Ironically, this article might get flagged!
Marketing cannabis is iffy on the best of days, here are some of my tips for doing it right, and doing it well.
Marketing anything comes with challenges.
Whether those challenges are socio-political, economic, or just plain old creative difficulties, every marketed product, service, or even person has its unique, individual challenges.
As a 24 year old marketer, my experience is clearly limited, but having worked in an agency environment since the age of 18, I have experience with a wide array of clients. I have navigated complex projects, helping building brands from the ground up in every field: from cutting edge science to finance, food service to publishing.
But as of late, I’ve turned my focus and passion to the budding cannabis industry.
The challenges in marketing cannabis are not only completely unique, but constantly changing. Oftentimes it can feel like trying to hit a moving target with a slingshot, but that’s half the fun.
We have continued to grow our cannabis portfolio over the years, and have learned a lot about the challenges in marketing cannabis and how to tackle them. Here are three things I’ve learned that will help you get ahead in the game.
Read, and talk, a lot.
Those of you who know me well, know I do a lot of both anyways, but having read hundreds of articles and talked to dozens of industry experts has been instrumental in setting me up for success.
The cannabis industry is not a new one. Humans have been using cannabis as a medicine, recreationally and for tools like cloth and baskets for thousands of years.
That said, the LEGAL cannabis industry, at least in the United States, is brand spanking new. After decades of a propaganda war against the plant, the flood gates are starting to crack open and growers are coming out of the woodwork.
Having met and had the incredible pleasure of working with some of these growers, I feel like I have been enlightened to a degree most people never will be. Hearing about the past of the industry, both legal and illicit, is truly eye opening, not only on a personal level, but a professional one as well.
The history of cannabis is a stained one, tarnished by the War on Drugs, but the culture remained unbroken by the connections of those who fought the war, continued to grow, and advanced the science of cannabis.
What I learned is that these are the people you are marketing cannabis to, the people who have been waiting for legalization for generations.
Are there people new to the game? People who have been waiting until it’s legal to try cannabis? Absolutely. But as a “newbie” myself, I understand their pain points, and understand their confusion with new terms, images, products, and feelings towards cannabis.
The people who have been in the industry, a part of the culture, and have the connections are the ones you need to really work hard to understand and connect with.
I decided to dig in. I did this by reading literally hundreds of articles on the war on drugs, the history of cannabis, the science of cannabis, and then I talked about them with people in the industry and connected with them. Even having that under my belt, it doesn’t do the history of the plant justice, but as a marketer it gives me a leg to stand on, and helps me to truly connect with those members of the cannabis community as well.
This can be compared to general research you do for any client familiarizing yourself with the industry. To get in with the experts, you need to know what you’re talking about, but the deep and strained history of cannabis requires an unparalleled lift.
Review, Revise, Review Again
Once you start actually marketing the product, whether it’s in print, online, or even in person, review, revise, and review again.
I live in Chicago, where cannabis is legal. But if I drive 40 minutes North, or 40 minutes East, crossing a state line, that product is now illegal.
Cannabis is federally illegal, which means digitally native companies are limiting their liabilities and do not want to get involved, making it against their policies to advertise.
For example, if one of my restaurant clients wanted to market a new product, I can go into Facebook, target a hyper-focused audience, and put money behind the ad to guarantee “x” amount of people see the ad.
With cannabis, not only can I not use paid marketing on social, PERIOD, but I can’t SELL, period. What constitutes selling though is up in the air, and determined by an algorithm, not a person.
This means that, even after reading the terms of service for the social channels I market on, and reading all of the rules and regulations on digitally marketing cannabis via social media, the real “rules” are still unclear!
We had a post go up asking followers “how are we doing?” Meaning, how does our grow look? Not offering a deal, a price, a website, a location, or even a PRODUCT to purchase, and the post was flagged. Facebook threatened to pull our page over it, one we had to work very hard to get to where it was.
No formal review process, no opportunity to talk to a real, human person and figure it out, just a blanket statement saying you do “this” again, and your page is being pulled.
The only real option is to do the work upfront to make sure you don’t get to this point: review, revise (when needed), and review again. Rinse and repeat until all parties are in agreement that there is no chance this image gets pulled, or that this copy will set off the algorithm. One misplaced word, one item in the background of an image can get you flagged, get as many eyes on marketing as possible and assure your bases are covered before going public with anything and everything.
Stop and smell the flowers
My biggest piece of advice to anyone considering marketing cannabis, is to enjoy it. Genuinely. Enjoy!
There are so many challenges that go into marketing this product, but the reality is, for all of my clients, it has been an absolute joy to learn about the industry, and also my greatest tool in marketing the product.
My family, in a broad sense, is very old school, and doesn’t really get the cannabis-craze — at all. This said, I had zero exposure to it growing up, none. Until college, I had no idea pot, marijuana, kush, and cannabis were all the same thing!
But, taking the time to read, and talk, and quite literally stop and smell the flower, I’ve learned to really appreciate the incredible art, science, history, and culture around the plant, and that translates to the work. Don’t take on a cannabis client if you don’t have a passion for the product, or the industry, because let me tell you, your audience will figure you out.
As with anything else, your best work is done when you’re doing something you enjoy, and marketing cannabis may not always be the easiest, for me or anyone else at the agency, but I truly love it.
If you have any questions, or want to reach out, you can leave a comment or reach me at reno@idea-booth.com.
