CBD Advertising - Content Marketing 101 For CBD Oil Brands

Are you a CBD oil brand wondering how you should market your CBD product in a world that seems tied up in advertising restrictions?

In this ever-changing landscape, are you struggling to find the best way to promote CBD oil?

If these sound like some of the challenges that you're facing, you’ve come to the right place.

With the legalization of marijuana on the rise around the world, the CBD industry is seeing exponential growth. This is certainly a great time to be in business.

However, as the market has particularly low barriers to entry, it’s extremely important for CBD oil dispensaries to have a solid marketing strategy in place from the get-go.

If you’ve already started exploring CBD advertising, you may be feeling a little overwhelmed. The rules around both CBD marketing and marijuana marketing are ambiguous, to say the least.

That’s why we’ve taken the time to write this ultimate guide to CBD advertising and content marketing.

Let’s get to it!

What is CBD Advertising?

CBD advertising is a promotional exercise aimed at marketing and selling products featuring this cannabis-derived chemical compound to prospective consumers.

CBD marketing and cannabis marketing are fickle topics.

The rules and regulations around advertising CBD products are constantly changing, and it is no easy feat to understand exactly what those rules are. With this in mind, CBD business owners have to get creative in their CBD marketing efforts.

Of course, you could ignore the various rules and regulations associated with CBD marketing, but you’d only find your efforts tied up in account suspensions, government enforcement actions, or other business interruptions.

Why is CBD Advertising important?

Marketing your CBD products is essential to business success.

How else are people going to learn about your CBD products? Where will they learn about what products you’re offering, or the particular benefits of CBD products? Word of mouth referrals will only get you so far.

You’re a player in a multi-million dollar industry - effectively marketing your CBD products is vital for your growth and survival. Learning how to promote CBD oil online effectively will help to grow your business, and allow you to distinguish yourself from competitors.

The truth is, marketing your CBD products can be challenging to say the least. This is especially true considering the fact that many people are still not well-educated about this chemical compound.

A good CBD marketing strategy will incorporate various ranges of communication in the form of content marketing, educational content, a strong social media presence, and direct brand-to-consumer marketing.

Although it is difficult to run any sort of paid online advertising promoting CBD products, it is entirely possible for your brand to grow an online presence.

If you’re scratching your head wondering somewhat helplessly, how? Stick with me, as I’m about to give you the in’s and out’s of CBD marketing online in 2020.

What is Content Marketing?

Content marketing is a core element of any CBD marketing plan. It is a strategic method of creating and distributing relevant and informative content to reach your target audience.

When done properly, content marketing will stimulate interest in your brand, educate prospective consumers on your product, and build your brand's visibility as a reputable and trustworthy player in the industry.

Content marketing comes in the form of blogs and guides, infographics, social media content sharing, and video marketing. It’s an educational form of advertising, which you’ll soon learn is your ticket to skirting strict CBD advertising laws across varying platforms.

Advertise CBD Online with Content Marketing

How do you market CBD products online while adhering to legal advertising guidelines?

By using content marketing, that’s how!

As we’ve already established, content marketing comes in many different forms, but all aim towards achieving two particular goals - to drive traffic to your brand, and to build a solid relationship with your prospects.

Here are three common content marketing strategies that will allow you to effectively market your cannabis products online.

#1 - CBD Related Blog Content

While there are some ways to get around CBD advertising regulations, the easiest way to educate your customers and build a reputation as a credible and trustworthy source of information is to post blog content online about your CBD products.

The ultimate goal with CBD blog content is to start ranking in search engines for keywords. You can achieve this by creating high-quality content that answers your target markets search queries.

Your prospective customers most likely want to find out about the benefits of CBD oil and where they can buy CBD oil online or near them. This is where CBD SEO content writing becomes important in driving traffic to your website.

An SEO-optimized blog is a very effective way to promote CBD oils and products online. By focusing on CBD keywords, and answering common questions your target market is asking about CBD products, you’re ensuring that your content will list on page 1 of Google for relevant CBD related inquiries.

Furthermore, the more often that you publish relevant articles on your website, the more likely you are to reach your CBD target market. More visitors to your website will see a flow-on effect of increased relevance and authority of your website.

Essentially, an SEO-optimized CBD blog that consistently provides stimulating and informative cannabis-related content, will drive traffic to your website and have Google pushing your website to the top of CBD oil-related searches.

A CBD related blog is easily the best way to promote CBD oil and products online, without advertising!

