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Paid online marketing through Google Ads is an exciting and powerful strategy that attracts more and more brands every year. Not only are more companies joining the online advertising world, but new and old advertisers are spending more money each and every month.
For some companies, online advertising is compelling, but also wrought with questions and potential roadblocks. Pharmaceutical brands are one type of business that faces strict advertising regulations, whether in print, television, radio or PPC ads on the Internet.
When these companies begin their advertising journey with the hopes of capitalizing on the many advantages offered by Google Ads, they need to learn the regulations specific to healthcare marketing techniques and advertising.
What do pharmaceutical companies have to gain from PPC advertising? Today’s patients are increasingly relying on the Internet for key parts of their healthcare journey. When pharmaceutical brands can position themselves in front of these audiences, it can lead to valuable interactions.
This article will delve deep into the topic of pharmaceutical brands and PPC healthcare marketing techniques. Specifically, how pharma companies can ensure that their ads meet the various regulations and policies for advertising different types of pharmaceutical products. And, what sort of strategies these businesses can implement to produce successful PPC campaigns.
Google is the go-to source for answering questions and finding solutions. Sometimes, the questions and solutions that Google users search for are related to their health. When someone uses Google to look up a symptom, find a new type of medicine or research an ailment, it is a significant opportunity for pharmaceutical brands with products connected to that symptom or medicine .
That’s where Pharma PPC comes in. A pharmaceutical advertiser can target keywords related to their medicines and treatment procedures, which appear as ad results when a potential customer searches for related terms.
For example, if a pharmaceutical company produces a medicine for endometriosis, then they would target phrases like “endometriosis medicine,” or “how to cure endometriosis” with PPC bids. Google uses these bids, alongside other signals, to decide what ad to show users.
The results look something like this:
For better understanding, this blog is divided into three parts so that you can get full picture of what is required for pharmaceutical advertisement on Google Ads.
Pharma PPC is different from normal paid search marketing because of the regulations and policies that affect these products. Google has an extensive list of guidelines that dictate what types of healthcare marketing techniques and medicine advertising is allowed on its platform.
There may also be laws specific to your country or state that affect what you can and cannot advertise on Google Ads.
In the US, the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) is responsible for regulating pharmaceutical companies. If you are a pharmaceutical brand, then you are likely aware of these standards and laws. If not, you can find comprehensive resources on their website.
Understanding the regulations that are specific to Google Ads is important because if you violate the rules and policies, it could lead to serious penalties. Google Ads has been known to disable campaigns in violation of their policies and disable remarketing lists. In extreme cases, Google will suspend accounts that continuously bend or break the rules.
Google restricts what pharmaceutical manufacturers can advertise based on location and the type of product. And, all pharmaceutical manufacturers must be certified by Google before they can publish any ad messages.
Prescription Drug Companies: For pharmaceutical brands advertising prescription medicines, Google restricts these ads to the United States, Canada, and New Zealand only. Additionally, no prescription opioid painkillers may be listed through Google Ads.
Over-The-Counter Drugs: The following countries may advertise over-the-counter medicines: Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, China, Czech Republic, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Russia, Slovakia, South Korean, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom and United States.
Bulk Drug Manufacturers And Suppliers: Some pharmaceutical brands supply medical professionals and commercial labs with large, bulk quantities of medicines and antibody/peptide compounds. These brands can advertise on Google Ads in Canada and the United States only.
When Google detects an account that it feels is operating an unauthorized pharmacy, there is a high chance that the Google Ads user is suspended or removed from the advertising platform permanently.
What does Google consider an unauthorized pharmacy? The two most common cases are if you are offering prescription drugs without requiring a prescription, or targeting locations where you are not licensed to operate or sell a particular product.
Location is very important to ensure continued, authorized operation. One area may treat a product as an over-the-counter medicine, while another requires a prescription. This can cause even the most law-abiding pharmaceutical brand to accidentally land in hot water.
Essentially, unauthorized pharmacies are any pharmaceutical company acting illegally or outside the regulations governing prescription and over-the-counter medicines.
