CANNABIS ADVERTISING
States are regulating, customers are shopping, and competition is fierce. Your cannabis advertising budget needs to work hard, and our experts know precisely how to achieve the results you want.
Your Next Customer is Busy and Distracted—How Do You Capture Their Attention Before They Get Sidetracked?
Before any online or in-store purchase is made, a human connection is sparked. Something piques interest, generates engagement, and drives a consumer to act.
In today's non-linear buying journey, most of a prospect's research, discovery, and decision-making occurs digitally… and long before they search for a specific brand, walk through a dispensary's door, or hit "buy now." To attract and convert customers, cannabis brands and retailers must identify those pivotal moments of interest and capture attention where it counts.
Understanding the Cannabis Audience: How to Connect with Cannabis Shoppers Via Advertising
Do you know your target audience well enough to deliver messages that truly resonate and address their needs? Effective cannabis brand marketing hinges on a deep understanding of your audience, allowing you to craft advertising messages that speak directly to their preferences and challenges. Advertisers look at demographic and psychographic data to make informed decisions about campaign development, creativity, targeting, and (honestly) so much more.
01. Demographic Analysis
- Identifies a person's identifiable information, such as age, gender, income level, and geographic location.
- Analyzes consumer behavior patterns through the lens of demographic segments.
02. Psychographic Analysis
- Identifies the attitudes, values, lifestyles, and motivations of cannabis consumers.
- Seeks to segment audiences by interest, belief, and consumption preference to create more relevant content.
03. Honor Cannabis Audience Diversity
People from all walks of life enjoy cannabis. When developing an ad campaign, consider nuances related to demographic segments, product preferences, and regional variations that shape consumer behavior. Your approach should reflect their differences, addressing specific needs and interests. Embracing diversity means you can create more personalized and impactful marketing strategies that strike a chord with a broader spectrum of consumers and foster deeper engagements across your brand's diverse audiences.
Learn more about our DemoGraph Audience Builder to activate your first-party data, generate lookalike audiences, or build highly targeted third-party data segments.
Cannabis Advertising Regulations
To deliver compliant and compelling ads, you must grasp cannabis advertising regulations at every level—local, and state. Each has its own set of rules and limitations, so stay informed and navigate carefully. Your cannabis marketing agency should be well-versed in these regulations.
Advertising Compliance Guidelines
Advertising compliance guidelines for cannabis are essential to navigate the complex legal landscape of cannabis marketing. Here's an overview of key compliance guidelines:
01. Content Restrictions
No Appealing to Minors: Cannabis ads must not appeal to or be seen by minors. This includes avoiding imagery, language, or themes that could attract underage audiences. (No cartoons, and in some states no candy flavors)
No Health Claims: Ads cannot make unverified health claims or promises about the benefits or effects of cannabis products. Claims must be substantiated and comply with regulatory standards.
No Misleading Information: Ensure all advertising content is accurate and not misleading. Avoid exaggerations or deceptive statements about the product's effects, quality, or source.
02. Targeting and Placement
LDA (Legal Drinking Age) Verification: Ensure that all targeting settings verify that the target audience is 21 years of age or older. This includes using age-gating mechanisms and demographic targeting to reach appropriate viewers. Make sure your cannabis marketing agency can age gate!
Avoid Sensitive Locations: Ads should not be placed near schools, playgrounds, or other areas frequented by minors. Ensure that placements are compliant with local zoning regulations related to cannabis advertising.
03. Geographic Limitations
Avoid Prohibited Zones: Ads must not be shown where cannabis advertising is restricted.
State Specific Delivery: Each state has unique rules that govern where ads can appear. Learn more about state by state cannabis advertising regulations here.
04. Labeling and Messaging
Include Required Disclaimers: Some jurisdictions require specific disclaimers or warnings on cannabis ads. Ensure all required legal language is present in your advertisements.
Avoid Unrealistic Depictions: Avoid showcasing unrealistic portrayals of cannabis use or its effects. Ads should accurately represent the product and its intended use without exaggeration. Some states do not allow cannabis consumption in ads, so be very careful with lifestyle imagery.
05. Cannabis Compliance By Platform
Cannabis advertising faces specific restrictions on various platforms due to their policies and regulations. Here's a breakdown of common platform-specific restrictions:
Google Ads and Microsoft Ads for Cannabis
Not Cannabis Friendly: Google Ads and Microsoft ads generally prohibit promoting cannabis or cannabis-related products. This includes both recreational and medical cannabis.
We have cracked the code for launching > Cannabis Google Ads.
