Anybody who sells CBD online or runs a brick & mortar CBD business has wondered – can you advertise CBD on Facebook?
Here’s the truth:
Yes, you can advertise CBD on Facebook!
Not only do we work with hundreds of CBD business owners who’ve successfully advertised CBD on Facebook, but we’ve personally gotten CBD ads approved for several CBD companies as well.
Read on to fully understand Facebook’s advertising policies and learn what it takes to get your own CBD ads approved on the platform.
- Understanding Facebook’s Advertising Policy for CBD
- Facebook CBD Advertising Risks
- Best Practices for Advertising CBD on Facebook
- Alternative CBD Ad Campaign Strategies
- How to Find Facebook CBD Ad Examples
- Final Thoughts
Understanding Facebook’s Advertising Policy for CBD
Before we dive into the Facebook advertising policy for CBD, let’s review a few key restrictions to remember before selling any CBD products, both online and offline.
1. Your CBD products cannot contain more than 0.3% THC.
2. Your CBD products cannot be labeled as a food additive or dietary supplement.
3. You cannot make any claims about your CBD products having therapeutic benefits.
With that out of the way, we can get back to discussing Facebook’s advertising policy.
Although you can advertise CBD on Facebook, there is no specific policy regarding CBD ads that’s publicly available.
Nevertheless;
Facebook does have an internal policy in place that prohibits ads explicitly promoting CBD or other hemp-derived consumables.
While that sounds harsh, Facebook has relaxed its advertising policies for CBD ads in recent years.
You can get your CBD ads approved on Facebook as long as they meet the following requirements:
- Your ad creative does not specifically feature ingestible CBD products.
- Your ad copy does not explicitly mention ‘CBD’ or other related terms.
- Your landing page does not feature ingestible CBD products.
Here’s the easy-to-understand version:
Any CBD ads on Facebook cannot mention CBD, feature CBD products in the creative, or link to a page with ingestible CBD products.
To get your ad approved, we recommend promoting topical CBD products.
Some brands are able to go beyond the guidelines listed above, but there’s no guarantee you can do the same without penalty.
Facebook CBD Advertising Risks
While Facebook does approve CBD ads that meet certain parameters, there’s no guarantee your ad will be approved.
Not only do you risk getting disapproved ads, but Facebook is known for being extremely harsh towards advertisers who promote CBD products.
Some retailers even report their Facebook ad accounts getting permanently shut down on their first offense.
Much of Facebook’s advertising policy enforcement is automated, which is why it’s so important to follow the guidelines we outlined.
Using phrases like CBD, cannabinol, or hemp in your ad copy or creative can trigger disapproval of your ad, or worse.
If the risk of losing your Facebook ad account is too great, consider launching a sister company to test running CBD ads on Facebook.
You’ll need a separate domain, website, and Facebook ad account to avoid any connection to your main company or brand.
Popular CBD brand JustCBD has taken this exact approach with their second site JustHEMP.
The design is simple and used for advertised hemp products on Google and Facebook.
Best Practices for Advertising CBD on Facebook
It’s important we restate this a few times;
There is no way to guarantee whether or not following these guidelines will result in approval for your CBD Facebook ads.
However, the guidelines mentioned here will give you the best chance at having them approved without losing your Facebook ad account.
Use the checklist below to assist in creating campaigns for advertising CBD products.
Ad Copy
- Do not mention ‘CBD’ or any closely related terms in your ad copy. This includes words like cannabidiol and cannabinoid as well.
- Use phrases like ‘Natural Plant-Based Remedies’ to describe
- Do not make any medical claims regarding your product.
Ad Creative
- Do not show any mention of CBD in your ad images or videos. This includes product labeling.
- Do not feature any CBD products in your ad images or videos.
Landing Page
- Do not mention CBD on your landing page. There seems to be more leeway with ‘hemp’ being mentioned on your landing pages. Some CBD brands simply mention benefits of their products instead of outright calling them CBD.
- Do not mention CBD in your URL.
These guidelines are extremely restrictive, so it may seem impossible to get ads for CBD on Facebook approved.
Rest assured that dozens of brands are actively advertising their CBD products on Facebook today.
Before we dive into some examples of brands advertising CBD on Facebook, let’s discuss some campaign strategies that don’t involve sending traffic to a product page.
Alternative CBD Ad Campaign Strategies
While advertising CBD on platforms like Facebook is difficult, many CBD companies have discovered loopholes that don’t violate ad policy.
Educational Content
A popular strategy for promoting CBD on Facebook is running ads to a blog or piece of educational content on your site.
Content that covers topics directly related to your products like the benefits of CBD, how to read CBD lab reports, and which consumption method is superior, allow you to directly mention CBD in your landing page.
Here’s the best part;
You can use links on your landing page to send traffic to a product listing or the homepage of your site.
A simple call-to-action button can take your paid traffic from a blog post to a collection page or product listing.
This all falls within Facebook’s advertising policies because you aren’t directly selling CBD on the initial landing page.
Quiz Funnels
Another popular strategy to advertise CBD on Facebook is leveraging a quiz funnel.
This approach involves creating a quiz that acts as a landing page for your Facebook ad.
Depending on the type of quiz you choose, the end of your quiz can be used to move your lead further down the funnel.
For example, a product quiz could ask questions to find out which CBD product may be best for the customer.
At the end of the quiz, you could direct the customer to the product they were matched with or simple push them to sign up for your email list.
With so many brands in the health & wellness industry using this strategy, you’ll have plenty of examples to pull inspiration from.
Facebook Page Growth
A simple and straight forward method for reaching CBD consumers is leveraging ads to grow your own Facebook page.
This method isn’t recommended for everyone, but with the right targeting you can reach consumers interested in CBD and get them to follow your Facebook page.
Facebook offers campaign objective specifically aimed at garnering engagement for your page.
With a fresh, engaged audience now following your page, you can post CBD products and content without worrying about ad policies.
Any CBD brands focused on community building and engagement will find this approach useful.
How to Find Facebook CBD Ad Examples
Now that we’ve covered the basics when it comes to how you can advertise CBD on Facebook, let’s review where you can find real-world examples of CBD brands successfully running ads.
Facebook Ad Library
Facebook’s ad library exposes present and past approved ads. You’ll gain access to creative, copy, and can even see the landing pages a CBD brand is using. Simply search for keywords like ‘CBD’ or find a specific CBD brand you’ve seen running ads.
CBD Ad Agencies
A quick Google search for ad agencies specializing in CBD marketing will reveal dozens of pages of results. Many of these companies share examples and case studies of Facebook ad campaigns they’ve successfully run for a CBD brand.
Curated Facebook CBD Ad Examples
We’ve done the heavy lifting for you and curated a collection of CBD ad campaigns to inspire your own strategies. Check it out today for direct access.
Final Thoughts
Hopefully you now have a definitive answer to the question – can you advertise CBD on Facebook?
As outlined above, you can!
This is not only confirmed by Facebook’s internal policies, but by the dozens of brands running CBD ads on Facebook today as well.
There is always a risk associated with advertising CBD on Facebook, but with careful planning and adherence to the guidelines we’ve mentioned you can successfully launch your own CBD ads.
We expect Facebook to continue evolving their policies regarding these ads as the CBD industry gains popularity and acceptance in the minds of consumers.
Whether you’re selling CBD online or through a physical retail location, consider Smoke Drop to source quality CBD products from the most reputable brands in the indsutry.
You’ll find automated CBD dropshipping services as well as competitive wholesale pricing to stock your store.
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