Though marijuana is no longer a conversation stopper for public discussions, cannabis companies still have to jump over hurdles to draw the buyer's attention to their products. Advertising restrictions for alcohol and tobacco brands bear no comparison with the limitations marijuana businesses have to skip over in order to attract their customers.
Cannabis companies in California have the right to advertise medical marijuana products only if they include a specific notice for buyers, though other states have established significantly different rules. For instance, Colorado allows advertising of marijuana brands for an audience that potentially includes less than 30% under-aged viewers. Such restrictions make cannabis advertising campaigns almost impossible, as newspapers, flyers, billboards, and other common ad places are also subjects of limitations.
Moreover, the Internet is also under the strict control of the state law enforcement agencies. Thus, cannabis businesses spend the major part of their ad campaign budget not on radio or television, but on search engine optimization that brings potential customers to their sites.
Unfortunately, even social media sites have to follow the restrictions of a particular state. Thus, there are plenty of cases when Instagram or Facebook shuts down pages for marijuana-related content without a good reason. Even some states where cannabis is legal for medical purposes can close a licensed dispensary for interaction with customers.
Nevertheless, cannabis market is growing rapidly into a huge industry due to marketing companies that offer alternative approaches. Thanks to the efforts of marketing experts, marijuana businesses manage to create a massive appeal to new customers by redesigning their product lines, breaking stereotypes about marijuana users, and even creating social media interaction.
Mantis is a great example of successful media managers. It serves over two hundred websites and social media accounts associated with legal cannabis. This advertising platform shows more than 130 million advertisements to over 12 million cannabis consumers per month.
However, Bang Digital Media made a step further by creating a breakthrough advertisement of marijuana brands. Created in 2014, the company successfully links marijuana brands to cannabis users via online advertising network and a team of social influencers. Advertising cannabis through social people with more than 250,000 followers, the company managed to make marijuana marketing viral.
Word-of-mouth always works more effectively than other expensive advertisements, as people tend to take the advice of their friends or people they like more readily. Similarly, the voice of social influencers on the Internet sounds more powerful to web users. People who create their own channels or podcasts on Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, Vine, Snapchat, or Facebook, can reach millions of subscribers. These social influencers benefit from their channels by making paid advertising of brands or products.
Thus, if one of the cannabis influencers, like HaleylsSoarx or CustomGrow420, suddenly recommends a particular marijuana-related product, thousands of their subscribers will undoubtedly want to try it at least once. Moreover, social influencers should not worry about state restrictions or any other limitations of local marijuana laws, and their subscribers include only cannabis-friendly audience.
