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WHY YOU SHOULD AVOID STONER CLICHÉS IN YOUR CANNABIS MARKETING CONTENT

Anyone who grew up in the ’90s can remember the many cringe-worthy TV commercials that pandered to young people by appropriating elements of popular culture:

youtube

(Source: YouTube)

Not only were commercials like these often ethically wrong because of their corporatization of legitimate art forms, but they were almost always executed poorly. It was all-too-easy to picture the clueless executives who came up with these ideas, and it was clear, even to children, that marketing departments were trying to score quick wins by “speaking the young people’s language.”

The same could be said for any cannabis company that attempts to persuade an audience with stoner clichés in their cannabis marketing content.

This type of pandering isn’t just bad marketing. It can backfire tremendously, especially if you’re an ancillary cannabis brand that needs to be accepted as a serious business partner.

We live in an age where a single mistake made online can go viral. Once something is live on the internet, it’s essentially published forever. Emerging cannabis firms can’t afford to miss the mark, and in an industry rife with oversight and regulations, they certainly can’t afford to make themselves look suspect.

Contrary to what some believe, the cannabis business was always going to be a legitimate one after the right legislation passed. Its proponents have been waiting in the wings for decades as bills snaked their way through statehouses. Even though marijuana still isn’t legal in every state, the cannabis industry was mature the moment it launched.

If you’re trying to make your mark in the cannabis industry, here’s what you need to know to create legitimate marketing content.

www.readygreen.com/cbd-marketing

THE MATURATION OF THE CANNABIS INDUSTRY

In the U.S., the legal marijuana industry, in all its forms, grew by $10.4 billion in 2018. It employs over 250,000 people and is expected to continue growing in 2019. What was once considered a far-flung, semi-legal industry dominated by head shops and dubious online marketplaces has transformed into a significant presence in many of our communities.

Successful cannabis companies no longer cater to stoner stereotypes. Instead, they invest in the same essential marketing strategies as other businesses, including assets like attractive and informative packaging, contemporary interior design, inbound marketing, advertising, and community outreach.

The medical cannabis field has transitioned from a niche and suspicious market to one that is much more accepted by both scientists and medical professionals. In June of 2018, the FDA approved the first drug comprised of an active ingredient derived from marijuana to treat epilepsy.

Medical cannabis dispensaries still use recognizable terms when describing their products (you can still purchase “Doobiebird Daydream,” for example), but they are now an important lifeline for people with chronic pain and people with conditions that have not responded to other types of medicine.

A cannabis dispensary may sell its customers Maui Wowie, but they’ll also provide those customers with useful content about the history of the strain, its chemical makeup, its effects, its health benefits, and a list of reviews from other users. They may even include some scientific documentation.

This is all to say that, no matter the product, service, or business model, every cannabis business should take themselves, and their customers, as seriously as they would in any other industry. That means employing a legitimate content strategy, just like any other business.

WHAT DOES EFFECTIVE CANNABIS MARKETING CONTENT LOOKS LIKE?

As in any other industry, content marketing involves the production of content assets (e.g., blog posts, videos, images, infographics, etc.) that are educational, entertaining, and relevant to a target audience. These assets are shared online via a website and social networks to help customers and drive interest in a product or brand.

Cannabis content marketing shouldn’t deviate from the type of content marketing performed in other industries, except in terms of the subject matter. Naturally, you’ll be writing about cannabis, but you should still follow these content marketing tenets:

PROVIDE RELEVANT CONTENT

You should have a clear definition of who your buyers are.

Ideally, you’ll create buyer personas — fully-documented representations of your ideal customers. Every detail is relevant when creating a buyer persona, such as what those personas do for work to what they do during their time off, in addition to standard demographic information.

Once you have a few buyer personas fleshed out, you’ll have a better understanding of who you’re creating content for and what they value. More importantly, you’ll understand their pain points.

You can then create valuable content that addresses those pain points and drives value for your business. Whether you sell a cannabis product to consumers or provide services to other cannabis companies, know your audience.

PROVIDE VALUE WITH YOUR CONTENT

Your content should fulfill an unmet need. You might provide be critical information that people are searching for online, or you help your audience with industry research, a useful tool, or a how-to guide for solving a problem.

If you can put yourself in a position to make your buyer’s lives less complicated, they’ll view you as a resource rather than just a company trying to sell them something.

Stay Consistent

Finally, your content marketing should be consistent. If you want to publish videos, do it on a schedule. Publish a new video every Friday and push it out to social media. If you publish three blog posts each week, stay on task to ensure you have plenty of material for your weekly newsletter.

It also pays to invest considerably in content. According to one study, companies that publish 16 or more blog posts each month receive 3.5 times the amount of traffic as companies that post 4 blog posts or less.

BUILD YOUR CANNABIS CONTENT MARKETING STRATEGY

If you’re struggling to stay consistent with your content marketing or you just don’t know where to start, it’s okay to ask for help from content marketing experts.

