Pro Tips For Your Cannabis Social Media

From A Cannabis Marketing Professional

In a heavily regulated industry like cannabis, social media provides one of the few reliable avenues for marketing your products and boosting your brand. But even still, there are a host of challenges that must still be overcome, not least of which is the ambiguous oversight and unclear guidelines as to what is and isn't allowed when it comes to cannabis, hemp, and CBD.

To try and make it easier for cannabis business owners and marketers, here's are some professional tips on how to get the most of your social media marketing and avoided the dreaded takedown of your accounts.

Make Sure Your Social Media Properly Represents Your Cannabis Brand

The number one rule of social media is to remember that every single post on one of your accounts is an extension of your company. Poor quality photos, shaky video, blog posts with grammatical mistakes, they all matter. Some companies dismiss this notion, saying it's just Instagram or it's just Tik-Tok. But your customers will remember, even if it's subconciously, especially when your competitors are churning out useful, engaging content. This is why more and more companies are choosing to partner with a professional social media management team, in particular those that specialize in the cannabis industry.

Remember The 70/30 Rule

The Hood Collective recommends following a marketing principle known as the 70/30 rule. It simply means that approximately 70 percent of your content should be valuable to your followers, whether it's informative, educational, entertaining, or engaging in some other way. The other 30 percent of your posts are allowed to be specifically promotional. Whether your a cannabis grow putting out high-resolution photos of your flowers and growing techniques, or a dispensary featuring useful tips on the best cannabis products on the market, put your customers first when it comes to your marketing content. Your brand will be the benefit.

Post Consistently

One of the simplest yet most important things you can do to grow your social media following is to be consistent. Post at least every day, if not more often. Don't let weeks go by with nothing and then be surprised when your important announcement about an upcoming event or new product doesn't gain any traction. The platforms prize engagement, and the more consisently you use their apps, the more they will reward you with impressions and followers. If you are having trouble posting on the regular because you are too busy, maybe it's time to turn to a professional.

Pick The Right Platforms

While it might be tempting to try your hand at every new social media platform that comes along, we recommend focusing on one or two that best fit your needs. Doing so will ensure you can hone your content for that specific platform. Growers and cultivators will probably have the most success on Instagram, where there's already a good-sized cannabis audience. For anyone trying to position themselves as a thought leader in cannabis, Twitter is the place to be (though there's a big opportunity in Clubhouse right now). Dispensary owners and event organizers definitely need to create a presence on Facebook, in addition to all the location based review sites like Yelp. YouTube is the place for educational videos and FAQs. We also find that LinkedIn is an overlooked platform in the cannabis industry that has a lot of potential for business owners looking for partners and investors.

Lean Heavily Into Cannabis

Because of the stigma still associated with cannabis, not to mention that it's still federally illegal, the social media platforms have a long history of suppressing or outright banning cannabis content. The infamous shadow ban is a real thing, even if the companies won't admit to it. This means you need to make a decision whether your social media will mention cannabis or not. Doing so will mean you will get siloed, and your content, even content that has nothing to do with cannabis, will only get shown to people who have shown that they are highly interested in cannabis content. If you are a service provider that works with cannabis and non-cannabis clients, you should think seriously about creating cannabis specific accounts for your cannabis business, and keep them separate from your regular accounts.

Likewise, if you sell both cannabis (with THC) and CBD products, you should probably create separate brands for them. Many of the platforms are more open to CBD content, and it might even be possible to run ads or PPC campaigns for these products, whereas that won't be possible if you are also promoting cannabis.

The above tips are a good starting point as you craft your social media marketing campaign for your company. Good luck, and let us know if you have any questions.