CBD Advertising Allowed: If you get LegitScript certified you can run ads compliantly on Google, and even Youtube.
06. Meta (Facebook and Instagram)
No Cannabis Ads: Meta platforms have stringent rules regarding cannabis ads. They prohibit the promotion of cannabis products, and ads that indirectly reference cannabis or use related imagery may also be restricted, so be careful because Meta takes down accounts regularly.
CBD Ads Allowed: Hemp-derived CBD that is LegitScript certified is fair game.Restricted Content: Even posts that mention cannabis are subject to review. Content must comply with community standards and cannot promote or sell cannabis products directly.
07. Twitter / X
Learn all about how to advertise cannabis and CBD products on Twitter / X.
Restrictions on Cannabis Ads: Twitter is cannabis friendly but there are some restrictions what you can promote for your cannabis ads. It prohibits the sale of cannabis products and services, including ingestible CBD, within its ad network.
CBD Ads Allowed: Ads for topical (non-ingestible) hemp-derived CBD topical products containing equal to or less than the 0.3% THC government-set threshold can advertise.
This is pulled directly from X’s Drugs and Drug Paraphernalia Policy.
“We permit approved Cannabis (including CBD– cannabinoids) advertisers to target the United States, subject to the following restrictions:
- Advertisers must be licensed by the appropriate authorities.
- Advertisers may only target jurisdictions in which they are licensed to promote these products or services online.
- Advertisers may not promote or offer the sale of Cannabis (including CBD– cannabinoids)
Exception: Ads for topical (non-ingestible) hemp-derived CBD topical products containing equal to or less than the 0.3% THC government-set threshold. - Advertisers are responsible for complying with all applicable laws, rules, regulations, and advertising guidelines.
- Advertisers may not target customers under the age of 21.”
Content Guidelines: Organic content discussing cannabis is allowed but must adhere to Twitter / X's misinformation and sensitive topics rules.
08. LinkedIn
No Cannabis Ads: LinkedIn does not allow cannabis advertising. This restriction applies to both job postings related to the cannabis industry and ads promoting cannabis products.
Professional Content: Content related to cannabis industry insights and professional discussions is allowed but must comply with LinkedIn's professional content guidelines.
09. TikTok
Restricted Advertising: TikTok does not allow the promotion of cannabis or cannabis-related products through ads. Content related to cannabis is heavily monitored and may be removed if it violates community standards.
Community Guidelines: Even organic posts about cannabis must comply with TikTok's guidelines, which restrict content that promotes drug use or illegal substances.
Want to learn more abouot how cannabis brands are building community on TikTok, watch this > TikTok Marketing for Cannabis, it can be done!
10. YouTube
No Cannabis Ads: YouTube generally prohibits ads that promote cannabis products. This restriction extends to video ads and promotional content.
CBD Ads Allowed: CBD companies that are LegitScript certified can run ads.Content Restrictions: Content related to cannabis can be monetized under strict conditions if it complies with YouTube's policies on sensitive content, but ads directly promoting cannabis are not allowed.
11. Programmatic Networks
Variable Restrictions: Programmatic networks can have varied policies depending on the provider. Some publishers may allow cannabis advertising with certain restrictions, while others may have complete bans.
Compliance Checks: Ensure programmatic ad placements comply with state cannabis advertising regulations and platform-specific rules to avoid issues.
Contact us to launch compliant, explicitly cannabis-approved programmatic ads on mainstream websites and apps. Use our self-service programmatic ad platform option, or contact us for fully managed services.
12. Traditional Media (e.g., TV, Radio, Print)
State and Local Regulations: Traditional media platforms often have state and local regulations governing cannabis advertising. Restrictions can vary widely, from outright bans to specific guidelines on content and placement.
Don’t worry about linear TV, learn how to launch cannabis ads on CTV, and Digital Out Of Home.
Best Practices for Advertising Compliance in Regulated Industries
Conduct Thorough Research: Before planning your advertising campaigns, review local, and state regulations. This ensures your strategies align with current legal requirements.
Partner with Legal Experts: Work with legal professionals specializing in cannabis law to stay updated on evolving regulatory frameworks and ensure your advertising remains compliant.
Implement Review Processes: Establish rigorous review processes to vet all ad content and messaging, ensuring they adhere to advertising guidelines and regulatory standards.
For a comprehensive guide on state-specific cannabis advertising regulations, check out our state-by-state ebook.