ReadyGreen helps cannabis businesses generate more leads and sales through their online content assets. We provide services like branding, design, SEO, and social media management to execute mature cannabis marketing campaigns.

Original Source: https://www.readygreen.com/content-marketing/why-you-should-avoid-stoner-cliches-in-your-cannabis-marketing-content/

from Ready Green https://readygreen1.blogspot.com/2020/07/why-you-should-avoid-stoner-cliches-in.html source https://readygreen1.tumblr.com/post/623055248591847424

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joshuafinleycom · 4 years

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A COMPREHENSIVE GUIDE TO CBD ADVERTISING

by Richard Fong | 16 Apr 2019 | Blog, Cannabis Advertising | 0 comments

Whether you’re just starting your CBD business, or you’ve already launched, you may be concerned about the legal issues surrounding this burgeoning industry.

First off, know that you’re not alone. Market researchers believe the CBD (cannabidiol) industry will grow to $22 billion by 2022, having already rocketed up to $591 million in 2018. For reference, this industry was virtually non-existent just a few short years ago.

CBD is legal to sell at the federal level as long as it meets certain requirements — it must be derived from hemp, not marijuana, for example. But advertising your CBD products is much trickier.

While you have little chance of getting into any kind of legal trouble by advertising CBD products, you may have a hard time finding platforms (social media, publications, etc.) that will support your ads. That’s because the platforms themselves are concerned about the legal implications of CBD advertising. They are held responsible for their content, so they take all the risk in posting such ads.

Likely, your CBD advertising won’t give you the same results as ads placed by businesses in more mainstream industries. That’s why you should also back up your paid ads with a comprehensive inbound marketing campaign.

This guide will give you the details on how to navigate this landscape.

https://www.readygreen.com/cbd-marketing

FOLLOWING STATE AND FEDERAL CBD LAWS

CBD is still in a legal gray area. At the time of this writing, 47 states allow the sale of CBD products in some form, but they have a strict definition of what CBD is and which products must be labeled a drug.

You can see a state-by-state chart of the country’s various cannabis programs on the National Conference of State Legislatures website, including the names of laws that may affect you. For example, here’s the listing for California:

(Source: NCSL)

Most important is the distinction between CBD derived from hemp and CBD derived from marijuana. Because hemp presents only trace amounts of the psychoactive chemical Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), it is considered legal in most circumstances. Marijuana, made from the leaves and flowers of the cannabis plant, is still classified as a drug and isn’t legal in every state (yet).

States and the federal government generally regulate cannabis products based on their quantity of THC. Legal hemp products, including CBD, must have no more than 0.3% of THC present to be considered legal, although this percentage may be lower in some states.

Additionally, the FDA has heightened its concern about CBD products due to the number of erroneous claims made by some producers implying that CBD products have distinct medical benefits. At present, many of the medical benefits of CBD oils, salves, and other products have not been scientifically proven, at least not to the point where they are accepted by the federal government.

At the time of this writing, there is only one drug comprised of an active ingredient derived from marijuana to treat illnesses. Epidiolex (cannabidiol) is an oral solution used to treat epilepsy. Dronabinol, a synthetic cannabinoid, is used to treat nausea and vomiting, but it is man-made and not actually a cannabis derivative.

Even if you believe your products do have medical benefits, do not make medical claims in your advertising. Use generalized claims or testimonials, and back up any claims with evidence from reliable sources.

CBD ADVERTISING ON SOCIAL MEDIA

Since you’ll be selling your CBD products mostly to consumers, it’s natural for you to want to advertise on social media.

Facebook alone has 2.5 billion people using at least one of its apps, and platforms like Twitter and Instagram are still immensely popular.

Unfortunately, all the major platforms have policies that ban the advertisement of cannabis products, including CBD products. There are a few things you can try to get around these policies. But, for the most part, you won’t be able to deploy ads for CBD products.

Here’s how the three major platforms, including Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, and Instagram, approach CBD.

FACEBOOK CBD ADVERTISING

Facebook forbids advertisements that depict drugs and drug-related products, including CBD. Pipes and other paraphernalia are also included in their ban.

This, however, does not mean you are barred from advertising on Facebook just because you are a CBD company (although you may have trouble if CBD is in your brand name or you use cannabis imagery in your logo). Facebook’s policies apply only to the content of your ads.

If you can get creative with your ads, you may be able to get your ads accepted. For example, depictions of people on your team, acceptable stock photography, and language that doesn’t imply that you sell CBD products may all be accepted by Facebook.

Here’s an example of something that might work:

(Source: Living With Pain on Facebook)

Nonetheless, your ads may not be very effective if you can’t advertise the very product you sell.

Keep in mind that these policies only apply to Facebook’s ads. You should have no problem creating a business page and posting organically to the platform — just stay aware of their policies regarding user content.

