Social Media is finicky. Meta (Facebook & Instagram) have their rules that you, the account owner, have to follow. This is true for any business category, but it gets even more complicated if you’re trying to promote products and services that are federally illegal. Yes, Cannabis may be fully legal in your state, but Meta and Google still follow federal law in regards to advertising. They don’t want to be subject to federal lawsuits and aren’t willing to assume liability for advertising.
There are rules to follow and then there are guidelines to being successful promoting your brand. A lot can go wrong on Facebook & Instagram when it comes to promoting your dispensary or cultivator. But, it’s not something that you should be afraid of doing. There are ways to be successful and not get your accounts temporarily suspended or permanently banned.
The easiest way to get your account banned is writing the wrong words in your posts. Meta’s algorithm for flagging and removing posts looks for specific words, phrases, and language in your content. It’s best to avoid mentioning or using the following:
Meta’s algorithm can detect far more than just words. It is so smart that it can detect and remove posts based on the content of your images. While you won’t get flagged for posting pictures of cannabis related products if you follow our guidance on what to write, you will get flagged and possibly banned for the imagery you choose.
Don’t worry about posting great photography of the flowers, edibles, concentrates, topicals, or accessories. Meta, generally, will let it slide as long as it’s worded properly unless people report it. The types of photography and imagery you want to avoid are any images of people actively partaking or prepping for use in a smoking apparatus. These will get immediately deleted and you will get your account flagged.
This is just the surface of how to successfully navigate social media with your cannabis brand. Every major social media service has their own sets of rules and regulations as to how you can use them for your cannabis brand.
Navigating your way through this incredibly finicky area of promotion of your brand can be overwhelmingly difficult. One wrong word or image can undo all of the work you’ve done to build your brand up.
If you’d like more help with language, imagery, and successfully plotting a course in this field, contact us to schedule a consultation and see what we can do for your business.