Reefer Madness...Or, Everything We Currently Know About Advertising CBD Products on Facebook
Update: September 17, 2019
Great news! The term “Topical CBD” is currently being allowed in ads. Stay tuned for more updates as they happen.
It’s 4:20pm on September 10, 2019 and here’s what we know, today, about running ads for products containing CBD, cannaboids, hemp oil, or any other by-product of cannabis on Facebook.
This blog post will be updated as new information becomes available, so check back when you’ve got questions!
So, Facebook will let you advertise CBD products now? Great! Let’s start running ads! Oh, what do you mean they’ve never actually said in their Terms of Service that CBD products were banned?
How do I know what I can write? How do I know what will get my ad account shut down? What will actually get posted and not pulled down after a week?! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH, it’s enough to drive you crazy!
Hey, we get it! We’re partnering with clients who run a LOT of these ads, but Facebook isn’t telling ANYONE what’s allowed, what’s not, and what to do next. Here’s what we know (mostly through trial and error) and our pro-tips for advertising products made with CBD:
Tread carefully with landing pages. Look at the guidelines for Misleading or False Content and Personal Health. Make sure that any claims your product makes are reasonable and can be supported. As always, the word “Pain” is a big red flag for Facebook, so be cautious with pain relief claims.
Edible products are more sensitive than topical products. The best practice for edible products is to advertise information about product benefits ONLY and send traffic to an educational page. Any ask for a purchase in the ad copy or first landing page seems to be cause for rejection.
Dirty words: words that seem to be triggering rejection include:
CBD (although as of 9/17/19 “Topical CBD” is being allowed)
Hemp
Cannabis
Anything with “Cannabinoid” in it
THC (even if you’re saying the product doesn’t have it)
Marijuana
Full-spectrum
So what CAN you talk about in your ads?
Product features (except, you know, for the key CBD ingredient)
Ethical sourcing of ingredients or green production methods
Focus on Quality & Efficacy
Brand positioning messages (as long as, again, you don’t mention CBD)
Product experience (taste, feel, smell, etc)
Other reasons people would feel good about buying (or using) that product or shopping with you.
Got a hot tip for advertising CBD products (or how NOT to advertise them), comment below, we’ll take all the help we can get!
Meaghan Rodeck
T.G.I.F. (WTF is that?!)
Team Growth Infrastructure Facilitator