay sharp and keep tabs on the changes that are happening in your account. 

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What Does This Mean for You

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If your business leans into health-related industries–like supplements, fitness, therapy, or personal injury law–this could be a big deal. Losing access to high-intent events like "Purchase" could take a significant chunk out of your ad performance. You might need to rethink your whole strategy and even build fresh campaigns with new objectives. SOS. 

The good news (if we can call it that): Meta won’t automatically pause your active campaigns. But you’ll get notifications through email, Ads Manager, and Events Manager about what is being affected. Staying on top of these updates from Meta will help you pivot quickly and avoid a major headache. 

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Watch Out for Misfires

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Meta’s categorization process is all automated, which means there will be hiccups along the way. Your account could get flagged for restrictions even if you’re not technically part of the health and wellness world. Very frustrating! Make it a habit to check your Events Manager regularly so you can catch any mistakes and request a review, if needed. 

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What You Can Do About This

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Let’s talk about a game plan. Here is the best and easiest way to keep things running smoothly: 

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1. Shift to Non-Restricted Events: Focus on events like “Landing Page Views,” “Search,” “ViewContent,” or “App Install.” These are still fair game and can drive solid results. 
2. Review Restricted Events: Take a close look at which events are off-limits and find alternative standard events that work for your business. Then, tweak your strategy to prioritize those. 
3. Create Custom Workarounds: Try building custom events that mimic the standard events that Meta now restricts. 
4. Double Check Your Categorization: Think you’ve been wrongly flagged? Use Events Manager to request a review. It might take some time, so don’t wait too long to act. 

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Let’s Talk

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We get it–this is a lot to deal with at once. But you don’t have to figure this out alone. At Growth Collective, we’re all about helping businesses like yours navigate tricky changes like this. Whether it’s reworking your strategy or just making sense of these updates, we’ve got you covered. Book a call with us to learn more. Let’s turn these challenges into opportunities and keep your campaigns thriving. 

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