Effective Multi-Channel Advertising
Paid and organic marketing tactics are most effective when integrated into a comprehensive marketing strategy. Combining paid advertising with organic tactics can maximize reach, enhance engagement, and drive conversions more efficiently. These resources will guide you through optimizing your approach so that all components work in synergy. Here are links to the most important bits:
Advertising Channels for Cannabis
- Traditional Media
- Print advertising (magazines, newspapers)
- Radio and TV commercials
- Billboards and outdoor advertising
For a comprehensive guide on state-specific cannabis advertising regulations, check out our state-by-state ebook.
Crafting Compelling Cannabis Ad Campaigns
People are naturally drawn to visuals and ideas that resonate with their personal experiences, surprise them, or evoke strong emotions. To design ad campaigns that captivate and engage, create content that aligns with your audience's values and interests, incorporates unexpected elements, and elicits an emotional response. Start tapping into these elements to capture attention and foster deeper connections.
Design Strategies for Creative Advertising
01. Visual Consistency
Brand Identity: Ensure that all visual elements, from color schemes to fonts, align with your unique value proposition (UVP). They must work together to create a cohesive look and feel.
Recognition: Use consistent imagery and design motifs (brand) that help consumers quickly recognize and remember your company.
02. Emotional Appeal
Storytelling: Craft visuals that tell a story or evoke emotions to make ads more memorable.
Imagery: Use high-quality imagery, bold colors, and clear messaging to create a strong visual appeal and maintain brand consistency.
03. High-Quality Graphics
Professional Design: Invest in high-resolution images and professional graphic design to ensure your ads look polished and credible.
Attention to Detail: To make your ads visually appealing, pay attention to details like alignment, spacing, and contrast.
04. Interactive Elements
Engagement: Incorporate interactive elements such as quizzes, polls, or clickable features that invite the audience to engage with the ad.
Gamification: Use gamified elements to make the ad experience more enjoyable and memorable.
05. Clear Messaging
Focused Content: Keep your messaging clear and concise, focusing on one main idea or call-to-action to avoid overwhelming the viewer.
Hierarchy: Use visual hierarchy to direct attention to key messages and calls to action through size, color, and placement.
06. Innovative Formats
Dynamic Ads: Utilize dynamic ad formats that change based on user behavior or device, making the ad more relevant and engaging.
Video Content: Leverage video ads to deliver engaging and immersive messages using storytelling and motion to capture attention.
07. Cultural Relevance
Learn all about how to advertise cannabis and CBD products on Twitter / X.
Localization: Adapt your visuals and messaging to reflect local cultures, trends, and preferences, making your ads more relatable to diverse audiences.
Inclusivity: Ensure that your design is inclusive and represents a broad spectrum of people, fostering a sense of belonging.
08. Simplicity and Clarity
Minimalist Design: Embrace simplicity by avoiding clutter and focusing on essential elements. This makes your ad easier to digest and more impactful.
Legibility: Ensure text is easily read with appropriate font sizes, contrasts, and spacing.
09. User-Centric Design
Accessibility: Follow best practices for designing accessible ads to all users, including those with disabilities.
Responsiveness: Create ads that look and perform well across different devices and screen sizes.
10. Call-to-Action (CTA)
Visibility: Make your CTA prominent and actionable, using contrasting colors or buttons to draw attention.
Urgency: Incorporate elements of urgency or exclusivity to encourage immediate action from the viewer.
Your ad landing page is crucial because it serves as the first point of contact for potential customers driven by your advertising efforts. A landing page designed for conversions can significantly impact your marketing campaigns' success by providing visitors a seamless and relevant experience. It ensures that the message and offer presented in your ad are consistently conveyed, increasing the likelihood of conversions. Moreover, a targeted and optimized landing page can enhance engagement, cut down on bounce rates, and improve overall campaign performance, ultimately maximizing your return on investment.
Check out our Tips For High Converting Landing Pages.
Introduction to Programmatic Advertising in Cannabis
As the cannabis industry continues to evolve, businesses are increasingly turning to innovative digital marketing strategies to reach precision-targeted audiences. Programmatic advertising, which leverages automated bidding technology and data-driven insights to buy and place ads in real-time, offers cannabis businesses an efficient and scalable way to engage with consumers. This approach allows for highly targeted ad campaigns, ensuring that advertisements reach the right people at the right time, and on the right devices, ultimately driving better engagement and higher returns on investment.
Programmatic advertising might sound complicated at first, but let's break it down. Essentially, programmatic refers to the automated buying and selling of digital advertising space using software and algorithms. This approach leverages real-time data to target specific audiences across mainstream websites and apps accurately and efficiently. This method is ideal for scaling campaigns as it is impression based with a CPM cost model.
