How brands win at cannabis marketing and advertising

Shut out from most advertising channels, cannabis operators – and their marketing partners – are rethinking how to reach consumers in a highly competitive environment.

Instead of billboards and media buys, they’re turning to sharp search strategy, culture-rich content hubs and storytelling shaped by tracked and measured audience behavior to drive growth.

Agency leaders and digital strategists tell MJBizDaily that successful advertising and marketing strategies depend on authenticity, owned assets and hyperlocal relevance rather than broad ad reach.

And instead of relying on fickle earned media or risking bans on social-media platforms, the shift also allows cannabis operators and brands to lean into channels they truly own.

These deliver the clearest return because they’re compliant, measurable and built on customer intent.

The rules restricting legal cannabis advertising

Nearly every state that’s legalized adult-use cannabis outlaws businesses operating within that legal framework restricts advertising in some way.

Some states prohibit cannabis billboards on public property or near schools – when they’re not banned entirely.

Many states also restrict the use of broadcast and print media as well as internet platforms.

As for the internet platforms themselves, Facebook and Instagram ban paid promotion entirely – and punish accounts that post content deemed to be too promotional with temporary or permanent bans.

Spotify and other audio networks narrow what’s allowed, and Google ads remain restricted to certified topical CBD in select locations.

Where digital ads may be allowed, states often require proof that audiences are majority aged 21 and over.

These factors push operators toward channels where verification is possible rather than those with broad reach – and with a majority of cannabis brands relying on a digital strategy, the limitations are obvious.

Where successful cannabis marketing starts: the search

So cannabis marketers focus on what they can actually control: organic search, structured site content, customer relationship management (CRM) and the first-party data informing these strategies.

Search is where it all begins.

Search-engine optimization is the most reliable acquisition engine for legal marijuana, according to Matthew Shterenberg, CEO of Santa Monica, Calif.-based Deeproots Partners.

Search queries capture buyers who are actively looking for a store and double as market intelligence: the product terms, questions and pain points typed into Google reveal what operators should emphasize in menus, education and promotions.

And since Instagram, Facebook and TikTok routinely suppress or remove cannabis content, search is where marketing investments can be made with less risk of deletion.

Cannabis brands must make a name

But search only performs when the brand foundation is clear.

“Brand identity is inextricable from SEO and content,” CannaContent founder Stella Morrison said.

“Great SEO won’t save a bad reputation or no reputation at all.”

Brands that win define a specific audience and build content around what those customers genuinely want to know.

FAQ hubs, educational blogs and location landing pages compound visibility over time.

Veteran brand strategist JP Donahue at Stoned Ape sees the same pattern from the creative side.

In competitive markets, he said brands must answer the hardest question first: Why should someone choose you?

“That answer is the foundation of brand,” he noted, and it’s the filter that makes any SEO, menu copy or content effort resonate.

Owning the means of advertising production

Once customers arrive, owned channels become the revenue engine.

Will Read, founder of Cannaplanners, said operators’ websites are “the window into the eventual retail experience,” and is one of the few places operators still have real creative freedom.

Email, SMS and loyalty programs offer similar control and clear ROI through segmentation and trackable behavior, without the volatility of rented platforms.

Across interviews, leaders describe the same stack: search captures demand, structured content nurtures it and CRM monetizes it.

Stoned Ape’s Donahue argues these functions must be unified rather than siloed.

“Brand feeds acquisition and retention,” he said. “These efforts must be working synergistically instead of separately.”

Cannabis brands tell a clear story

If owned channels help customers find a brand, storytelling helps them remember it.

But that story needs to be told constantly, in different ways.

“The biggest misconception we see is operators thinking that getting one ad, campaign, or social account live is enough to move the needle,” said Kavya Sebastian, brand strategist for Cannabis Creative Group.

Her team focuses on content that mirrors what happens in the store: short-form videos, carousels and stories that humanize staff, offer lifestyle context and build connection – and do so off of social media.

“Email and text let you see direct revenue, monitor touchpoints, and understand purchase behavior,” she said. “We regularly see 10–20x ROI on CRM campaigns.”

It’s a reminder that the most effective storytelling often happens off-platform, in the owned channels brands control.

“Every touchpoint matters,” she added.

“Brands that create a seamless loop between social, email, their website and the in-store experience are the ones that win.”

Staying clear and compliant is key in cannabis marketing

Experts contacted for this article agreed that winning brands aren’t the ones making the most noise, but the ones using every compliant surface to deliver a clear, human story.

Sustaining that approach requires sharper discipline. Operators will want clean data, intentional segmentation and CRM systems grounded in real behavior.

Combined with experiential content and loyalty-driven communication, these foundations scale regardless of platform rules.

But brand clarity determines how well every channel will work.

“Authenticity, full stop, is what lands,” said Stoned Ape’s Donahue. “Brands willing to take bigger creative swings will define the next wave of standouts.”