Cannabis growers, sellers and other stakeholders in the marijuana industry looking to promote their business digitally can use social media to grow organically and extend their reach. However, it can be easier said than done because Facebook and other social media sites implement strict advertising and marketing rules for marijuana businesses.
So what are the challenges faced by cannabis marketing specialists on social media? Here’s what you need to know.
The same advertising policies govern the use of Instagram since it’s acquired by Facebook in 2012. For this reason, there is not any type of advertising related to cannabis on this site. It keeps disabling Cannabis accounts whenever it sees fit, sometimes without a communicated or justified reason.
If you’re a cannabis business trying to promote on IG, some rules to reduce your chances of being banned or disabled include not selling anything related to cannabis. You must not link to your online store where you sell medicinal, CBD or recreational cannabis.
As its community guidelines state, it is not allowed to offer any prescription or illegal drugs even if it is legal in your region.
Now if you’re linking in your stories or bio, you should send users to educational pages or blogs. After all, educating your audience is a good way to promote your business indirectly. For better results, you must add a disclaimer that you’re not selling anything as well as that your content is for mature audience 21 above only.
It prohibits promoting drug-related products and drugs like recreational drugs, one of its advertising policies.
You must not include any of them in the images or texts you include in your ads. Also, you must also avoid words like cannabis or marijuana in your ads. Then, if the ads are disapproved continuously, your page’s trust score from Facebook can be affected.
As a result, your current and future ad results can be limited. At worst, your account can be banned.
Due to federal restrictions, you should not also run ads even in states and territories where marijuana is legal. If you don’t comply with the advertising rules, you might have your ads stopped or your account banned.
It is for the same reason that cannabis businesses seek help from cannabis marketers that have the specialization in promoting marijuana businesses on social media.
These professionals can find a way on how to get your ads approved by getting past the approval algorithm of Facebook Ad Manager.
For example, they can add branded text overlay or watermarks on cannabis imagery. It can help in getting past the approval algorithm of Facebook.
With their help, you may be able to increase website traffic and impressions and later on grow your target audience.
Just like on Facebook, it is prohibited on LinkedIn to market and promote drug-related products and services, drugs and prescription pharmaceuticals. Advertisements promoting herbal medicines, highs, illegal drugs, treatments as well as psychoactive substance effects or things to help pass drug tests are also prohibited even if they’re legal in the applicable jurisdiction.
But while no one is allowed to promote cannabis products on it, business-to-business marketers are still permitted to target a cannabis-related business. In addition, you can run a pay-per-click campaign for that audience provided you know where they are, making the site a good marketing tool for cannabis business owners worldwide.
Google My Business
Google also has strict advertising policies that cannabis businesses should comply with, including not promoting any recreational drugs or substances altering one’s mental state or induce a high like methamphetamine, legal highs and marijuana.
So if you would like to prevent your ads from being banned or your account be disabled, you should abide by those rules.
For your business, you can focus on setting up a Google My Business profile and then create an updated listing with the info it needs. You can also use it for reviews, showing your great reputation for offering an equally great user experience and service.
Nevertheless, use your Google My Business page by providing users with valuable information and insight and be sure to maintain it regularly to take full advantage of the platform.
The challenges on cannabis growers on social media are still far from ending, but then, using the allowed marketing strategies, choosing the right people to work with and advertising according to their rules and policies, you can slowly but surely get by and extend your business’ reach on social media and the world in general.
Follow these tips and promote your cannabis business on Facebook, Google My Business, Instagram and LinkedIn today!
