How To Market CBD on Facebook & Not Get Shut Down
We’ve been using Facebook & Instagram to market CBD products since 2018 and have realized that the best way to market CBD on Facebook is to focus your organic posts on educational facts, backed by credible scientific sources.
While this may not sound “sexy” or Instagram-worthy”, that’s ok because that’s not the goal for your CBD brand on social media.
Your goal should be to use Facebook & Instagram organically and lead with education in order to build brand awareness and develop product trust. By “organically” we mean daily posts, no paid ads, no “boosted” posts, just organic posts to your feed.
Your purpose should be to be visible and consistent when marketing your CBD products through Facebook. Strive for the quality of your content over the quantity of posts per day, week, or month.
A valuable tip for marketing CBD on Facebook is to understand your target audience, or more specifically, your most profitable audience(s), and create unique, high-quality content that appeals to this target while showing the features and benefits of hemp-derived CBD and your product line.
If you’re challenged on how to market CBD on Facebook & Instagram we have 3 CBD marketing tips for your consideration.
In addition, we’ve also included 2 alternatives to marketing CBD on Facebook for anyone looking for other channels to see CBD.
Let’s get started with the first tip on how to market CBD on Facebook.
1. Segment Your Audience & Educate Each Cohort Accordingly
Let’s say your most profitable audience is men, over 50, who are employed, active, and may have children and maybe even grandkids.
We’ll assume this cohort is interested in natural health supplements, is liberal-minded, prefers social activities as opposed to staying at home, and suffers from lower back pain, maybe knee pain, as well as some arthritis.
Examples of effective CBD Facebook marketing tactics to use that would benefit both your brand and this target cohort, would be:
– To post content that engages and educates the target reader on the health benefits of CBD and other cannabinoids.
– Educate the target reader on the USA Farm Bill and how hemp and hemp-derived CBD products are legal and FDA approved.
– Discuss cannabis – the plant – and educate the reader on the endocannabinoid system, how CBD & THC work with receptors in the human brain, and the benefits this provides.
Now let’s say your next profitable cohort is women in their late 30’s to 45+ who may be looking to use CBD for skincare, anti-aging, anti-acne, and other cosmetic benefits.
You could develop brand awareness & product trust by using the following tactics when trying to market CBD on Facebook to target this specific group.
– Daily Facebook & Instagram posts highlighting the benefits of hemp-derived CBD face cream for skincare and anti-aging.
– Focus on the health benefits without making any claims or linking to your website. Remember, the purpose is not to increase online sales but to increase brand awareness, product trust, and educate your target audience.
– If your CBD store only sells CBD products from popular brands, you could feature each brand in a separate post that educates your target audience on the competitive advantages of each brand.
The key points here are to use your social media platforms to educate the consumer without making outrageous claims and only focusing on the health benefits and competitive advantages of your CBD products.
Your goal to market CBD on Facebook should not be to increase online revenue. The goal should be to educate your target demographics in order to create awareness and trust.
2. Create a Branded Facebook Group To Educate & Engage
Facebook Groups are an excellent way to market CBD on Facebook because they help your brand create engagement and discussion on social media about CBD and your brand.
Think of your Facebook Group as a forum where customers can come together to discuss and interact with your CBD brand.
For you or your CBD marketing agency, your Facebook group can provide the unique ability to gain real-time consumer feedback.
This type of engagement and interaction is a win-win for CBD brands and customers, as the benefit to the customer is that it allows them to feel empowered by their ability to reach out and make themselves heard, and have their questions answered.
Your Facebook Group should be set as “private” so that you, your CBD marketing team, or anyone with “admin” access can vet all requests to join the group to prevent any nefarious activity.
How To Use Facebook Groups For CBD Marketing
Facebook Groups can easily turn into a temptation to use this platform as another way to market CBD on Facebook, sell your brand, and increase sales.
It’s super important to understand that this is a major turnoff to most users in Facebook groups.
Instead of being brand forward, be CBD forward and establish your brand as a trusted CBD industry authority.
Simply put, in a Facebook Group, wisdom and engagement are far more valuable than using the platform to try and sell your product.
Now let’s touch on how Facebook Groups are an excellent tool to establish proactive customer engagement.
When people see your CBD brand interacting on social media it re-establishes and fosters trust in your brand identity.
The open communication that takes place within the context of your Facebook Group will allow you to be as close to the consumer thought process as you can be, all while learning and addressing the concerns of your customer.