The promotion of prescription drug products carries far more regulations and concerns than over-the-counter medicine. Google restricts the promotion of online pharmacies in many countries and heavily vets any advertiser that is promoting an online purveyor of prescription drugs.
To measure the legitimacy of an online pharmacy, Google analyzes the content of your ad messages, your website, app, landing pages and more. They take a complete look at the products and services that your pharmaceutical brand provides and how those offerings fit within their policies.
Google pays particular attention to content that in any way relates to the sale of prescription medicine. If there are any red flags that suggest an online pharmacy operating in a place where it is not supposed to, Google will err on the side of caution and suspend the account until the owner corrects the suspected violation.
Countries: Online pharmacies may only be promoted in Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, Chine, Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Slovakia, Sweden, Taiwan, United Kingdom and United States. If your country is not on this list, you will not be permitted to promote your online pharmacy on Google Ads.
Keywords: Some countries can promote an online pharmacy with Google Ads, but can’t use keywords that relate to prescription drugs. Thus, there is a smaller list of countries where promotion and targeting prescription drug keywords is allowed. These countries are: Australia, Austria, Canada, Czechia, Denmark, Germany, New Zealand, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Slovakia, United Kingdom and the United States.
Certification: As is the case with pharmaceutical manufacturers, online pharmacies must also undergo a certification process. Google will check that an online pharmacy is registered with the relevant pharmaceutical authorities in their given area. In the case of international pharmaceutical companies, Google will also check that they carry the correct registration for all countries that they wish to target.
While Google allows a small collection of countries to target keywords that relate to prescription drugs. The list grows much shorter when it comes to including these prescription drug terms in ad text and on landing pages.
Only Canada, New Zealand and the United States can use prescription drug terms in ad text and landing pages, provided that the online pharmacy or pharmaceutical manufacturer has first been verified by Google to serve ads.
If you are not operating in Canada, New Zealand or the United States, you must exclude any mention of prescription drug text on your landing pages or in your ad messages. You also need to be careful how you mention prescription drugs on other parts of your website that are easily accessible from your landing page.
There are some exceptions to mentioning prescription drug terms on your landing pages. For example, if you are creating a public safety announcement campaign to raise awareness and public health notice regarding a particular prescription drug issue, then Google will permit your ads. However, this is a very rare case and the advertiser must have permission from the local government or a well-established health organization before proceeding.
Regardless of country or legality, Google will not allow advertisers to promote content involving any of the following:
Google also prohibits the marketing of speculative or experimental treatments and medicines. This includes treatments and products like stem cell therapy, non-stem cellular therapy, gene therapy, platelet rich plasma, biohacking, genetic engineering products, gene therapy kits, etc.
This is not a complete list of the experimental treatments disallowed by Google Ads.
Looking for participants for a clinical trial? Then, you better be advertising in Australia, Belgium, Canada, China, France, Germany, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, United Kingdom, United States or Vietnam. Countries not on this list are prohibited from posting ad content related to participating in a clinical trial.
Also, clinical trials can not promote prescription drugs, offer any misleading information or expectations or claim that the product being tested is safe.
There are only four countries that allow advertisers to promote HIV home tests: France, Netherlands, United Kingdom and United States. In the US, these home HIV tests must be FDA approved. France, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands also have local regulatory requirements that must be met for these products.
There is a very long list of countries where abortion-related content is not allowed to be sponsored or advertised:
Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Aruba, Bahamas, Bahrain, Belgium, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Cayman Islands, Chile, Colombia, Cost Rica, Djibouti, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, France, Germany, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Hong Kong, Hunary, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Italy, Jamaica, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Malaysia, Martinique, Mexico, Morocco, Philippines, Poland, Qatar, Russia, Saint Barthelemy, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Kt. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, Suriname, Switzerland, Syria, Taiwan, Thailand, Tunisia, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, Uruguay, Venezuela and Yemen.