Programmatic advertising is considered cost-effective for several reasons:
Real-Time Bidding (RTB): Programmatic platforms use RTB to purchase ad space, ensuring that advertisers only pay for impressions with the highest potential value. This competitive bidding process helps keep costs low by avoiding overpayment for less valuable impressions.
Precision Targeting: Programmatic advertising leverages vast amounts of data to generate highly targeted audience segments based on demographics such as, age, gender, online behavior, interests, and more. This precision targeting means ads are shown to users who are more likely to be interested in the product or service, increasing ad spend efficiency and reducing wasted impressions.
Automation: Programmatic advertising's automated nature reduces the need for manual intervention, lowering administrative costs. This automation streamlines buying and placing ads, saving time and resources.
Scalability: Programmatic advertising allows campaigns to be scaled up or down based on performance and ad budget. This flexibility ensures that ad spending is optimized and aligns with campaign goals and financial constraints.
Performance Tracking and Optimization: Programmatic platforms, like the MediaJel Platform, provide detailed analytics and real-time performance data, allowing advertisers to track and improve their campaigns continuously. This ongoing optimization helps maximize ROI by adjusting strategies based on what is working best.
CPM (Cost Per Mille): Advertisers pay for every thousand impressions of their ad. This model is standard in programmatic advertising, especially for brand awareness campaigns. CPM rates can vary based on the quality and targeting of the ad placement.
Choosing the right cannabis advertising agency for programmatic is a make-or-break decision. Poorly executed ads, inappropriate placements, or inadequate data can lead to significant issues, including poor performance, regulatory headaches and costly fines. You want to work with a platform that ensures every ad is brand-safe, compliant, and tailored to the specific needs of the cannabis industry. Unlike generic solutions, MediaJel offers custom-built advertising tools to meet the unique challenges of cannabis, CBD, and regulated industries. This bespoke approach guarantees that your campaigns adhere to all cannabis advertising regulations and effectively reach your target audience without geographic or regulatory missteps.
Tailored Solutions for Cannabis Brands
The complexities of cannabis advertising require tailored solutions that address industry-specific regulations and challenges. For more insights into how we support cannabis, CBD, and alcohol brands with custom strategies, explore our strategy pages or check out our landing pages for a detailed look at how we can help you navigate this unique advertising landscape.
Cannabis programmatic advertising demands strict adherence to geographic, and creative restrictions. Despite these complexities, the fundamental process mirrors that of mainstream CPG products and retailers. Here's a detailed look at how we execute programmatic advertising in the cannabis industry:
Define Goals and Build the Audience
Every successful cannabis programmatic advertising campaign begins with clearly understanding campaign goals and broader marketing objectives. Whether your focus is building long-term brand equity or driving sales for a time-sensitive promotion, we work together to define and develop your ideal audiences and campaign strategy. Building audience segments from first-party data (Think CRM) and third-party data such as age, interests, income, purchase history, behavioral patterns, and geospatial data allows for highly targeted ad delivery, and less wasted dollars.
Safely Deliver Cross-Channel
Execute your campaign across a broad spectrum of channels. MediaJel's global ad inventory encompasses over 75,000+ top publishers, offering omnichannel placement opportunities beyond traditional display and native ads. Our exclusive marketplace and proprietary ad server delivers ads on cannabis-friendly networks, and across devices including mobile, audio, video, CTV, and DOOH (Digital Out of Home). Finally, our advanced traffic quality and fraud detection tools ensure your ads reach genuine human audiences and comply with all regulations.
Collect and Map Identifiers
Next, we capture and map identifiers to ensure accurate reporting. Using our proprietary customer identity graph, we gather and organize data from various sources, including intelligent pixels on your website, POS and CRM systems, to align cross-device user interactions with a specific household.. Our approach adheres to PII compliance, ethical, identity-safe, and legal data management practices.
An identity graph is a database that compiles and connects various identifiers related to individual consumers across different devices, channels, and touchpoints. These identifiers can include email addresses, phone numbers, cookies, device IDs, and other digital footprints. The goal of an identity graph is to unify disparate data points into cohesive customer profiles, enabling marketers to deliver personalized and consistent experiences across all digital interactions.
Measure and Optimize
Achieving sustainable and goal-oriented results requires expertise and continuous monitoring. Our team of digital media traders and optimization experts work closely with you to analyze inventory, data, landing pages and creatives to refine campaign performance. We provide real-time reporting and actionable insights, focusing on solving your specific challenges and achieving desired outcomes through open communication and data-driven strategies.
