How to Market CBD Business On Social Media?

Introduction 

CBD is among the leading industries that is growing considerably because of its range of products and popularity among customers. So, starting a CBD business and growing it is not that easy, and it comes with its set of difficulties. 

Along with the operations and growth, marketing is also difficult. As marketing for CBD and cannabis enters a legal gray area, more and more companies are realizing that social media is the best component of their marketing mix for drawing attention to their content. 

Social media is proving to be the best marketing tool for CBD businesses as 93% of marketers use social media for their business. This number is growing and growing, considerably.  On top of it, social media has surpassed paid ads as the most popular way to advertise, with social media marketing now worth more than $137 billion.     

But, still, there are so many things to keep in mind, as social media platforms also levies restrictions on CBD businesses. But, don’t worry – we have got you covered. 

In this blog, we will be covering the best social media marketing methods along with some best tips to stay away from any restrictions and suspension. 

The average social media user spends a whopping 151 minutes, or 2 hours and 31 minutes, on social media every day. This provides many opportunities for CBD businesses to reach customers.

Also Read: How to Start a CBD Business

Challenges that CBD Businesses While Marketing! 

By understanding these challenges and developing strategies to address them, CBD businesses can more effectively leverage social media for marketing. Marketing a CBD business on social media presents several unique challenges:

Regulatory Restrictions

Major platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Google have strict policies on promoting CBD products. Ads for CBD are often restricted or outright banned, making it difficult to use paid advertising effectively​.

Even organic posts can face restrictions. Some platforms might flag or remove content related to CBD, especially if it makes health claims or violates community guidelines. So, make sure while making the social posts for your CBD business to get the best results. 

Also Read: How to Get a CBD License?

Platform-Specific Challenges

Social media platforms frequently update their algorithms, which can affect the visibility of CBD-related content. Staying updated with these changes and adjusting strategies accordingly is essential​. CBD businesses may experience shadow banning, where their content is hidden or restricted without clear notification, reducing their reach and engagement​. 

Building Trust and Credibility

Overcoming consumer skepticism and misinformation about CBD on social media requires creating clear and trustworthy educational content.

CBD marketers need to provide accurate and reliable information to correct myths and show their products are safe and high-quality. It’s also important to stand out by clearly explaining what makes their brand unique and valuable, which helps gain customer trust and loyalty.

Also Read: Marketing Ideas for CBD Business?

Content Strategy

Developing content that is engaging, informative, and compliant with platform policies can be challenging. Marketers must balance promotional efforts with valuable content that educates and informs their audience​. While influencer marketing can be effective, finding influencers who are willing to work with CBD brands and comply with platform policies adds another layer of complexity. 

Also Read: How to Market CBD Business on Social Media?

Navigating Legal Complexities

CBD businesses must navigate a complex and ever-changing legal landscape when marketing on social media. Laws regarding CBD vary significantly across states and countries, and ensuring compliance is crucial to avoid legal issues. This complexity is due to stringent FDA regulations and this legal variability demands that marketers stay informed and adaptable to different regulatory environments.

How CBD Businesses Can Market Their Business & Products on Social Media? 

Understand your Audience & Post the Right Type of Content 

You just can’t post anything while building your brand and audience on social media. You need to understand your target audience, decide what they want, and curate your social media content media strategy. 

• Educational content helps inform your audience about CBD. Share blog posts, infographics, and videos explaining CBD benefits, usage, and legal status to build trust in your brand and CBD products. 
• Showcase your products with high-quality images, videos, and detailed descriptions. Highlight unique features and benefits to attract and inform potential customers, helping them understand why they should choose your products over competitors.
• Share customer testimonials and reviews to build trust and credibility. Positive experiences from real users can greatly influence potential customers’ buying decisions and enhance your brand’s reputation.
• Behind-the-scenes content includes showcasing your production process, ingredient sourcing, and team members to give followers an inside look at your brand. 
• Engagement Posts include polls, questions, and quizzes to encourage followers to participate and share their opinions, increasing your reach and engagement. 
• Promotional Content helps you drive sales with promotional content. Announce sales, discounts, and special offers, giveaways, contests, and highlight new product launches to attract attention and encourage purchases.

