2025 Meta Changes for Healthcare Marketers

Navigating Meta's Healthcare Tracking and Targeting Changes to Health Data: A Guide for Healthcare Marketers

In recent months, Meta has begun categorizing advertisers, particularly in the healthcare sector, to limit the sharing of sensitive health information. This change has important implications for healthcare marketers, as categorized businesses face limitations on targeting and event tracking within the platforms. Here's what you need to know to adapt and maintain effective campaign optimization.

Understanding Meta's Categorization

Meta's categorization depends on data it receives through the pixel installed on your site. How you set up the pixel and the data you send back will influence how your organization is categorized. 

For instance, data from a health system's homepage may lead to a "health and wellness" categorization. Service line-specific pages, specialty practice sites, or patient portals are even more likely to trigger more specific categorization. That said, if you’re using a consumer data platform (CDP) to redact URLs and other sensitive data, you may not be giving Meta the insight that it needs to make a categorization decision at all. 

There are two primary impacts for categorized businesses: 

• Meta is limiting “lower funnel” event tracking, so events named something like “appointment request” would be blocked by the platform. 
• Meta is disabling the ability to build and refine audience targeting based on your campaign data, and the information sent back via the pixel. 

Mitigating Categorization Effects

If your organization is categorized, you can continue to drive performance through Meta campaigns using a few best practices. First, maintain a conservative event-tracking approach by removing specific details from your event names. Instead of "cardiology appointment request," use a code name like "CAR" or something even more vague like “event 1.” These tactics require internal alignment and clear documentation of your code name structure but are an effective way to continue tracking lower funnel events. 

If you've transitioned to a HIPAA-compliant analytics platform and use only custom events for Meta conversions rather than the platform’s pixel, these categorization changes may not significantly impact you. This approach can be a sufficient solution as Meta limits data usage for healthcare advertisers anyway, making pixel use a viable measurement solution.

On the targeting side, you don’t have to be limited to platform targeting capabilities. Using propensity-modeled audiences and activating first-party data strategies in partnership with an agency like True North enables continued precision targeting and performance. 

Adapting to Meta’s Changes With Practical Content Strategies

As healthcare marketers face new challenges from Meta's recent advertising changes, consider these impactful content formats to maintain engagement and gather valuable insights: 

• Optimized landing pages: Design targeted landing pages that align with your content, providing clear calls to action. This helps capture leads and guide users through your services, even without direct audience targeting.
• Webinars and live Q&A sessions: Host informative sessions to engage your audience and collect attendee information for your first-party data strategy.
• Informative longer-form content: Produce high-quality blog posts and website content on relevant health topics to improve SEO and attract organic traffic.
• Interactive quizzes: Create quizzes to educate and engage users, enabling personalized follow-ups based on their responses.
• Patient success stories: Share real testimonials to enhance trust and credibility, forming authentic connections with potential patients.
• Guided and gated resources Provide downloadable resources in exchange for email sign-ups, establishing authority while generating leads.

These formats enable healthcare marketers to adapt effectively and maintain audience connections despite the limitations on event tracking and targeting.

Key Takeaways and Strategies about Meta Changes for Healthcare Marketers

• Limit data usage restrictions: Categorized healthcare advertisers can no longer use the pixel to build custom audiences, leading to increasingly restricted targeting options. 
• Build a first-party data strategy: To counter these targeting limitations, create a robust strategy focused on leveraging first-party data effectively.
• Partner with experts: Consider collaborating with an agency that can help you build a first-party data strategy to drive precision targeting, continue to help you navigate tracking and measurement challenges, and maximize the value you get from Meta.

By understanding these changes and implementing proactive strategies, healthcare marketers can continue to navigate Meta's advertising landscape.