Botox is gaining popularity among millennials. What was once considered a treatment for people over 40, today draws in an ever younger audience of women hoping to improve their looks without resorting to surgery.

Although Botox is gaining popularity, the ASA (Advertising Standards Authority) are cracking down on advertising Botox and other botulinum toxin injections:

Botox is a prescription-only medicine (POM) and as such, cannot be advertised to the public (rule 12.12) (Venus Beauty Lounge, 5 August 2015 and MyCityDeal Ltd, 14 March 2012). In traditional non-broadcast media, such as leaflets, press ads, brochures, posters and even on sponsored ads, the ASA considers almost every reference to Botox and other botulinum toxin products as promoting a POM and therefore a clear breach of rule 12.12.

Opinion will always be split on whether this treatment is good or healthy. However, the reality is that a great deal of women young and old search daily for these treatments on Google, social media and other search engines to seek out the best and safest practitioners. And, despite Google’s rigorous application of the Botox advertising rules, governing the promotion of some cosmetic procedures, clinics up and down the country are running successful aesthetic campaigns that meet the regulatory requirements.

Perhaps you’re not one of those clinics, or maybe you have tried unsuccessfully to run your own campaigns or simply want to understand what’s possible with the new Botox advertising regulations. We can help. We’ve got the knowledge and expertise in place to build successful, compliant Google and social media campaigns, and ensure your website content meets these strict language rules.

Our interpretation

Botox can be added to your webpage, advertisements or social media but careful consideration needs to be given to the wording. It’s best practice to make sure anyone using your social media is not presented with information solely about botox, including direct references to botox in images, hashtags and promotional marketing. However, it is acceptable to use the term Botox in an inner treatment or service page on your website.

How can this be practically executed?

Whatever medium you decide to promote Botox on, consider using wording that centres more around the outcome. For example, ‘anti-ageing’ or ‘skin rejuvenation’ or ‘facial aesthetics’.

When designing inner treatment pages on your website, advertising Botox is acceptable. However, this page can not be linked to any advertisement on social media or Google.

Currently, Botox as a treatment, should not be directly referred to on:

• Any advertisement campaigns

• Any social media pages

• On the website home page

• In a patient testimonial

• Any practice logos

Solutions

You can add Botox to your price list but it should not be visible at first glance on the homepage.

Use creative language. Try using phrases like ‘skin rejuvenation treatment’ rather than the word ‘Botox’ in any practice literature. The ASA has also recently confirmed you cannot use phrases such as ‘anti-wrinkle injections’.

Although you can’t directly use before and after images in your adverts, simply showing the effects of treatment is more effective than talking about Botox as a Prescription Only Medicine (POM). In this visual content, phrases like ‘skin revitalising’ are more appealing to a customer. However, remember according to Facebook’s standards, you can’t use language which could be described as saying old or wrinkled skin as a negative. Again, you’re going to have to get creative with the copy.

There is a lot to consider here but the guidance for Botox by the ASA does not prohibit you from running Google adwords campaigns or engaging around this topic on your social media pages. The question is how you do it.

Just in case you’re in any doubt on how to advertise dermal fillers, these are not a POM, so you can showcase these however you wish. At CCMEDIA, our advice on advertising botulinum toxin products, is that the best approach is always to focus on the benefits of a treatment both rational and emotional which makes for a far more powerful campaign strategy. Keep it simple and consider the use of visual metaphors to direct the patient to a call to action on an advertisement or your webpage.

We work with many clients who have great success showcasing these treatments through high performance campaigns designed, written and built to be fully compliant with all regulatory rules and regulations. Take a look at our website to see the results we’ve achieved for our clients. And if you’re still stuck, get in touch and see how we can help increase leads not only for your Botox treatments, but for all your services.