Over time, keep tracking your analytics to see what your customers are loving and redesign the content strategies accordingly. 

Also Read: How to Market Your CBD Business on Facebook?

Build Your Brand On Social Media & Loyal Community 

When promoting CBD products on social media, brand uniqueness is essential. Customers prioritize visual appeal over all other considerations. In fact,  According to studies, 93% of buyers consider visual appearance when evaluating new products. 

As a result, utilizing consistent color schemes throughout your CBD product range will set your brand apart from the competition, increase consumer loyalty, and promote brand awareness. Consistency across social media platforms helps brands become more visible, reduce negative attention, and boost consumer satisfaction and loyalty.

Apart from creating a unique brand for your business, you also need to focus on creating a community. A loyal community, that feels connected to your brand, engages with it, and keeps coming to you for more.   

To create a brand & community for your CBD business, you need to create a story around your business that your audience relates with, and post consistently with a blend of quality content(that is Informational, fun, relevant conversational, engaging, and more). Also, make sure to engage with your audience apart from posting and stay away from all the content and visuals that can put your account at risk. 

Reposting User-Generated Content! 

Post relevant local content to connect with your Instagram community.

Sharing information about your new CBD goods and content is beneficial, but it is also important to interact with your local community via UGC (user-generated content), whether it is users, influencers, or small CBD firms. Posting and reposting relevant local content—especially from other nearby companies, influencers, and users—will help you build your online visibility.

There are a few crucial components to remember while posting or reposting local material such as the right hashtags, location tags, and local marketing tools. 

Here’s a tip you shouldn’t forget: Before reposting, make sure to consult the original user and always tag their account.  

Furthermore, other company owners will be grateful for the free marketing, which will assist you in developing long-term ties in the local community. You can be able to interact with a whole audience if they repost your material and mention your brand in their feed. 

Reposting content shows your dedication to the community at large as well. It humanizes your CBD brand and positions you as a “local business,” which is something that many customers truly appreciate. Lastly, you’ll save a ton of time and work by reposting relevant stuff. 

Post Quality Content(Consistently) 

You have made a profile on social media and you have started posting as well. But, posting high-quality content that too consistently is quite important. On top of it, good content is favored by both your audience and search engines. In current competitive times, CBD businesses must curate well-curated content, that contains correct information, and is useful. 

You can position yourself as an expert and improve your favorable reputation by providing high-quality information about your CBD business and products. The best approach to win people over to your point of view is through your content, which will present you as an expert in the industry. 

This is especially true with CBD products, which people are only now becoming more aware of. CBD is somewhat new and has just recently been legal. It could take a bit of convincing for some people to realize its advantages.

And, you can convince your target audience with easy-to-understand, visually appealing, and relatable content for your audience. If you can do all of these tasks, you will be able to improve your brand reputation while also increasing sales and conversions for your company.  

Choose the Best & Relevant Influencers for your Brand! 

CBD businesses rely heavily on influencer marketing because it works! It’s one of the most successful ways to market your items because you’re relying on the endorsement of someone whom a vast community believes. As a result, utilizing influencers to promote your CBD products can be extremely beneficial in terms of income generation. 

As per a global 2024 survey, 22.4 percent of businesses stated they invested 10 to 20 percent of their marketing budget into influencer marketing. 

Remember that you don’t have to begin with well-known celebrities or influencers who have millions of followers. Numerous social media influencers have the eyes and ears of your intended audience. Your goal is to find them and propose to collaborate with them so they can share content about your brand amongst their audience. 

You need to choose an online influencer whose content aligns with your brand image and with whom your target audience currently interacts. 

Micro-influencers can be more reasonably priced and extremely effective. Just make sure to pick influencers wisely and only collaborate with those who enhance rather than detract from your brand. If you can convince a handful of these influencers to promote your CBD products, it will increase your traffic and sales dramatically.

