Advertising in regulated healthcare verticals is challenging. The rules change constantly, platforms flag or block ads without explanation, and the difference between a compliant campaign and a costly mistake is often a single claim or a missing disclosure.

CareValidate Head of Growth Ashley Castellanos recently joined David Khalaf of LegitScript and Robert Miracle of marketing agency Multiview for a deep-dive webinar on Best Practices for Advertising in Telehealth & Healthcare Verticals. In the conversation, they explored what it actually takes to advertise compliantly across Google, Meta, and beyond for telehealth businesses operating in GLP-1s, HRT/TRT, prescription skincare, and peptides.

Here are the 7 key takeaways from their discussion, complete with tips for operators, growth, and digital marketing teams to ensure compliance remains foundational to all of your advertising efforts across platforms. These tips only scratch the surface: the full webinar recording is worth a watch for operators and entrepreneurs considering these high-growth verticals. 

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1. LegitScript certification is your starting point. 

Every operator in this space needs LegitScript certification to advertise on major platforms. But it's just the starting point.

Each platform has its own specifications and requirements on top of LegitScript. Meta requires businesses to register as health-related and comply with their own creative guidelines. Google's healthcare advertising policies vary depending on whether you're a telemedicine provider, online pharmacy, or pharmaceutical manufacturer.

“The various certifications and qualifications that you need to meet will change based on the platforms you want to run on,” explained Ashley Castellanos, CareValidate’s Head of Growth, during the webinar. “So the first question you have to ask yourself is: What platforms do I want to run on?” 

Tip: Know where you want to advertise before you build your growth strategy and patient acquisition plan, keeping LegitScript certification as your foundation while mapping additional requirements. 

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2. Be prepared for ads to get rejected, and have a clear plan for handling disapprovals. 

Ad disapprovals in this space are largely inevitable. What separates operators who recover quickly from those who lose growth momentum is preparation.

Here’s what the experts shared as need-to-knows as you prepare your advertising strategy: 

• Most disapprovals are triggered by automated systems scanning for restricted keywords or policy violations. They’re not always wrong, but they’re often blunt. 
• Before submitting a new ad, run through a checklist of the most common culprits: a drug mention, a missing disclosure, an unsubstantiated claim, or a before/after image.
• When an ad does get rejected, request a review. Platforms will provide more specific context at that point, and a human reviewer often overturns automated rejections for compliant advertisers who have their documentation in order.

Tip: Maintain a pipeline of backup creative for each of your key platforms that have gone through internal approvals and are ready to run. If one ad is under review, others should be live and performing. "Have other ads that have been approved on the platform that you can continue to run, or have other ads to submit while you're appealing a rejection," explains Castellanos. 

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3. Understand the compliance ins-and-outs that are specific to weight loss and GLP-1 advertising as you build your patient acquisition strategy. 

Compliant GLP-1 advertising means following explicit FDA guidance for medications and specific guardrails designed to protect patients from unsubstantiated claims. Outcome claims – like weight loss percentages, before and afters, or specific results – require a clinical trial that validates them, which most don’t have for GLP-1s at this stage. Patient testimonials are a great option, but only if the results described are truly representative of a typical consumer experience. 

“Focus on the telehealth experience in your ads,” advises Castellanos. Messaging around clinical oversight, access, or cost communicates value – and draws in a broader set of patients who are motivated by different factors – without triggering claims-based violations. 

Tip: Lead with access, cost, quality of care, and your overall telehealth experience when advertising GLP-1 capabilities. 

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4. Separate ad campaigns and landing pages for over-the-counter products or telehealth appointments and prescription medications to avoid compliance exposure. 

Many telehealth operators offer access to prescription medications alongside telehealth appointments, specialized care, and over-the-counter products. Running all of those together in the same ad campaign creates compliance exposure. 

Your ad campaigns are subject to the most restrictive product in it. One prescription product in a multi-product campaign means all pharmaceutical disclosure requirements apply to all of your ad creative, copy, calls-to-action, and hyperlinks. 

Tip: Separate your campaigns and your landing pages for each of your products and services that are critical for awareness and growth. If possible, creating separate ad accounts for your prescription capabilities is helpful as well to maximize flexibility across your business. 

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5. Stay agile on the creative front. 

Your creative pipeline is key to your compliance strategy. Build a range of creative – from fully-regulated messaging (with all required disclosures) to less-regulated angles like cost or access. That range will give you options if one ad gets flagged, or when regulations shift. 

It’s also helpful to designate a single point of contact internally who is responsible for auditing ad creative regularly against the latest guidance from the FDA, FTC, and each platform. This owner needs to be deeply familiar with all of the compliance requirements, and be responsible for raising needed updates for shifts when they arise. 

Tip: Build a creative plan that is flexible and has a regular cadence for audits baked in, with a clear regulatory owner to keep your entire advertising team updated on the latest guidance. “You need to stay agile: make sure you have a plan to edit creative, ship new creative, produce new concepts, and have a range of messages when things change,” shares Castellanos. 

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6. Testosterone is its own category. 

Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) and testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) are often grouped together operationally. But from a compliance standpoint, they have distinct considerations. 

TRT carries extra regulatory weight because testosterone is a controlled substance. Platforms and the FDA are specifically watching for framing tied to performance enhancement or physique improvements – based on how testosterone was historically marketed. 

Tip: If your telehealth business offers TRT, be sure to always include the hormone treatment positioning and understand the specific rules tied to pharmacy vs. telemedicine classifications on Meta. 

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7. Know that the playbook for advertising peptides – and operating in this space compliantly – is constantly evolving. 

Regulations around peptides are changing daily, meaning the safest approach is to research the specific peptides you want to advertise, understand their current FDA classification, and monitor that classification actively. There is no universal playbook yet, which is exactly why operators who build compliance infrastructure now will have a significant advantage as the category takes shape. 

Tip: Partner with a telehealth infrastructure and growth expert like CareValidate to lay the groundwork for a fully compliant peptide offering. Identify a partner who can provide a robust, secure foundation for compliance that scales, plus ongoing guidance around changing regulations for all key operating and growth aspects from prescribing to advertising. 

‍Dive into a detailed breakdown of healthcare advertising policies by category: Watch the full webinar recording to go deeper with these growth experts, including best practices by category, platform-specific requirements and compliance traps, and practical tips for compliant advertising that fuels sustainable growth. Watch the recording →