The Challenges of Cannabis Marketing

The challenges facing any cannabis-focused marketing campaign can be very diverse, depending on the campaign, the target audience, and even the location where the campaign will be launched.

But certain challenges are cross-cutting to almost all cannabis marketing, and these include the following:

Legal Restrictions: Cannabis is a highly regulated substance throughout the world, with different regulations depending on the location. Even in the United States, legislation changes at the federal, state, and local levels.

This high regulation and diversity of rules makes it very complicated for cannabis brands to keep up with the regulations they must comply with in their marketing campaigns, especially when they are at the level of several states or localities and their laws differ from each other.

Regulatory Changes: Cannabis regulation is constantly changing and evolving, which can be challenging for businesses looking to keep up with the latest regulations and guidelines.

Companies must be prepared to react to changes in regulation in advance and adjust their marketing strategies accordingly. This involves in-depth regulatory knowledge and constant monitoring of legal changes in each state, country, locality, and territory.

Social Media Restrictions: Another challenge that can be related to restrictions are the regulations of the different social media platforms, for example, Google, Instagram, and Facebook have internal policies as to what is allowed to advertise about cannabis and what is prohibited, and they are very rigorous about it.

Spoiler alert: Almost everything is banned. That’s why it’s so complicated for cannabis companies to run paid advertising campaigns across these platforms, which is why they must focus their efforts on organic growth and SEO optimization.

In addition, alternative marketing strategies may be required, such as live events, influencer marketing, content marketing, backlinks, email marketing, and more.

Stigma: Unfortunately, cannabis still has a negative stigma, despite its increasing legalization.

That’s why cannabis companies should focus part of their marketing on educating about cannabis and its benefits. Another spoiler: this also helps organic growth.

Competition: The cannabis industry has seen exponential growth in the last few years and is expected to grow even more, which presents a challenge for cannabis marketing brands looking to stand out from the crowd of competitors.

Differentiation is everything here, if you can stand out from the crowd – for the right reasons – you will be assured a place in the success of the cannabis industry.

Reaching Your Target Audience: The target audience for a particular cannabis brand can be very diverse, so reaching them with effective marketing campaigns can be a challenge for any cannabis company.

Companies must be able to reach this diverse audience and create relevant messages that connect with them.

Changes In Technology: Technology is changing rapidly, and cannabis companies must stay on top of the latest trends and tools to stay relevant and connected with their audiences.

Incorporating technologies such as artificial intelligence and data analytics should be an integral part of your marketing strategies.