Choose the Right Hashtags for Your Social Media

Using the right hashtags is crucial for CBD businesses when marketing on social media as it helps increase visibility, reach a relevant audience, and boost engagement.  

• Increased Visibility: Hashtags help your content reach a larger audience. When you use relevant hashtags, your posts can be seen by people who follow or search for those specific hashtags, even if they don’t follow your account.
• Targeted Audience: Hashtags allow you to target specific groups interested in CBD, health, wellness, and related topics. This ensures that your content reaches people who are more likely to be interested in your products.
• Engagement Boost: Posts with appropriate hashtags tend to get more likes, comments, and shares, increasing engagement and driving more traffic to your profile and website.
• Brand Awareness: Consistently using branded hashtags to build brand recognition and loyalty among your audience. 

Here’s a tip to keep in mind: Identify popular and relevant hashtags related to CBD, health, and wellness. Use a mix of broad and niche hashtags to maximize your reach. Broad hashtags like #CBD can attract a wide audience, while niche hashtags like #CBDforSleep can target specific groups interested in particular benefits of CBD. 

By incorporating relevant hashtags into your posts, you can expand your reach beyond your existing followers and connect with individuals who are actively searching for CBD-related content.    

You Can Use Geotags as Well! 

Make use of more than just your retail location tag when using local geotags.

Geotags work similarly to hashtags, putting your material in front of more people. It’s a customized tag that, when clicked, displays a map with the actual location. Users may see exactly where the image was taken or tagged. 

Geotags are a great method to connect with local customers, both past and present. That’s still a useful approach to engage customers even if your organization does most (or all) of its business online. In the photos, the majority of businesses already geotag their store, but you need to go above and beyond this fundamental step. In addition to geotagging your retail store, use geotags for popular locations and landmarks in your area.    

That doesn’t mean you should be randomly geotagging places on completely unrelated content. So, you can try to create click-worthy and engaging content in local landmarks, events, and similar spots. This is the content you should be geotagging with the matching geographical locations.

When a user clicks on a specific geotag, a variety of posts using that tag also show up. This means that users exploring a random event or location could spot your content and find your brand, all thanks to a geotag.

Tips to Keep in While Marketing Your CBD Business on Social Media! 

Marketing CBD products on social media can be tough due to the rules and regulations that CBD businesses face. But, by following the simple tips, CBD businesses can effectively market their products on social media while navigating the challenges with ease. 

Let’s get started: 

• Make sure you understand and follow the rules of each social media platform to avoid getting your posts removed or your accounts banned. 
• Make sure all your marketing materials comply with federal and state laws. 
• Don’t rely on just one social media platform. Use multiple platforms to reach a wider audience and reduce the risk of account suspension on any one platform. 
• Keep up with changes in CBD laws and regulations. Adjust your marketing strategies to stay compliant. Joining industry groups or subscribing to legal updates can help.
• Steer clear of making unsupported health claims about your CBD products. Stick to general wellness messaging and avoid implying CBD as a cure for specific ailments.
• Be transparent about your products’ sourcing, manufacturing processes, and third-party testing to build trust with your audience.
• Encourage user-generated content but ensure it aligns with platform policies and does not contain misleading claims or inappropriate material.
• If partnering with influencers, ensure they understand and comply with CBD advertising regulations. Choose influencers who promote CBD responsibly.

To Conclude 

That’s a wrap on everything you need to know about marketing your CBD business on social media. While navigating social media can be tricky, using the right strategies like educational content, user testimonials, and effective hashtags can help you connect with your audience and grow your brand.

To boost your social media presence, you can check out the POS system from CBD Merchant Solutions. It helps you post your products directly on Facebook and Instagram, making it easier to showcase what you offer. 

Plus, with the customer data from our POS system, you can personalize your social media campaigns to boost conversions and improve your return on investment (ROI).

In short, by combining smart social media strategies with advanced tools, you can effectively market your CBD business, reach more customers, and achieve better results. If you have any questions or are looking to book your free demo with us, get in touch with us & get started right away!