If you include one or more of these locations in your targeting, your ads may still be approved. However, it will be “approved (limited),” which means that they will only show in the approved areas. Abortion-related ads are also prohibited on the Google Display Network.
Products or content related to birth control or fertility are prohibited in Bahrain, China, Djibouti, Egypt, Hong Kong, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Malaysia, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Palestinian Territory, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Thailand, Tunisia, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates and Yemen.
Pharmaceutical manufacturers and brands are not allowed to create or use remarketing lists for their ad messages.
Once you understand the regulations and rules regarding the promotion of pharmaceutical products and treatments, it is time to begin your first pharma PPC campaign.
Before you create your Google Ads account and begin developing your first ad message, spend some time thinking about your goal and advertising objective. The difference between the two is important to understand.
Objectives should be specific and measurable and relate directly to your PPC efforts. For example: acquiring 1,000 new leads by year end. Or, generating $100,000 in ad revenue.
Goals are more general and less tangible. A pharmacy’s goal may look something like, “to be seen as the number one solution to treat Crohn’s disease.” Another pharmacy’s goal may read, to become the go-to organization for resources related to managing and living with chronic back pain.”
The best strategy is to start with a broad, overarching goal, which can later be refined through more specific marketing and PPC objectives. Ideally, your objectives follow the SMART acronym: specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time-based.
With your goals and objectives set, your next goal is to establish your audience persona. Who is your ideal customer and how will you support that individual with your products, resources and other offerings?
Your ideal customer is a hypothetical vision of who you think your pharmaceutical brand would best service. However, it is created using tangible data and research. This data includes demographics, psychographic data and other information that supports who the typical customers are and why they need your products.
Google Ads offers multiple different ad networks within its platform. Each network has its own set of ad formats and methods of advertising. Moreover, the network you choose will also determine what sort of audiences you can reach and how.
Google Search Network: When most marketers think of Google Ads, the search network is where their mind goes. Google attracts billions of searches every single day. Search ads allow brands — pharmaceutical or otherwise — to place paid marketing messages on the results pages of the searches made through Google using target keywords.
Search ads are valuable whether you want to provide potential patients with information or directly sell medicine and other substances. People are always using Google to investigate ailments and find new treatment options. You can learn in detail here: how to create a search network campaign
Google Display Network: Google partners with millions of websites across the Internet, which allows advertisers to target potential customers as they browse their favorite pages and sites. The Google Display Network also includes YouTube and other major websites in the Google family.
Display ads are more visual than search ads and are great for generating brand awareness. For newcomers to the pharmaceutical industry, the Google Display Network can be the best route for getting your brand name out there.
You can target your display ads based on audience signals and intent, which means you’ll still locate individuals that are relevant to your products and offerings.
Google Shopping Network: For pharmaceutical brands that directly sell medicine, shopping campaigns can allow you to promote your online pharmacy and generate sales. Shopping ad campaigns require that you have detailed product information inputted into the Google Merchant Center.
Gmail Ads: Google hosts one of the most popular email services: Gmail. Google Ads users can also target ads to the Promotions and Social Tabs of Gmail users. These ad messages appear like normal emails that can be expanded into a larger ad message.
This creates a more personal connection with potential customers. And, it can be an effective channel for providing discounts and other promotions to prospective clients.
What’s the best ad network: Trying to find the best ad network for your pharma brand? The best strategy is often to layer different strategies across the various networks. For example, a pharmaceutical manufacturer could stimulate brand awareness on the Display Network, and then utilize the shopping and search network to capitalize on these newly aware prospects and convert them into customers.
The key is to understand what each platform can bring to your pharmaceutical brand. More specifically, think about your goals and objectives and choose the platforms that best support these.
For non-pharma brands, keyword targeting is a fairly simple process: find the terms that are most relevant to your company and its offerings. For pharmaceutical companies, however, the added stress of regulations means advertisers need to be very careful and responsible with their use of keywords.
