CBD Advertising: Everything You Need To Know

If you’re looking to spread the word about your CBD business, you’ve come to the right place! This article will cover all aspects of CBD advertising, from marketing regulations to effectively advertising your business on Facebook and Google.

As the CBD industry continues its rapid growth, your business is sure to face some competition. A good advertising campaign will set your CBD business apart from the rest and ensure a dedicated customer base.

We will highlight some of the best practices for CBD advertising to help your business stand out. If you’re ready to take on the emerging CBD market, make sure to visit SEO Design Chicago for all your needs!

How to Advertise CBD

The Rise of CBD

CBD is one of the most exciting new industries in the United States. An estimated 64 million Americans tried CBD over the past year, and spent $327 million on CBD oil and other CBD products in 2017. By 2022, that number is expected to reach $22 billion!

CBD is mainly found in two sources: hemp and cannabis. Hemp-derived CBD is most common, and legal in all 50 states. Cannabis-derived CBD, however, depends on the legality of the cannabis industry in your state. Today, 11 states have fully legalized marijuana and 16 more have decriminalized it.

As CBD increases in popularity, it can mean tons of success for your business! However, it also leads to lots of competition. With a strong CBD advertising campaign, you’ll be able to attract lots of consumers to your brand.

By utilizing best practices, that customer base will continue to grow as the CBD industry expands! Digital marketing and advertising CBD online has its pitfalls, but we can help create a marketing strategy that is compliant with regulations and platform requirements.

CBD Advertising Regulations

Before you get started with your CBD advertising campaign, it’s important to understand CBD advertising regulations. The 2018 Farm Bill made hemp-derived CBD legal, but selling CBD is still heavily regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). If your advertising does not comply with FDA guidelines, it could be removed or rejected from platforms. Here are some guidelines to keep in mind as you begin your journey into CBD advertising.

Target a Mature Audience 

CBD is only legal for consumers aged 21 and older, so your CBD advertising must be geared towards a mature audience. While it’s difficult to ensure that your advertisements will only reach consumers age 21 and up, there are a few ways to deter underage CBD use.

First, make sure the digital advertising content is professional and minimalistic. Your advertisement might be rejected if you use bright colors and cartoon characters, because it could attract children. Choosing a simple font, muted colors and a clean photo of your product will ensure a direct advertisement without marketing to underage consumers. You will also want to make sure your cannabis website design is up-to-date.

Google CBD Advertising

Create Honest Content

Some consumers claim that CBD can treat everything from insomnia to inflammation to epilepsy. However, the FDA has not approved CBD to treat any of these ailments, or as a dietary supplement. This means you cannot advertise food or drink containing CBD. Your company may risk having advertisements removed if you advertise those items with CBD.

Instead of focusing on the effects of CBD, it’s a good idea to focus on the merits of your product. You can advertise that your CBD is 100% derived from hemp, or that it’s free of any additives, as long as you can verify that information.

Also, emphasizing photos in your content is great, since it will help customers recognize your products. Finally, every CBD company has a disclaimer to help them comply with the FDA. Including a disclaimer in your advertising is a great way to show your commitment to honest and direct CBD advertising.

Check Testimonials and Reviews

Testimonials and reviews are great ways to increase your business and retain customers. If a prospective customer reads a good review of your product, they might be more inclined to purchase. This is especially true with CBD since there are so many brands and many stories of imitation products. If you’re going to use a testimonial or review for advertising purposes, you should ensure that you’re following CBD advertising regulations.

First, make sure that any testimonials or reviews don’t contain false claims. These are any statements that don’t conform to FDA guidelines or anything that your company cannot back up as fact. To avoid false claims, it’s great to use testimonials to promote the purity and safety of your products. Doing so will make your customers feel more at ease, and you can back up these claims with data from labs.

Facebook CBD Advertising

CBD Advertising Online

After you’ve explored all the rules and regulations of CBD advertising, next you should decide where to advertise your brand. Facebook and Google control the lion’s share of the market, but other websites can be very useful when it comes to CBD Advertising. Below, we will discuss some of the best methods for CBD advertising online!

