In 2021, TikTok beat out Google and everyone else as the world’s most visited site. This represents a huge shift in the way that people consume content. The only thing that hasn’t changed is the volatile nature of posting cannabis content on social media.
Since first launching in 2011, cannabis, culture, and music authority, Respect My Region (RMR), has been on the front lines of marketing cannabis on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and more. After going viral on Facebook in 2018, we saw the opportunity for RMR to start utilizing our content strategy on TikTok.
TikTok is even more strict about cannabis than Instagram. We grew on the platform using content we knew was “safe,” while studying how to implement cannabis content that wouldn’t get flagged. Eventually, we began carrying out these strategies on TikTok and Instagram for ourselves and a dispensary client. The potential for growth is undeniable if you’re able to stay within the community guidelines.
Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts have arisen to compete with TikTok’s AI-driven video sharing. This presents a huge opportunity for cannabis and CBD brands to reach enormous audiences across multiple platforms. We have found viable methods for marketing cannabis on popular apps like TikTok and Instagram. We’ve come up with seven tips for marketing cannabis and CBD on these platforms using unique and original content.
Respect My Region Goes Viral
We first exploded on the scene in 2018 when I made a viral post on Christmas Eve. A video featuring the California-based cannabis lawyers, the “Pot Brothers at Law,” started to go insanely viral on the official Respect My Region Facebook page. Up until this point, I had been posting two to three videos a day for months.
We were about two months into a strategy where we were taking videos that were “going viral” on Instagram in the morning, and then posting anywhere from two to five of them on Facebook at certain times of the day. We ran this first game plan for 60-days or so. Eventually, we earned ourselves an opportunity where the right type of content ultimately went viral.
A few weeks after the first video, I published another featuring Machine Gun Kelly. Once again, it hit more than a million views on our Facebook page.
Because of the digital climate surrounding both artists, the content had a higher probability of going viral simply because it was the right video posted at the right time.
This second viral video was also the tipping point where RMR’s strategies for social media had to take a comprehensive shift across every platform.
Minimizing Risk On TikTok & Instagram
Our team now crafts a strategy that leverages TikTok and Instagram in a way that minimizes the risk associated with Instagram or Facebook’s volatile stance against the sale or promotion of cannabis. The content we plan out often uses or infuses local businesses, lifestyle shots with merchandise, news and media outlet stories, comedy, education, and other forms of content to secure regular engagement.
The way to achieve sustainable growth on social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram is by standing on the three pillars of education, entertainment, and information.
You don’t need to be directly showing your cannabis products to reach your consumers and build community. By creating content that is diverse and speaks to your niche, you can reach a wide audience and minimize risk. Combining this model with the right hashtags can bring you success.
The Power of Hashtags
Hashtags are a very powerful tool for reaching your desired audience quicker. However, many cannabis marketers have found by now that apps like Instagram and TikTok have hashtags that are banned or blocked. Despite the obvious ones (#cannabis, #marijuana, #420, etc…) there is still a healthy hashtag ecosystem to reach your audience.
TikTok and Instagram users find ways to build up hashtags that the apps aren’t looking for. These may include #maryjane, #highlife, or #smoke. Using these in tandem with geo-local hashtags (#boulder, #seattle, #encino) may help reach your target audience.
7 Tips and Steps for Marketing Cannabis and CBD on TikTok and Instagram
1. Identify current viral hashtags and trends, and get creative to see how you can relate those to your brand or product and vice versa.
2. Research the posts and videos being created for specific trends and keep track of the actions, sounds, and songs that are being used In videos that relate to your brand, your product, and your audience.
3. Research what other successful cannabis brands are doing on TikTok and look at what they post on their Instagram. Leverage from the best content, and leave the rest.
4. Start creating content that is simple or easy to shoot and edit (one per day)
5. Never show weed flower, vapes, glass rigs, and pre-rolled joints–it’s an easy way to get deleted. Use funny props and mimic certain actions, instead.
6. Leverage three to five hashtags in each post, and make sure they’re relevant to your brand locally. An example for a local dispensary might be “#foryou #venturacounty #porthueneme,” or similar.
7. Publish original content one to four times per day, and make sure to select trends that don’t already have tens of thousands of video examples. You want to participate in trends and publish content when it’s one of the first 1,000 videos.
There are all kinds of tips, tricks, and resources out there for you to decipher, but these seven should help you get started off on the right foot.
Engagement
Once you’re fully embracing the content strategy we’ve outlined in the previous seven steps it’s time to start engaging. Comments, likes, follows, and shares are pivotal to supporting your content posting strategy. There are two immediate ways you can go about finding the right accounts to engage with. The first is looking at all of the hashtags you’re using and commenting, and liking recent posts that are within those hashtags.
The other way is to find popular accounts that are posting similar content to yours. Go into their followers and start engaging with active accounts that are posting regularly. It’s important to leave meaningful comments that are more than just emojis. For all the people that respond to your comments, likes, or shares, give them a follow. These are two viable ways of finding your niche audience and building community with them on both TikTok and Instagram.
Conclusion
The landscape of legal cannabis is constantly shifting, especially the avenues for marketing and promotion. Respect My Region has been at the forefront of marketing legal weed since the beginning and has seen what works and what doesn’t.
As AI-driven short-form video platforms continue to rise to the top, it’s paramount to find your niche as a cannabis, CBD, or Delta-8 business through consistent, engaging social media marketing. Done correctly, and given the time and energy, your cannabis or CBD brand can become comprehensively able to deliver high-quality, low-risk content on platforms like Instagram and TikTok.
