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Trying to advertise your cannabis brand online isn’t as easy as it should be. Even though the cannabis industry is growing and restrictions in the US surrounding cannabis are loosening, navigating the cannabis industry is not an easy task as a business owner.
But there is good news! Today there are more avenues available than ever to market your cannabis brand through online methods, and this includes digital advertisements.
The idea of running digital ads for your "cannabusiness" does come with some understandable apprehensions since cannabis brands are not permitted to run certain advertising campaigns through the modern digital advertising mainstays such as Facebook and Google due to federal laws. Because of this, most business owners believe that digital advertising for their cannabusiness as a whole is not permitted. But, fear not, there are digital advertising opportunities available as long as you take the right avenues and proceed with caution.
What Digital Ads Can I Use to Advertise Cannabis?
1. Display/Banner
How does one run compliant digital ads for their cannabis-based business? This can be tricky. There are only certain US states that are approved for cannabis-based targeted display ads. So, if your business is based in the Midwest, for example, you will not be able to target surrounding states where medical, recreational, and/or CBD sales and targeted ads are not permitted. At this point in time, Kansas, Iowa, Nebraska, Tennessee, and Kentucky are just a few examples of these states. So, if you are unsure of what the laws are regarding cannabis-based digital ads in a state you wish to advertise or target, you should first contact an attorney licensed within that state before moving forward.
2. Native
Native ads are also a great option for cannabis-based businesses that are looking to target, inform and educate potential customers. The content found within a native ad is designed to align with the publication or website’s established editorial style and tone, providing the kind of information that the publication’s audience typically expects. This is a great way to attract and engage audiences to your website with branded, helpful content geared towards them.
3. Connected TV (CTV)
By using Connected TV advertising, you have the ability to target a very specific audience based on demographics, location, and user interests/content consumption, which makes it a great advertising option for cannabis-based businesses. CTV ads will show up on TVs that are connected via devices such as Roku, Google Chromecast, Smart TVs, etc. during shows that are streamed through providers like Hulu, National Geographic, ESPN, and more.
4. Video Advertising
Video advertising creates the same emotional appeal as CTV and comes with a higher frequency rate. Online video ads grab the attention of your target audience while they are watching video housed on a website of their choice. Users can click through the video ad and be taken directly to your site.
How Do I Reach the Right Audience?
Publishing and running digital advertisements for your “cannabusiness” holds a lot of potential opportunities for audience targeting. Below are just a few options for your targeting strategy:
- Contextual Targeting: This method involves using keywords and phrases to build a highly customizable intent-based audience, comprised of users who are actively reading about certain topics.
- Interest-Based Audience Targeting: This kind of audience targeting allows you to build an audience based on their behaviors, interests, hobbies and more. This will give you confidence that you are reaching the right people at the right times.
- Lookalike Audience: This is a way to expand your ad reach to capture users who mimic the online behavior of those who have visited your site, converted, or completed a video.
- Remarketing: Remarketing allows you to re-engage previous site visitors by showing them ads after they’ve left your site and continue to research/browse online. Remarketing helps build frequency with your target audience and reminds them why they should come back to your site and continue their buying journey.
How Do I Know I'm Reaching the Right Audience? What is My Return on Investment?
With all these sophisticated products and targeting options for advertising your cannabis-based business digitally, how do you know if you are getting the results you need? Especially with in-store sales, it is important to know how and at what rate your digital advertisements are leading your customers to a sale. You can monitor how your ads lead to store foot traffic, who your ads bring into your store, and sales by evaluating the following:
- Total visits, cost per visit, visit rate, and frequency.
- Time to first visit (days after ad exposure by visit rate).
- Visits by demographic.
- Visits by geography breakdown (location, region, state).
Want to Explore Digital Marketing Options for Your Business? Make Sure You Speak with a Digital Marketing Specialist First.
The cannabis industry is still and will continue to be such a touchy place to do business. Because of the ever-evolving nature and rapid growth of the industry, marketing your company can be risky business. That is why it is important to not try to do it alone.
You've worked so hard up to this point to kickstart your cannabis business. So remember, when in doubt, stay cautious! If you are unsure of whether a certain marketing method or medium is permitted, consult with industry leaders, marketing professionals, and/or a licensed attorney first. Our team of digital marketing experts knows the power and effectiveness digital advertisements bring to businesses of all kinds. Contact our team today to see how we can help!
Note: Businesses and organizations should always verify with their state for specifics on compliance as marketing and advertising regulations vary from state-by-state. Rules and regulations pertaining to marketing cannabis-based business are dependent on the location of said business, as well as the advertising content itself and the audience it is distributed to.
