Native Advertising Tactics in the Cannabis Industry
Until marijuana is legalized at the federal level, cannabis and marijuana-based brands will continue to struggle with advertising restrictions that are set in place. Despite this, there are several ways to strategically market your cannabis brand, such as native advertising, to fit the cannabis industry’s regulations.
What is Native Advertising?
In simple terms, native advertising is paid content. This includes blogs, infographics, videos, etc., that can be promoted on different platforms. But let’s be honest, no one loves having obnoxious ads pop up on their browser consistently. That’s why native advertisements are carefully created to mimic traditional content that is placed on a site to make it challenging to distinguish ads from existing content. With native ads, customers are less likely to opt-out, paying more attention to what’s being promoted.
What Form of Native Advertising is Best for Your Cannabis Brand?
Paid Social Ads
While paid in-feed social posts are a favorite form of native advertising, CBD and cannabis brands must be wary when implementing paid social media ads. Due to critical platforms such as Facebook and Instagram’s highly regulated advertising rules, many cannabis brands cannot advertise without removing all images, pricing, copy, etc., related to cannabis. As a result, this may not be the ideal choice of native advertising for most cannabis-related brands.
Content Recommended Ads
These types of ads are typically found on the side or bottom of a piece of content, usually a blog post. These ads are tabs that link to other pieces of content and are most commonly used to promote press coverage, news stories, blog updates, and more.
Paid Search Ads
Paid search ads are also considered a form of native advertising. These paid ads show up on Google’s search engine results page (SERPs) and mimic the appearance of organic rankings. While Google does regulate cannabis content on their platforms, they accept hemp-related keywords in search advertising. Therefore, many cannabis brands that utilize this approach typically swap cannabis/marijuana to hemp in order to advertise on the platform.
Why You Should Implement Native Advertising into Your Marketing Strategy
Native ads are a significant driver of engagement. They garner 53%1 more views than display advertising and create an 18% increase in purchase intent. If this doesn’t have you convinced, cannabis brands can benefit even more from native advertising due to its potential of reducing stigma and preconceived feelings towards the cannabis industry. When cannabis ads are placed on high-quality sites and surrounded by non-cannabis-related ads, users feel more comfortable interacting with them because it lowers the historical stigma of cannabis products by associating it with other high-quality products and sites.
How Herban Creative Can Help
While the regulation of cannabis and CBD remains a consistent issue for marketers, native advertising offers unique benefits and capabilities that can still drive engagement to your brand’s site. If you’re looking to implement native advertising into your cannabis brand’s marketing strategy, don’t hesitate to reach out to Herban Creative. Our expert team can help market your brand strategically to fit the cannabis industry’s restrictions. Contact Herban Creative today.
