If you run a pharmacy, you know perfectly well that advertising is prohibited. This law is intended to protect patients, and failure to comply can result in serious consequences. Although advertising a pharmacy in the strictest sense of the word is impossible, there are certain activities you can conduct online that will allow more people to learn about your business and its offerings. Learn more!
SEO – acceptable pharmacy advertising!
Internet marketing experts often recommend that companies invest in SEO before spending significantly more on other, less effective campaigns. This applies to businesses across all industries and also applies to pharmacies. Pharmaceutical law prohibits advertising pharmacies, online pharmacies, and pharmacy outlets, as well as their activities. Advertisements for medications and dietary supplements are also subject to rather strict restrictions. However, information about the pharmacy's activities, location, and opening hours can be included. A website can serve an informative or educational purpose.
It's not prohibited to create and publish content describing the properties of specific products (without suggesting their therapeutic effects), natural ways to combat and prevent disease states, and available solutions, such as painkillers, cough and cold remedies. Information on the use of natural supplements, such as herbs, as well as general advice on a healthy lifestyle, is also allowed. All of this constitutes content marketing, one of the main types of activities supporting SEO. SEO, however, as a form of pharmacy advertising, is permissible. Including frequently searched phrases in your texts will improve your website's Google ranking and positively impact its visibility. Health topics are broad, so any pharmacy should have no problem developing engaging articles that will engage patients.
Furthermore, positioning as a pharmacy ad can be based on website optimization . This involves a series of activities aimed at increasing its usability, functionality, and user-friendliness, both for users and search engines. It's possible (and even necessary) to ensure a clear website design, streamline the source code, add images and text to each subpage, and include meta tags. Ensure the website loads smoothly and functions correctly on various devices (computers, tablets, smartphones)—in other words, it's responsive. It's worth supplementing the website with as much useful, non-advertising information as possible, such as information related to online medication purchases, pickup, or shipping. It's important to avoid content that could be perceived as encouraging users to use a specific pharmacy's services—such content is prohibited.
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To avoid getting lost in regulations and risking legal penalties, it's worth hiring SEO professionals who specialize in the pharmaceutical industry . Their experience in this field will ensure that your pharmacy's advertising is legal.
SEO for pharmacies – why is it worth it?
SEO is a recommended promotional method for all businesses, but it's particularly important for pharmacies because it's one of the few acceptable forms of "advertising," meaning spreading the word about your business. You don't have to wait for customers to discover you. Invest in SEO, especially intensive content marketing, to increase your website's visibility, gain repeat customers, and provide visitors with interesting, useful, and reliable healthcare information. SEO is also beneficial because:
- optimizing your website not only for search engine requirements, but also for visitor convenience;
- supplementing the website with interesting, valuable content,
- long-term effects – achieving a high position in Google will help patients find your pharmacy every day,
- the opportunity to build a professional image of the pharmacy.
Google Ads – is such pharmacy advertising allowed?
Google Ads is a very popular solution for paid website promotion. They can use text campaigns, i.e., sponsored links in search results, product campaigns, as well as image campaigns on various portals, and remarketing. Unfortunately, paid promotion on Google is considered advertising, so these tools are not available to pharmacy owners. The tech giant itself ensures compliance with Polish law and prohibits the launch of campaigns promoting pharmacies or prescription drugs. It is possible to promote over-the-counter medications, but only if the manufacturer receives Google certification. Under certain conditions, dietary supplements can also be advertised.
In practice, it's impossible to advertise your pharmacy using Google Ads, meaning you can't display banners on various websites or place sponsored links in search results. Unless you earn a high Google ranking through SEO, you have no other way to inform search engine users about your business.
Facebook Ads – Another Banned Pharmacy Ad
Advertising a pharmacy through Facebook Ads is also prohibited in most cases unless the pharmacy in question obtains written consent. Traditional advertising that clearly promotes the pharmacy and encourages use of its services is prohibited, but with this consent, paid ads can be used, provided they do not promote prescription medications. Without written consent, no paid tools, including promoted posts, may be used.
However, it's possible to run a pharmacy page on Facebook, and many establishments readily take advantage of this privilege. Any informational publications are permitted on such a page. Notifications of new articles on the company blog can be posted, as can presentations of available products. It's also possible to publish opinions or ratings from pharmacy customers. It's also worth adding photos or infographics to the text content to make it more engaging. Nothing prevents a pharmacy from featuring video content on its Facebook page—for example, interviews with experts, tips, interesting facts, etc.
However, it sometimes happens that a pharmacy advertisement "passes through" the system, but it must be based on neutral content and form.
Pharmacy advertising – what else is unacceptable?
It's also worth noting other promotional activities that are readily used by companies but are unavailable to pharmacies due to legal regulations. What specifically is prohibited?
- Run banner advertising – popular display advertising is banned in both public and virtual spaces. This means that the Google Display Network cannot be used, nor can street posters or billboards be used.
- Offer loyalty programs – This is a popular technique that many companies use to retain customers by offering various benefits to regular customers. However, such initiatives are unavailable to pharmacies – so you can't offer your customers loyalty cards, collecting points, discounts on future purchases, etc.
- Offer discounts and rebates The price of subsidized drugs in Poland is set in advance and cannot be changed – neither increased nor decreased. Offering a second pack at a discount when purchasing the first one is also prohibited, as this constitutes a persuasion to purchase by promising certain benefits. Price reductions for non-subsidized drugs are permitted – this is considered a permitted commercial practice. However, such promotions cannot be advertised outside the pharmacy, nor can the aforementioned practice of promising additional benefits be used with purchase.
Pharmacy advertising – what is allowed?
It's worth noting, however, that using price comparison sites is not considered a form of advertising . Therefore, an online pharmacy can operate without any consequences on popular websites that allow you to find the most attractive price offers. This is also a very effective form of promotion. Customers looking for non-reimbursed medications are usually aware of the significant price differences between individual retailers, which is why they readily use price comparison sites. If you need help implementing this type of promotion, contact us!
Additionally, it's possible to collect customer data (needed, for example, to process mail-orders) and send them a newsletter , though of course, without advertising content. This is a way to strengthen customer relationships and remind them of your location.
Summary
The above article covers the following topics:
- How to use SEO to promote your pharmacy within permitted activities?
- Benefits of SEO for pharmacies and pharmacists