There are some general rules of thumb that Pharma PPC marketers should follow:
Similar to keyword targeting, you also need to be very careful with how you approach your landing pages. You need to ensure that every landing page that you connect to your healthcare marketing techniques meets the compliance standards of your country.
Aside from in the United States, Canada and New Zealand, the majority of countries prohibit any mention of drug brands or molecule names on a landing page. Google will analyze your dedicated landing pages and look for any non-compliant information or mention of drug and molecule names.
If it detects a landing page with any of these elements, it will suspend the activity until the landing page is fixed.
As you design your landing page, there are a few basic elements to keep in mind:
The restrictions limiting what keywords pharmaceutical advertisers can target and what content is allowed on the landing pages also affect ad design. In particular, pharma PPC marketers are tasked with the difficult job of producing compelling ad messages that capture audience attention, while remaining 100% compliant with Google’s standards.
While you may not be able to mention a drug, disease name or competitors in your ad message, there are creative ways to still create a high-quality message. How? By choosing more effective ad formats!
Rich Media Ads: By moving beyond the traditional, static banner ads, pharmacy marketers can discover the power of rich media ads. This ad format is supported by HTML 5 and offers a wide array of options that allow display banners to expand, peel and float, as well as the options to include videos, audios, games and/or animations.
Rich media ads also produce a lot of actionable data about how users interact with the ad. These insights can help you fine-tune your ad experiences for even greater performance!
Ad Extensions: Enhancing your ad messages through the use of ad extensions is a powerful and simple way to boost performance. Not only does it scale the physical size of your ad, but it can also add value by adding critical information that prospective clients want to see.
If you’re operating an online pharmacy with a physical store presence as well, then you absolutely need to utilize call and location extensions to provide additional ways for viewers to convert.
No matter what ad format you use, your goal is to engage audiences with compelling messages that also highlight the benefits of your offerings.
Before you can begin publishing pharma PPC ads, you need to become certified with Google Ads. As mentioned earlier, Google needs to verify the authenticity and legality of your pharmacy, as well as the products and treatments that you’re advertising.
Google will ask for a number of items to complete the verification process, such as:
In some cases, you may be asked to submit additional information. For example, if you are working with an ad agency, Google may ask that the details of that partnership be submitted in the form of a Pharmaceutical Manufacturer Authorization Letter.
Before submitting your application, you may also want to double-check the country and drug restrictions mentioned in the earlier parts of this guide. This will help you avoid any potential roadblocks that may stop you from achieving certification.
To submit your application, Google has an online application form available. This form will ask you to fill out some basic information:
You can find the application form link here:
https://support.google.com/google-ads/troubleshooter/6099627
After you submit your application, Google will review the information. Then, you will receive either an approval or feedback letter. If you receive an approval letter, congratulations! You’re ready to begin publishing PPC ads for your pharmaceutical company.
However, that doesn’t guarantee that you are completely in the clear. You may receive disapproval for your ads or campaigns, even if you are certified. When this happens, you’ll receive a feedback letter citing the reason why an ad or campaign has been flagged.
To make it easier to navigate what each feedback response means and how to correct it, here is a convenient table to use:
Pharma PPC advertising through Google Ads is one of the most notable healthcare marketing techniques on the Internet. However, it is also well regulated. Pharmaceutical brands and manufacturers need to be extremely familiar with the types of offers that can and cannot be advertised on Google Ads.
If you’re a legitimate, certified pharmacy that wants to attract more traffic and generate new clients, then Pharma PPC is a great option. This is especially true for US pharmaceutical companies, where there are more advertising opportunities because of fewer restrictions.
With PPC, you can place well-timed ads in front of people looking for healthcare solutions like yours. This allows a pharmacy to seamlessly fit into a person’s health care journey, from symptoms to diagnosis and treatment.
Thanks to this guide on Google Ads pharmaceutical campaigns and advertising regulations, you’re prepared to tackle the obstacles that come with pharma PPC. Before you know it, you’ll be certified with Google Ads and running effective PPC campaigns that attract more clients to your pharmaceutical company.
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