No matter what your business, social media marketing is essential – but for CBD brands, advertising on platforms like Instagram or Facebook isn’t exactly easy.

Because CBD products, like all cannabis and hemp-sourced products, technically fall into a “gray area” of federal law, advertising can get pretty tricky. Corporations like Instagram don’t want to get caught up in the legal complexities of CBD marketing, so they tend to take a zero-tolerance approach to ads for CBD, cannabis, and the like. Even if CBD is legal for purchase, it’s not quite that simple when it comes to advertising.

But here’s the good news: you can still figure out how to market CBD on Instagram, even with the obstacles. All you need are a few handy tips, some smart strategies, and the help of a knowledgeable industry marketing team like ours at Marijuana Marketing Xperts.

 

Can You Advertise CBD on Instagram?

Here’s the million-dollar question: are you allowed to advertise CBD on Instagram? Is it possible to market CBD products on social media sites?

Technically speaking, you can attempt to advertise CBD oils and other products on Instagram. In fact, you’ve probably seen more than a few CBD ads that have managed to slip by. However, CBD ads on Instagram go against their Community Guidelines, which state:

“Buying or selling non-medical or pharmaceutical drugs are also not allowed. We also remove content that attempts to trade, coordinate the trade of, donate, gift, or ask for non-medical drugs, as well as content that either admits to personal use (unless in the recovery context) or coordinates or promotes the use of non-medical drugs.”

Some CBD brands argue that, as long as their CBD is sourced from hemp, it doesn’t technically fall under the umbrella of “drugs” (unlike marijuana-sourced CBD). Even though those knowledgeable in CBD understand that there are key differences between marijuana and hemp CBD, Instagram doesn’t necessarily make the same distinctions for advertising.

In other words, you can certainly attempt to advertise CBD on Instagram. But even if you manage to get your ads approved (which is unlikely), they will probably be pulled down – and your account could end up disabled. Here’s what Instagram says about disabling accounts:

We can remove any content or information you share on the Service if we believe that it violates these Terms of Use, our policies (including our Instagram Community Guidelines), or we are permitted or required to do so by law. We can refuse to provide or stop providing all or part of the Service to you (including terminating or disabling your access to the Meta Products and Meta Company Products) immediately to protect our community or services, or if you create risk or legal exposure for us, violate these Terms of Use or our policies (including our Instagram Community Guidelines), if you repeatedly infringe other people’s intellectual property rights, or where we are permitted or required to do so by law. We can also terminate or change the Service, remove or block content or information shared on our Service, or stop providing all or part of the Service if we determine that doing so is reasonably necessary to avoid or mitigate adverse legal or regulatory impacts on us. If you believe your account has been terminated in error, or you want to disable or permanently delete your account, consult our Help Center.

Phew! That’s quite the policy, so let’s break it down:

• Instagram has the final say regarding blocking or removing any content they consider violating their terms.
• Instagram reserves the right to disable or terminate your account.

If you currently have posted content that might violate Instagram’s rules, don’t panic. Recent policy changes mean that Instagram is now issuing warnings by disabling, rather than immediately deleting, accounts. So, you’ll receive a message that your account has been temporarily disabled, giving you time to resolve the issue before all your hard work is completely wiped out. Keep in mind that if you repeatedly violate Instagram’s terms of use, they can decide to remove your account altogether.

So, to recap: even though you might be able to sneak in a few Instagram ads for CBD, trying to sidestep the rules is generally a bad idea. The risk isn’t worth the potential reward.

But that doesn’t mean you have to give up on social media marketing for CBD products altogether; you just have to use new tactics. Paid advertising for CBD might be off the table, but there are still plenty of avenues for connecting with customers on social media – and that’s what we’re going to talk about today.

 

6 Local Marketing Tactics To Advertise CBD on Instagram Without Actually Advertising

CBD paid ads on Instagram are a no-go, so what can you do instead? Luckily, you have a variety of options for using social media as a CBD brand and harnessing its power to help grow your business.

There are many different tools for local business advertising on Instagram, most of which can be very useful for your CBD brand. Ultimately, your goal for Instagram marketing is to build brand awareness and increase traffic to your website – and you can absolutely do this without paid advertising.

Here are six ideas for Instagram advertising for CBD brands, none of which require you to put a single cent towards a paid advertising campaign.

 

1. Repost relevant local content to engage with your local Instagram community.

Sharing information about your new CBD products and content is indeed valuable, but it is equally important to connect with your local community using Instagram. This strategy helps promote your CBD products’ overall branding and improves local PR. You can strengthen your online presence by posting and reposting relevant local content, specifically from other local businesses, influencers, and users.