TWITTER CBD ADVERTISING

Twitter also has strict rules regarding its advertisements. For example, the platform does not allow the following in any of its ads:

Drug dispensaries

Depictions of hard drug use

Accessories associated with drug use (paraphernalia)

Illegal drugs

Herbal and recreational drugs

The ban on advertisements for “herbal” drugs or supplements all but eliminates any chance of CBD companies advertising on the platform.

However, you should have no problem posting organically to Twitter to promote your business. You may also try to get around this policy by being creative, but you may run into the same issues as you would on Facebook.

INSTAGRAM CBD ADVERTISING

Facebook acquired Instagram in 2012, so all the ad policies that apply to Facebook apply to Instagram as well.

SNAPCHAT CBD ADVERTISING

In its advertising policies, Snap Inc. prohibits ads that “depict drug use or excessive drinking.” Ads for pharmaceutical and healthcare products can only promote “those products or services that have been approved by the local regulatory authorities in each of the countries targeted.”

For the most part, Snapchat will not allow any type of cannabis advertisements to run on the platform. However, you should be able to post organically.

REDDIT CBD ADVERTISING

Reddit does not currently allow ads for CBD products:

(Source: Reddit)

Sec. II.3 states the following: “Advertisers may not use the Platform to promote the use or sale of hazardous, dangerous, or injurious products or services, including products subject to consumer recalls, explosive materials or fireworks, recreational drugs or substances, weapons, guns, ammunition, explosives, tobacco products, and related products or services.”

CBD ADVERTISING ON GOOGLE

Aside from the major social media platforms, there’s no more powerful advertising hub than the king of search, Google. Google still controls 37.2% of the digital ad market despite some recent gains by Amazon and Facebook.

Unfortunately, Google doesn’t allow the advertisement of CBD products, either. In fact, unlike other platforms, Google lists CBD specifically in their list of banned products:

(Source: Google)

CBD ADVERTISING IN PUBLICATIONS

The one area where you may have luck advertising your CBD products is in specific publications, both online and in print. Each publication sets their own advertising policy, and it’s a safe bet that cannabis-friendly magazines like High Times and Cannabis Culture won’t bat an eye at your advertisement.

Other publications may be receptive to your ads as well.

You may have to reach out to each publication individually to place an ad, however. This can be a time-consuming process. But since most of these publications already have a baked-in audience, you could still see significant returns on your investment.

MARKETING YOUR CBD PRODUCTS

While “marketing” is often used as a catch-all phrase to refer to advertising, branding, PR campaigns, etc., inbound marketing and digital marketing are distinct from paid advertising, and they should be an essential part of your CBD sales and marketing strategy.

The two most important marketing strategies in the CBD space are content marketing and search engine optimization (SEO).

Searches for cannabis and CBD products have spiked due to recent changes in state cannabis laws, public interest, and because of the mounting evidence that CBD provides numerous health benefits. The public is hungry for information about CBD, so they’re turning to Google and other search engines to find it.

If you run a company that sells CBD products, you have a unique opportunity to take advantage of this jump in public interest. You should research the keywords your customers are searching and build out content to address their search queries.

For example, we did our own research into CBD keywords and started generating a list:

You may need special tools to get this information, but you can also use Google’s Keyword Planner if you have Google Ads account.

Once you have a running list of keywords, use them to inform the types of blog and web content you produce. Make sure you’re posting content regularly, so your audience always has something new to look at. Search engines also prioritize websites that are updated frequently.

In addition to keywords, focus on generating backlinks to your website. Backlinks tell search engines that your website is authoritative and worth listing in search results.

The best backlinking strategy is to create helpful, informative content that people want to share and link to. However, you can also consider some of these strategies:

Guest blogging for relevant websites and publications

Asking customers or other bloggers to review your product

Creating unique resources or tools that people want to link to

Writing press releases

Listing your business in directories

Remember, you only want quality backlinks from reputable sources, and you should prioritize websites that are relevant to your own, more information here.

GET HELP WITH YOUR CBD MARKETING AND ADVERTISING

Consider backing up your content and SEO strategy with social media marketing. Although most platforms will ban advertisements for CBD, you usually have the freedom to post about CBD, just as long as you don’t violate any user guidelines.

Create an email newsletter to keep your customers informed about the latest developments at your company. You can also share your most recent content.

Naturally, many of these marketing tactics can be difficult. If you have a brand-new CBD business, you may not know where to start.

If you need help navigating the challenging world of CBD marketing, contact us and click here. We’ll provide you with a free consultation and show you how you can beat your competitors online.

Original Source: https://www.readygreen.com/cannabis-advertising/a-comprehensive-guide-to-cbd-advertising/

from Ready Green https://readygreen1.blogspot.com/2020/06/a-comprehensive-guide-to-cbd-advertising.html source https://readygreen1.tumblr.com/post/622300279707205632

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