Google

Google AdWords is one of the most powerful advertising services in the world today, and your business can reach tons of new customers with a strong advertising campaign. However, Google CBD advertising can sometimes be complicated. AdWords has been known to remove CBD advertisements on Google. Luckily, there are ways to avoid having your advertisements taken down.

While you can target keywords like “CBD” and “hemp”, avoid putting them in your ad copy. This makes Google AdWords more likely to remove your advertisements. Another good way to avoid having your ads taken down is to link to a landing page.

If your Google CBD advertising links directly to your products page, it could be seen as marketing to underage consumers since Google is free and widely used. Instead, have your ad link to a landing page where people can learn more about your company. Finally, search engine optimization (SEO) can help promote your business on Google without the risk of having your ads removed.

Facebook

While Facebook is an advertising giant, Facebook CBD advertising can sometimes be difficult. Last year, Facebook cracked down on CBD advertising by removing all ads featuring CBD or ingestible hemp. Now, they are allowing advertisements for topical products containing hemp and CBD. If your business makes topical CBD products, here are some tips for effective Facebook CBD advertising.

As always, make sure your ad content is backed up by fact. Dishonest content is sure to alert Facebook to your advertisement and it may be taken down. It’s best to use minimal branding and to let your product speak for itself: CBD ads on Facebook should emphasize photos instead of written content. Finally, it’s a good idea to put your FDA disclaimer in the ad for the sake of honesty and transparency with your consumers!

CBD Advertising Regulations

Twitter

Twitter, like Facebook, is very particular about which CBD products they will allow to advertise on their website. They only allow CBD advertising for topical products, like lotions, ointments, and even makeup. If your brand specializes in topical CBD, Twitter can be a really great way to spread the word about your product.

Even if you don’t make topical products, your CBD company can benefit from a strong presence on Twitter. Earlier, we talked about the importance of testimonials and product reviews from your clients.

Twitter has become popular largely in part to accessibility with brands and consumers, and many consumers make recommendations or review products on Twitter. Therefore, you may not be able to engage in native advertising, but you can still increase customer engagement if people are talking about your CBD brand. By tapping into this market, your brand can gain some valuable insights even if it’s not done through traditional CBD advertising.

YouTube

Video content is vital to any growing brand. While consumers enjoy reading product descriptions, videos allow for new levels of understanding with your consumers. Even more, many companies use influencers on YouTube for unboxing videos and product advertisements. If you want to gain an edge on the competition, try utilizing YouTube for CBD advertising.

Since YouTube runs on Google services, your ads for Google will work on YouTube as well. However, since YouTube widely runs on community content, it may be better to emphasize your own channel as opposed to going through Google AdWords. This way, you won’t be restricted in terms of content and your video has the potential to reach millions of worldwide viewers!

CBD Advertising

Instagram

Finally, Instagram is a very powerful tool for CBD advertising. In many ways, Instagram combines all the best parts of other social media services: you can post both photos and videos, consistently interact with followers, invest in influencer marketing, and share content via multiple different sub-platforms within the site! Also, Instagram is becoming one of the most popular social networks, so your business is sure to reach lots of eyes.

You may be asking, can I promote CBD on Instagram? Well, Facebook owns Instagram. This means that your CBD advertising on Instagram needs to adhere to Facebook rules. Therefore, you can only advertise topical products, but there are still tons of ways to promote your brand beyond just advertising CBD on Instagram.

One way is hiring an influencer to promote your products. If someone with a large social media following endorses your products, you’ll likely see an increase in brand awareness and traffic to your site. Just make sure that your advertisements are ethical and honest! Creating content for Instagram is a great way to promote your business.

Hopefully you have a better understanding of CBD advertising from this article. If you’re ready to spread the word about your CBD business, contact SEO Design Chicago today! Our team of experts can help you get started and address all of your advertising needs.

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