There are a few key components to remember when posting or reposting local content, especially if you want to achieve the best-possible reach:

• Relevant hashtags
• Location tags
• Other local marketing tools on Instagram

We’ll delve into each of these briefly, but consider them a part of your local marketing “toolkit.”

So, what are the other benefits of reposting local content on your CBD brand on Instagram? Well, look at it through the eyes of any small business owner. Fellow business owners will be excited and grateful for the free promotion, creating the opportunity to build lasting relationships in the local business community. They might repost your content and give your brand a shout-out in their feed, which opens up an entire audience for you to engage with.

Another perk is that you demonstrate your commitment to the community as a whole by reposting content from residents, events, and other businesses. It makes your CBD brand more approachable and establishes you as a “local business,” – which plenty of people really value. Instead of a faceless brand, your business feels more like a friendly neighbor.

Finally, reposting relevant content saves you a considerable amount of time and effort. Your brand is still maintaining a regular flow of content, but the reposts cut down on the amount of original content you have to create. Be sure to ask before reposting, and always tag the original user’s account.

2. Ingrain your brand as a part of the local lifestyle.

How does your business fit in as a part of your customers’ lifestyle? More specifically, what is the local lifestyle, and how does your brand align with it? Regarding your CBD brand, your customers’ lifestyle encompasses everything about how they live before, during, and after purchasing and using your products.

For example, let’s say your brand is based in Southern California. For your customers, a big part of their lifestyle might involve the beach:

• surfing
• lounging in the sun
• jogging along the coastline
• other similar lifestyles

How can you show how your products fit into that lifestyle? You might create content that illustrates your CBD gummies as an essential “beach bag” item or a CBD topical cream as the perfect product for post-surfing soreness. By showing how your local customers incorporate your products into their everyday lives, you can establish your brand as a fixture in the local lifestyle.

This makes it easier for new and prospective customers to connect with your brand and envision it as something they use regularly. With this approach to CBD social media marketing, you can help move people through the conversion funnel and motivate them to make a purchase.

So, what are some ways to demonstrate your CBD brand as a pillar of the local lifestyle? One of the simplest and most effective ideas is incorporating popular local landmarks in your photos and content. Reference area highlights, special local activities, and the like so that customers can establish a clear vision of your products in their lives. And, of course, show how real-life locals use your products.

3. Use a variety of local geotags, not just your retail location tag.

One of the foundational principles of local social media marketing is the use of geotags. What is a geotag? It’s a specialized tag that, when clicked on, opens up a map to show an exact location. Users can see exactly where the photo was taken or tagged. You can add geotags to both your Instagram posts and Stories.

Geotags are an excellent way to reach existing and prospective customers in your geographical area. Even if your business operates primarily (or only) online, it is still a handy strategy for connecting with users.

Most businesses already geotag their retail location in their Instagram posts, but you have to go beyond this basic 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. Remember how we suggested shooting photos and creating content related to local landmarks, events, and similar spots? This is the content you should be geotagging with the matching geographical locations.

Geotags function similarly to hashtags, getting your content in front of more users. 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.

4. Make localized hashtags one of your go-to strategies.

We’re talking about using local marketing strategies on social media, so it makes sense that our theme for the day is all about staying local. You probably already know the importance of using hashtags, but are you utilizing localized hashtags to their fullest potential?

Hashtags are a straightforward way to reach qualified prospective customers on Instagram. When users click on a hashtag relevant to your brand (for example, #CBD), they can browse all related posts. Ideally, your posts will consistently pop up for local individuals interested in what you offer.

So, how exactly do you do that? The not-so-secret strategy is to use localized hashtags. Geo-specific hashtags enable you to connect with people in your area and reduce competition. Whereas the #CBD hashtag might have millions of posts – which can easily bury your content – the #CBDChicago hashtag might only have a few thousand recent posts.

On Instagram, you can use up to 30 hashtags per post. We aren’t necessarily saying you should get hyper-local with every single one of those hashtags; rather, try to mix some popular local hashtags with other, more general ones.

5. Keep your Instagram content unique.

There’s a fine line between catering to your audience and creating content that sounds just like every other CBD brand out there, and it’s one you’ll have to walk very carefully. You need to aim for something unique and relevant simultaneously, which can be a challenge.

While you want to stay consistent with your branding and aesthetic, you must create original content for Instagram vs. Facebook, Twitter, and other social media platforms; it’s not quite as simple as a “copy and paste” approach. If users follow you on more than one social platform, you don’t want them to see the same content repeatedly. Instead, they should be able to enjoy interesting content on each platform.

