Addiction treatment marketing: paid social ad creative

The ads are for programs that offer licensed addiction treatment, in person or remotely. LegitScript lists the clinical services it considers for certification, including detox, residential or outpatient treatment and outpatient counseling.

We do not make ads for lead generators, call centers or referral services that send patients to other providers for a fee. LegitScript says those businesses may not qualify for its certification.

On Meta and Google, addiction treatment ads in the United States depend on LegitScript certification. The Meta and Google policies below require certification for these ads in the United States. The rules below set this out, each from its official page.

Our LegitScript certification page explains the certification process.

We write angles around what a program offers and can show. Examples:

• The levels of care the program offers, and where.
• How admission works and what the first call is like.
• What a day in the program looks like.
• How a program fits around work or family, if it offers that.
• The insurance a program accepts, if it states this.

Two kinds of angle stay out of our ads:

• Outcome guarantees. We do not promise that treatment will work or that a person will stay in recovery.
• Free travel, free housing or other incentives. We do not offer to pay for travel, rent or anything else in exchange for coming to a program.

LegitScript Standard 13 says applicants must ensure that all advertisements are accurate, transparent and not misleading. It also says ads must clearly identify the advertiser, must not use third-party business names, and may not claim locations where the applicant does not provide services. Standard 14 says applicants must disclose all incentives offered to patients, that applicants offering incentives such as paying for travel will in general not be eligible for approval, and that paying for patients’ rent or health insurance premiums while they are in treatment is also a problematic incentive.

Source: LegitScript: Addiction Treatment Certification standards. Checked on 31 October 2026.

Public Law 115-271, section 8121, says the subtitle may be cited as the Eliminating Kickbacks in Recovery Act of 2018. Section 8122 added 18 U.S.C. § 220. For services covered by a health care benefit program, that section makes it an offense to knowingly and willfully pay or offer any remuneration, including a kickback, bribe or rebate, to induce a referral of an individual to a recovery home, clinical treatment facility or laboratory, or in exchange for an individual using its services. Soliciting or receiving remuneration for such a referral is also an offense. Each occurrence can be punished with a fine, prison or both.

Sources: 18 U.S.C. § 220 on govinfo and Public Law 115-271 on govinfo. Checked on 31 October 2026.

For ads, this is one more reason not to offer anything of value in exchange for coming to a program. This is general information, not legal advice. Ask your counsel how the law applies to your program.

A batch is one angle made into 10 ads: 5 videos in different formats and 5 statics. The batch goes into one ad set.

• Animated explainers. Whiteboard, stop motion and 3D animation can show a situation without showing a real patient.
• Voiceover over the program. A calm voice explains how admission works, over footage or animation of the setting.
• What to expect static. A single image that lists the steps from the first call to the first day.
• Referral partner ads. Short videos and statics for clinicians and case managers that explain the levels of care and how a referral works.

Every video in 9:16 and 4:5. Revisions are included on every ad. See the animated ads page for examples of each animated style.

• IOP and PHP program marketing
• Ads for behavioral health platforms
• Mental health telehealth ads