Customer Data: The New Marketing Opportunity for Cannabis Businesses

Jon Lowen, co-founder of Surfside, a marketing platform in New York, works with cannabis industry companies on their marketing, branding, and advertising projects. He’s seen and worked through marijuana, CBD and ancillary products’ marketing restrictions which vary from state to state. Here’s his (lightly edited) advice on the best approaches to marketing and advertising in the industry:

Facebook and Google restrict cannabis and related advertising (specifics below) but companies have advertised successfully on other platforms and media properties. The main restrictions advertisers face on platforms that do accept cannabis and adjacent ads relate to targeting and creative, and each state has its own version of what is allowed. Some states are more restrictive, requiring state approval or distinct language/disclaimers. A general guideline is to focus ads on properties where at least 72% of the audience is 21 and over. Images and messaging cannot show consumption or appear to target minors. False health claims are of course not allowed.

Sometimes companies trying to advertise non-plant touching or hemp-derived CBD, are grouped under the same restrictions as plant-touching cannabis companies. Educating the gate-keepers on new laws like the 2018 Farm Bill that legalized hemp and its derivatives can help.

It’s important to utilize current customer data to understand the type of people interacting with your brand or purchasing your products. Profiling high-value customers allows companies to build look-alike audiences to find new people who share the same attributes as existing customers but are not yet customers.

Read the full article on Forbes