You can still maintain similar messaging; for example, you might want to promote a new product across your channels. Switch up the image, copy, and call to action, and you can cross-promote without a problem.

6. Instagram is a social media platform – so make sure you’re being social!

This might sound overly obvious, but you would be surprised how many brands fall short on social media marketing simply because they forget about the “social” aspect. Social media is intended to be a two-way street; that is, you aren’t going to succeed if you’re merely talking “at” users and not engaging with them.

For your CBD brand to be a valued, respected, and active community member, you need to earn the attention and appreciation of users. Posting great content isn’t enough; you also need to focus on building a strong reputation for your brand through positive interaction. Get in on the conversation – or start your own – and show users that they’re more than just potential sales to you.

One way to do this is to follow and connect with local influencers. Specifically, those that you think will gel with your brand. Influencers command a considerable amount of power in the world of Instagram, so building relationships with them is a smart move for your business.

Another tactic is deceivingly easy: just interact with your followers! Reply to comments, give shout-outs, show appreciation when followers share your brand, and so on. This isn’t the time to be aggressively selling; instead, the goal here is authentic interaction.

 

Alternatives to Instagram Ads for CBD Brands

You might not be able to launch a paid advertising campaign for CBD on Instagram, but that doesn’t mean your marketing strategy has to suffer. Other options are extremely effective, and we can help you incorporate them into your digital advertising plan.

Google Search Advertising

When an individual is searching for CBD for sale online, they’re most likely using Google – not Instagram. This means that securing your spot in the search results with an ad campaign can be the difference between someone shopping with you vs. a competitor.

Our team specifically targets individuals who are in the evaluation and purchasing stages of the sales funnel, using tailored advertising to serve their needs and interests. We ensure that your ads get in front of the right people at the right time and that the messaging is right on target.

CBD Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Aside from Google Ads, how do you get your website at the top of the search results? It largely comes down to SEO or search engine optimization. Through a combination of specialized tactics, you can improve your search rankings and increase the likelihood of a user visiting your website.

SEO can be complex, largely because an effective SEO strategy for CBD brands involves many different aspects. Quality content, targeted keywords, off-site and on-site optimizations, and the like – all of these can help you rise to the top.

Programmatic Display or Video Advertising and Retargeting on Popular Websites

Only certain display ad partners allow CBD marketing, so you’ll need to partner with a team that has the right connections – like ours. With programmatic display ads, video ads, and retargeting, you can hone in on your target audience with impressive precision. Like Instagram ads, you can set your parameters for whom you want to target, but you don’t have to worry about your campaign being disapproved.

 

Work with a Social Marketing Agency That Understands Your CBD Business

Figuring out the complicated world of CBD marketing is no small task, no matter how successful your CBD business may be. And sometimes, it can feel like the odds are stacked against you when it comes to getting your message out there – but it doesn’t have to be that way.

At Marijuana Marketing Xperts, we’ve spent years learning the ins and outs of the cannabis and CBD industry. Our team has mastered the art of marketing CBD, focusing on innovative strategies while still staying within the boundaries set by social media and search sites. By combining a variety of proven techniques with our extensive understanding of the nuances of the industry, we’ve helped countless clients achieve their marketing goals. Whether you’re hoping to build a social media presence, increase search rankings, develop a fabulous website, or all of the above, Marijuana Marketing Xperts has you covered.

Are you ready to learn more about advertising CBD on Instagram, Facebook, and more? Let’s talk – contact the Marijuana Marketing Xperts team today!

 

Image Credits: 

H1 Title-Can You Advertise CBD on Instagram?

• Concept of social media, influence, popularity by Anton Vierietin
• Marijuana effects by Lightspring

Intro: Here’s the million-dollar question are you allowed to advertise CBD on Instagram?

• Hemp oil in a glass bottle with a pipette. CBD. Cannabidiol. Seamless background with pattern by Yellow Dahlia
• information technology internet digital justice law by Bakhtiar Zein

H2-6 Local Marketing Tactics To Advertise CBD on Instagram Without Actually Advertising

• Pointing at phone screen by Master1305
• Social media icons, online social communication applications concept by Darko 1981

H2-Alternatives to Instagram Ads for CBD Brands

• Marihuana Ganja Weed Seamless Vector Pattern by Skunkeye
• Startup concept with rocket flying out of laptop screen by Golden Dayz

H2-Google Search Advertising and other VDS services

• Creative People Working Social Media Icon Concept by Rawpixel.com
• Branding Icons by MMX

H2-Work with a Social Marketing Agency That Understands Your CBD Business

• Young team of coworkers making great business discussion in modern coworking office by SFIO CRACHO