{"id":1238,"date":"2026-10-27T09:08:02","date_gmt":"2026-10-26T21:08:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/beyondclix.co.nz\/blog\/digital-marketing-for-health-wellness-nz\/"},"modified":"2026-10-27T09:08:02","modified_gmt":"2026-10-26T21:08:02","slug":"digital-marketing-for-health-wellness-nz","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/beyondclix.co.nz\/blog\/digital-marketing-for-health-wellness-nz\/","title":{"rendered":"Marketing a Health or Wellness Business in NZ: What the New ASA Code Means"},"content":{"rendered":"

You run a clinic, a massage studio or a wellness practice. A happy client writes “best massage I’ve ever had, my back pain is gone”, and you put it on your website. Until this year that was normal marketing. Under New Zealand’s updated health advertising code, that sentence is exactly the kind of testimonial that can get an ad pulled.<\/p>\n

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) rolled out a new Therapeutic and Health Advertising Code<\/a> that applied to new advertising from 1 April 2026 and to all advertising, including campaigns already running, from 1 July 2026. If your marketing was written before then and nobody has re-read it, it is worth doing this week.<\/p>\n

\n \"Six
The code applies to the channels you own, not just the ones you pay for.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Does this apply to a small wellness business?<\/h2>\n

Almost certainly yes. The code defines a “health service” as one that offers a method of treatment for one or more medical conditions, or support for normal healthy body functions. Its own list of examples includes physiotherapy, counselling, relaxation massage<\/strong>, chiropractic, acupuncture, naturopathy and hypnotherapy. It says providers may or may not be registered health professionals, per the code itself<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It also reaches further than paid ads. The code covers advertising in any media, including the advertiser’s own channels, social media, user-generated content, influencers, videos, apps and signage. And it judges “conveyed context”, meaning what your material implies, not just what it literally says.<\/p>\n

Law firm Bell Gully, in its July 2026 briefing<\/a>, notes that advertisers, agencies and media organisations share responsibility, and that each may need to respond to a complaint. If the ASA upholds a complaint it can ask the advertiser, agency and\/or media company to remove the advertisement. In practice, the cost to you is a pulled campaign, lost momentum and a bad week, not a fine.<\/p>\n

The testimonial problem<\/h2>\n

This is the change most likely to catch a good, honest business out. Rule 2(f) says testimonials for health services must be authenticated, genuine, current and typical, and that any payment or exchange of value must be acknowledged. The guidelines go further: a testimonial for a health service must not make a therapeutic purpose claim and must not suggest, directly or by implication, that the service has beneficially affected the health of an individual<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Read that against the reviews on your site. “My sciatica is gone” breaks it. “Cured my headaches” breaks it. The guidelines say testimony that does not imply a therapeutic purpose or reference personal use or benefit is still permitted, with examples like how helpful the team were or how quickly an order arrived. For a clinic, that means feedback about the booking process, the welcome, the clean rooms and the clear explanation of what to expect.<\/p>\n

\n \"Two
The test is whether the testimonial claims a health outcome, not whether it is positive.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The user-generated content rules matter too. The code lists customer comments on platforms you control, and comments under your own social posts, as examples that can cause issues. Even an emoji reply that implies you agree with a client’s claim about their health can be read as endorsing it. Bell Gully’s advice is that non-compliant content tagged to your brand should be untagged or removed.<\/p>\n

That does not mean you stop collecting reviews. Google reviews on your Business Profile are written on Google’s platform, and the sensible approach is a review request that asks about the experience, not the cure. If you also want the legal side of reviews, our guide to what NZ law says about filtering Google reviews<\/a> covers it.<\/p>\n

\n \"A
The look you get when “cured my back” is sitting on your homepage.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Claims on your service pages<\/h2>\n

Your own wording is covered by the same code. Under Rule 1(b), advertisements must not claim or imply that services are effective in all cases, are infallible, magical or miraculous, or are a “certain, guaranteed or sure cure”. They must not claim a service is safe or has no risks. And claims must be substantiated before they are made, a point Bell Gully stresses.<\/p>\n

Practical rewrites for a typical wellness page:<\/p>\n