Cross-Platform Compliance Strategy for Supplement Brands

Running supplement advertising across Meta, Google, and TikTok requires managing three different policy frameworks simultaneously. Each platform has unique requirements, but strategic planning lets you create campaigns that satisfy all three.

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Platform Summary:

Meta — Health data restrictions, upper-funnel optimization only
Google — LegitScript certification required, specific ingredient lists
TikTok — Creator content focus, aggressive before/after restrictions

Understanding the Differences

Meta focuses on health data restrictions and sensitive category handling. Your pixel tracking is limited, and optimization relies on upper-funnel events. Claims restrictions exist but are less granular than Google's.

Google requires LegitScript certification for many supplement categories and has specific prohibited ingredient lists. The certification barrier is higher, but once certified, advertising parameters are clearly defined.

TikTok emphasizes creator content policies and has the most aggressive stance on before-and-after imagery. The platform is newer to supplement advertising and policies evolve faster.

The Common Denominator Approach

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Simple Strategy: Create content that satisfies the strictest requirement. If Google prohibits a claim, don't use it anywhere. If TikTok restricts before-and-after imagery, remove it from all platforms. You run the same creative everywhere with minimal adaptation.

This approach sacrifices some platform-specific optimization for operational simplicity. It works well for brands with limited creative resources or those prioritizing compliance over performance optimization.

The Platform-Specific Approach

The alternative is creating distinct creative for each platform, maximizing what's allowed on each while staying compliant.

On Meta: Use more educational content that builds understanding without making direct claims. The inability to optimize for purchases means creative needs to work harder to qualify traffic before they reach your site.

On Google: Once certified, you can use more direct product advertising. Search intent means users are actively looking for solutions, so creative can be more straightforward about what your product is.

On TikTok: Native-feeling creator content outperforms traditional advertising. Your creative strategy is really a creator strategy, with compliance built into creator guidelines.

Creative Development Process

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Creative Workflow:

Start with your core claims—what does your product do?
Write the strictest-compliant version first
Identify platform-specific opportunities
Build a creative library with tagged assets
Know which claims are approved for which platforms

When launching new campaigns, pull from pre-approved assets rather than creating new compliance questions.

Tracking and Attribution Challenges

Meta's health category restrictions break standard attribution. You can't optimize for purchases, so you need alternative measurement approaches.

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Attribution Reality: First-party data becomes essential. Build your own tracking infrastructure that doesn't depend on platform pixels for purchase data. Google and TikTok currently allow more complete tracking, but assume restrictions are coming. Build measurement approaches that work without platform pixels now.

Incrementality testing replaces ROAS optimization. You can't trust platform-reported returns when tracking is limited, so holdout tests and geographic experiments prove channel value.

Certification and Verification

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Timeline Alert: Google's LegitScript certification takes weeks to months. Start this process BEFORE you need to advertise. Attempting to advertise without required certification results in immediate rejection and potential account restrictions.

Meta's health category verification is less formal but can still delay launches. Being proactive about categorization prevents surprises.

TikTok's advertiser verification is straightforward but supplement-specific requirements exist. Understand what documentation you'll need before attempting to launch.

Compliance Monitoring

Policies change frequently. What's compliant today may not be next month. Build monitoring into your operations.

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Monitoring Routine:

Subscribe to policy update notifications from each platform
Review policy pages monthly even without notifications
Test campaigns regularly to catch enforcement changes
Document your compliance rationale for appeals

Unified Compliance Calendar

Create a single calendar tracking policy updates across platforms. Note effective dates, review periods, and any required actions.

When Google updates policies, check if Meta or TikTok typically follows. Platforms influence each other, and being ahead of changes reduces scrambling.

Plan creative refreshes around anticipated policy changes. If you know restrictions are coming, have compliant alternatives ready before you need them.

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