Categories: Strategy|By |3.1 min read|

Prescription Drug Advertising

Prescription drug advertising can be a bit of a difficult task to take on as an advertiser.

This can be an awkward topic write about.

To start, there are legal issues that surround what can and cannot be advertised when it comes to medication, all of which vary significantly depending on the substance in question and the area it is being advertised.

Just as well, it can also be difficult to be as accurate and not misleading as possible when you’re dealing with limited space for an ad.

So what can we do with prescription drug advertising from an advertisers point of view? With Healthy Ads and a handful of key tips, taking on this type of advertising can actually be quite easy.

4 Key Tips for Advertising Prescription Drugs

1. Be accurate and not misleading.

Only include truthful information in your ad campaign and do not use misleading information. The goal here is to present information about a treatment to relevant readers. Trust is the best type of rapport.

2. Reflect the balance between harms and benefits.

All prescription medications have a list of benefits and side effects. Be sure to incorporate these pros and cons into your ad to really educate your audience.

3. Make claims only supported by substantial evidence.

As we previously mentioned, honesty is key when it comes to direct-to-consumer medication advertising. Only make claims that can be proven and be sure to cite studies and relevant medical sources when planning your ad campaign.

4. Utilize advertising platforms and different forms of advertising.

prescription drug advertising (sometimes referred to as direct-to-consumer pharmaceutical advertising or DTCPA) needs to appeal to very specific target demographics. Just as well, a well-formulated medical ad campaign won’t do well if it is simply put anywhere and everywhere. Rather, targeted advertising is the way to go.

Part of the reason there is so much controversy about direct-to-consumer advertising of prescription medicine is that it can attract viewers who don’t necessarily need the medication. By utilizing a targeted programmatic ad platform like Healthy Ads, you can avoid this issue by having your ads only appear on blogs and articles that are highly relevant to the illness the medication treats.

For example, it would likely not be safe for a person at a healthy weight to view a convincing advertisement for a prescription weight loss supplement. However, if a specific blog post about losing weight when obese boasts such an ad, its viewers are likely overweight people who are looking for help and would suit the medication.

There are a handful of ad types to consider when using targeted ads:

  • Display Advertising – Also known as a banner ad, this ad type is a visual advertisement that appears in the sidebar or top section of a website.
  • Video Advertising – Video ads are quite helpful for the niche because they make it possible to fit long lists of disclaimers into the ad itself.
  • Native Advertising – This ad type refers to ads that are inserted into an actual blog post or article about the product it is advertising or a subject that is relevant to the product.

Healthy Ads for Effective Prescription Drug Advertising

Direct to Consumer Prescription Drug Advertising doesn’t have to be such a pain to manage. Healthy Ads is here to help.

Healthy Ads is a health and medical advertising platform designed to help health-related advertisers and brands reach the right potential customers through programmatic targeted advertising. We manage hundreds of medical and pharmaceutical blogs where potential customers are researching their own medical questions– placing your specific ad campaign in front of the people who are looking for your solutions.

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