Analyze and Attribute
Data transparency is central to our analysis and attribution reporting approach. We provide complete access to your raw metrics, avoiding any concealment of information. Our account services team, backed by experienced data analysts, conducts comprehensive post-campaign reporting. We evaluate performance against short-term and long-term goals, using multi-touch attribution metrics to gain valuable insights. This clarity and transparency prepare you for future campaigns, showcasing the strength of data-driven, people-powered insights.
Compliance and Brand Safety
Rigorous adherence to compliance and brand safety is at the core of MediaJel's service for regulated industries. We ensure that all advertising content strictly follows industry regulations and legal standards. Our platform employs advanced verification processes to confirm that audiences are 90% LDA (Legal Drinking Age) compliant, safeguarding your brand from potential legal issues. Maintaining stringent data management and continuous monitoring guarantees that your campaigns reach the right audience while upholding the highest compliance and security standards.
The best way to show that advertising efforts yield tangible returns is by proving revenue through effective data tracking. Analytics tools like The MediaJel Attribution Dashboard, help monitor and analyze cannabis advertising campaigns, while real-time reporting offers actionable insights for continuous optimization. Other helpful tools like Google Analytics deliver detailed information on website traffic, user behavior, and content consumption, allowing you to understand how visitors interact with your site and assess the effectiveness of your ads. The right analytics tools and platforms provide crucial insights into campaign performance, enabling data-driven decisions and improved results.
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
KPIs reveal the real story behind your ad performance— the good and the bad. Key performance indicators provide clear metrics on your ads' performance and whether they meet your goals. You can make informed adjustments to optimize your strategy and enhance overall campaign effectiveness by closely monitoring KPIs. Use them to optimize and achieve breakthrough results!
- Impressions measure the number of times an ad is displayed. Impressions indicate reach and visibility. Track impressions to assess a campaign's overall visibility.
- Clicks / CTR monitor the number of clicks on ads. Clicks gauge audience engagement and interest. Analyze click-through rates (CTR) to evaluate the effectiveness of your ads in capturing attention.
- Conversions track actions such as sign-ups, transactions, or form submissions. Conversions measure the success of your campaign in driving desired actions. Calculate conversion rates to determine how well your ads achieve campaign goals.
- Return on Ad Spend (ROAS) measures the profitability of your advertising investments. ROAS assesses the revenue generated from ad campaigns relative to the cost of advertising. Calculate ROAS to evaluate the efficiency and effectiveness of your ad spend.
Demystify KPIs and other ad tech jargon on our blog, Digital Marketing & Advertising Acronyms Explained.
Future Trends in Cannabis Advertising
Just as quickly as the cannabis industry evolves, so too does the advertising landscape. Emerging technologies, innovations, and regulatory changes are set to reshape how cannabis brands engage with consumers.
Emerging Technologies and Innovations
- AI Tools: Leveraging artificial intelligence, including advanced tools like ChatGPT, can enhance cannabis advertising through personalized customer interactions, predictive analytics, and automated content creation. Additionally, AI-powered data analysis and campaign optimization tools are becoming increasingly useful.
Predictions for Regulatory Changes
- Impact of Federal Legalization: Anticipated federal legalization is expected to increase regulation within the cannabis advertising space significantly. This shift will likely attract major players, such as Procter & Gamble, raising the stakes for compliance and competition in the industry.
- Increased Regulation: As regulations tighten, cannabis advertising must navigate a more complex landscape, emphasizing robust compliance strategies and innovative approaches to meet evolving legal standards.
Your Competitors Are Fighting for Attention—With Cannabis Advertising, You Capture It First.
Navigating the fiercely competitive and highly regulated cannabis industry requires more than just a 'knack' for marketing; it demands expertise from a top-notch cannabis advertising agency. With advanced programmatic advertising and in-depth analytics, such agencies ensure that your brand captures attention, drives engagement, and adheres to stringent compliance standards. MediaJel, as your cannabis marketing agency, provides a tailored strategy that guarantees campaigns are compliant and optimized to resonate deeply with your target audience, ultimately maximizing impact and delivering measurable results. With our white-label programmatic dashboard, self-service DSP, and full service-supported options, we can reach your targeted audiences and convert them to your online presence.
Let’s take an in-depth look at each digital marketing channel.
Given the unique position of the cannabis industry, we’re only covering the digital marketing channels that are permitted to use by ancillary businesses, brands, dispensary owners, mobile applications, producers, processors, and websites. There is a legal gray area when marketing cannabis companies, and you should regularly reference the laws within your state before starting any campaign.
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