Just a final reminder here to not be overly focused on sales revenue and instead, use this platform as a way to engage your customers by asking popular questions related to CBD and your target audience in order to stimulate and engage.
3. Promote Your CBD Blog Content To Boost Brand Authority
This CBD Facebook marketing tactic only works if you have an active CBD blog content marketing strategy and you’re publishing relevant articles on the regular.
One of my favorite tips to market CBD on Facebook is to use the platform to amplify your website’s blog content, which will also boost your brand awareness.
If you’re already publishing CBD blog articles on your website as part of your CBD SEO strategy, make sure you are sharing that blog content on Facebook & Instagram several times each week.
I’d even suggest repurposing the same blog article by sharing it in several different posts, on different days & times, with unique copy/text in each post.
It’s highly recommended that the blog content you share is focused on education and not customer acquisition.
If your CBD blog content strategy is on point, and the content you’re publishing answers the most popular questions your target audience is asking about CBD, you’ll see the traffic your website gets from Facebook increase week after week after week.
This benefits your brand by increasing website traffic, brand awareness, and product trust, and it benefits the customer because they’re being educated on the benefits of CBD while gaining trust in a brand – your brand.
By leading with educational blog articles or educational facts displayed in engaging, compelling content (video, gifs, images), you’re able to create a social media content strategy that is acceptable to Facebook’s content policies.
So how do you market CBD on Facebook? Focus on the customer and use social media as a PR play for top-of-the-funnel awareness, brand-building, and customer education.
Don’t use Facebook to focus on products, promotions, online sales, and website revenue.
Two Alternatives To Marketing CBD on Facebook
If you’ve found that focusing on how to market CBD on Facebook isn’t the best strategy for you, I’d like to offer two excellent CBD marketing tactics to consider outside of any social media platform.
1. CBD Advertising on Google Search
For over a decade-plus I’ve liked to say that our digital advertising team uses Facebook & Instagram for demand generation, and we use Google search for demand fulfillment.
Typically, people don’t go to social media platforms like Facebook or Instagram when they have the intent to purchase CBD (or anything else) online. This is not to say that social media marketing is unnecessary for CBD brands, because it’s quite the opposite.
Social media should be used for CBD brands to create brand awareness, product trust, and increase website traffic.
When people want to buy CBD online, or near them, they would typically go to a search engine like Google, Bing, or Yahoo and type in a phrase that suggests an intent to purchase now, or very soon.
That’s why we suggest using Google search ads as a primary CBD marketing tactic because we’re able to show customized CBD search ads on the top of page 1 on Google for people who are searching to: ‘buy cbd oil online”, ‘buy cbd edibles for sleep’, ‘buy cbd oil for pain 1500mg’, or other CBD purchase intent keyword phrases.
Yes, it is possible to advertise CBD on Google as long as you follow a certain process. We also outline how to advertise CBD on Facebook.
You can also view our case studies for CBD ads on Google here, here, and here.
2. Programmatic Display/Banner Advertising For CBD
This CBD marketing tactic is the one we suggest to our clients who are looking for the closest alternative to advertising CBD on Facebook & Instagram.
Sure Facebook & Instagram have a ton of daily users and daily traffic, but so do the world’s most popular websites – pretty much any mainstream website you can name in the USA, Canada, UK, EU, & worldwide.
We are able to secure priority ad placements for your CBD brand and products on popular mainstream websites that your target audience views every day. Just like they do with social media.
The best news is that our programmatic display advertising partners DSPs allow for CBD advertising so ad approval is not an issue and neither is getting your ads pulled and your ad account shut down.
Even more good news is that the ad manager for programmatic display advertising is similar to Facebook with interest targeting, the ability to create custom audiences, look-a-like audiences, and retarget everyone who visits your website with customized display ads to get them back to the site.
Summary on How To Market CBD on Facebook
Marketing CBD on Facebook & Instagram is absolutely necessary and can be terribly frustrating for many CBD brands.
The tips outlined above should help clarify how to market CBD on Facebook effectively and in ways that will benefit both your brand and your target customers.
Focus on your target customer. Use Facebook & Instagram to educate them on your brand, your princess, your approach, and the health benefits of your CBD products.
If you’re ready to try other CBD marketing strategies outside of social media, the two alternatives to marketing CBD on Facebook that we discussed above are a great place to start.
We can help you understand how to market CBD on Facebook or create a customized CBD marketing strategy for your business including other channels in addition to social media.
If you’re ready to get started, please email us to request a quote or call us for a free 30-minute phone consultation.
We’re Ready To Help You Grow.