#2 - CBD Content Marketing Using Lead Magnets

A really great way to get your prospective customers to buy-in to your brand (and your mailing list), is to enlist content marketing using lead magnets.

A lead magnet is an incentivized marketing tool that offers potential buyers a ‘freebie’ in exchange for their sign-up to your brand’s mailing list. The lead magnet is usually something that will be very valuable to the buyer such as a free downloadable infographic, checklist, or eBook.

Now, not only have you educated your prospects about CBD products, but you now also have direct access to their inbox. A perfect lead-in for you to send further useful information in the form of blog posts or email marketing.

Content marketing using lead magnets is another excellent tool to have in your CBD advertising kit, as it allows you to promote your cannabis oil and products directly to your CBD target market.

#3 - Marketing CBD on Social Media

You may think that marketing CBD products on social media is going to be the easiest and quickest way to grow your brand and exposure.

Sadly, wrong.

Misunderstanding or misinterpreting the guidelines to CBD marketing on social media can see your accounts deactivated before you have engaged even one new prospect.

So, can CBD companies advertise on Facebook? Can they also advertise CBD on Instagram?

Yes, they can. It’s tricky though.

CBD companies can market their products on Facebook and Instagram, but it will pose a significant challenge. Social media marketing can be a prolonged headache for CBD business owners.

That’s why we are going to give you the tips to successfully market cannabis products on social media so that you don’t face the same dramas.

3.1 - Advertising Cannabis Products on Facebook

Advertising cannabis on Facebook basically allows dispensaries more flexibility in the way that they promote their CBD products compared to other social media platforms.

While Facebook doesn’t indicate a complete ban against CBD advertising on its platform, representatives have pointed to their community standards as a guideline for dispensary marketers. These standards highlight that certain posts will be restricted from users who are under the legal age of 21. They also point out that you should not post content about non-medicinal drugs, and avoid encouragement of the use of, or sale of non-medicinal drugs.

So, can you advertise CBD on Facebook?

Once again, we look to content marketing tactics to assist in advertising CBD on Facebook. The trick is to use posts on your business page to build awareness of your brand, rather than your product.

If you want to use paid CBD ads on Facebook, you’ll need to get creative with your language.

Find the balance between promoting the product and benefits, without diving into the science, focusing more on general wellness. If you can do this, your CBD oil ad will most likely survive.

But be careful with paid CBD ads; if you push the boundaries too far, you’ll find your account deactivated in no time.

3.2 - Marketing CBD Oil on Instagram

Let’s just say that paid advertising of CBD and Instagram are not friends.

Instead, you need to enlist your best content marketing strategy for advertising CBD on Instagram.

The good news for marijuana dispensaries is that the recently introduced new Instagram policy, while unrelated to CBD advertising, is one that will certainly assist CBD brands in navigating their CBD marketing efforts on this particular platform.

The new Instagram policy means that if you violate any of their promotional rules, your account will not automatically be disabled. This allows CBD brands to play around with their content marketing strategies, within the rules, without having their account canned with no warning.

This doesn’t mean that you can flout the rules.

It just means that you have a chance to understand the ambiguity of the rules through trial and error. Get creative with your method and your wording.

A popular way to promote CBD on Instagram is through the use of CBD influencers.

Content shared by influencers on social media is considered to be of editorial nature, rather than promotional. Using CBD influencer marketing tactics means dispensaries can promote CBD oils, edibles, topicals, and other CBD products online without advertising.

Leaving the interpretation of the content in the eye of the consumer leaves the ‘sales’ part out of the equation.

Final Thoughts on CBD Advertising

By now you should have a somewhat clearer understanding of how you can legally market CBD oil and products online. Sure, it may not be an easy feat, but with some persistence and creativity, your CBD oil brand will be flourishing in no time.

Rather than getting caught up in what you can’t do with paid CBD oil ads, start by focusing on what you can do. That is utilizing a solid CBD content marketing strategy to boost your brand and your sales.

Ultimately, you need to be answering popular questions asked by your target market by investing in some solid CBD SEO content writing. This will drive the right people to your online CBD store, and allow you to convert them into customers.

With any luck, as more and more people start to understand the benefits of CBD oil and other CBD products, marketing will become a much easier process for businesses like yours.

You can read our full CBD marketing study here.

If you have any questions about the study or would like to talk with us about CBD content writing for your brand, please email Adam@FreshlySqueezed.Online. You can also view our blog content samples and pricing plans.