Cannabis Social Media Compliance
Mistakes are not failures. People can learn a lot from their mistakes, but it’s better to learn from others mistakes so you can learn the lesson without living through the consequences of the mistake. We have gathered a collection of no-nos from working on numerous cannabis digital marketing campaigns on social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook. Our team of cannabis marketing experts specialize in ensuring that the accounts we manage grow without being taken down. Follow these 5 ways to ensure your cannabis social media account gets banned.
Promote the Sale of Cannabis Products
It can be tempting to try to drive cannabis sales on Instagram and Facebook in hot markets like Michigan. Cannabis brands are trying to find every way to increase sales and drive more revenue to their business. Most cannabis managers understand that having a strong social media presence can help grow a brand’s awareness online; however, a great way to ensure that your account status is compromised is to try to sell cannabis products online. It is important to post instagram content that follows the community guidelines.
It is against Meta’s policy to promote the sales of cannabis on the platform. Avoid transaction identifiers like sale, deal, purchase, or buy. Never make you copy or caption with the intent to drive sales. Social media is not a sales conversion king for the cannabis industry, but can serve as an amazing lead generation machine. Drive traffic to your other digital marketing channels like your website, blog, or loyalty program.
Post cannabis products or consumption
Social media platforms are hardly fair or consistent when it comes to flagging cannabis content. Cannabis managers are constantly questioning why certain cannabis accounts get away with posting products and why others instantly get banned or flagged. For best practices we recommend alternative cannabis post:
- Lifestyle
- Featured staff member
- Testimonial spotlight
Check out what type of content to post on Instagram and Facebook. If you’re going to post products, we recommend only using products for posts that will only be featured for a limited time. Vendor day announcements, Story repost from followers, and background media.
It is important to avoid consumption content if the setting, copy, and circumstances don’t make for a subtle reference. The goal is to be discreet when posting. The culture understands how to move on social media. You don’t have to scream this is a cannabis ad to connect and engage with your audience.
Make strong claims about cannabis
There is still a strong negative stigma surrounding cannabis because it is a schedule 1 substance. Years of false information and compromised scientific trials have created a narrative about cannabis that is not completely true. It is known within cannabis culture that cannabis has been used medicinally by humans since ancient times, but instagram users cannot post facts about medical cannabis because government agencies continue their efforts in censoring the truth about cannabis medicine.
Cannabis brands should never make bold claims like “1:3 CBD to CBN gummies will help people with insomnia sleep at night.” This is a true statement and has scientific evidence that can back it up; however, Posting true facts about cannabis on Instagram is a great way to get your account shadow banned or worse.
It’s okay to use the platform to bring awareness to cannabis, but if you’re not a licensed physician don’t make any strong medical claims about the plant. You can post personal testimonials, but avoid using cannabis copy. Using phrases like “cannabis cured me of my illness” might get flagged by the insta police (AI Bots).
Using Cannabis Lingo, Hashtags, and Emojis in the Caption
Ai is powerful and can be a very annoying pest for cannabis content creators. Avoid getting your post shadow banned and flagged for using cannabis related words, slang, or hashtags. All social media platforms have bots crawling the site to identify cannabis keywords and flag the post related to them. Even cannabis related emojis in certain contexts can get flagged on Instagram. Don’t try to be slick! Most of the cannabis lingo is being watched.
Cannabis Hashtags – Cannabis hashtags are hidden and useless. They alert red flags on your accounts so avoid them at all cost. Use hashtags that still target your audience. Consider what cannabis users like to do when consuming cannabis to come up with hashtag ideas that will be relevant to your audience.
Not using best practices
There are 3 elements that must be in every cannabis brand’s social media bio and caption:
- Nothing For Sale (NFS): There is no real proof that it helps your account status. It seems to help your chances of staying compliant.
- Educational Purposes Only: Education is one of the primary goals of cannabis social media marketing. Make sure that the intent is clearly not pushing the sale of cannabis products =.
- Adults 21+ or Medical Use Only: Staying compliant in your state of operation is key. Use “21+” in recreational markets, if your company is linked to produce or sell recreational cannabis. Use “medical use only” if you’re operating under a medical marijuana license.
Final Thoughts
Cannabis is extremely hard to navigate on social media. It is important to remember best practices to preserve a positive account status. Remember to check your account settings to see if your brand is shadow banned. It seems like the competition is posting products and selling products on Meta platforms just fine, but it’s not all what it seems. Their post visibility is likely limited to their followers making it nearly impossible to get new followers and grow on the digital platform.
Need Help with Online Cannabis Compliance?
Our cannabis compliance specialist here at Dagga Digital Marketing are dedicated to making sure our clients accounts experience growth while remaining compliant with the community guidelines on social media platforms. Our team can help your cannabis brand operate online and build a strong following that will boost brand awareness, visibility, and generate leads for your cannabis business using our proven digital cultivation method. Our omni-channel approach will help your brand establish market authority and reach new heights online. Book a free consultation with one of our brand optimization experts to formulate a plan to take your cannabis brand to the next level.
