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Twitter’s ad move marks notable shift in US cannabis marketing

This is HUGE NEWS!!!!

By Solomon Israel
February 15, 2023

Twitter’s new policy change permitting advertising and marketing by state-legal cannabis companies is a step forward for the sector and could nudge other digital advertising platforms to rethink their prohibitions on cannabis promotions, industry insiders say.

At the same time, Twitter is spicing up its entry into U.S. cannabis advertising with a promotional incentive for the industry.

“To me it’s a clear indication of the normalization of cannabis as a consumer packaged good and one that is moving towards more mainstream acceptance,” said Lisa Buffo, founder and CEO of the Cannabis Marketing Association industry group.

Rosie Mattio, founder and CEO of cannabis PR agency Mattio Communications, said her firm discussed the new advertising policy with Twitter in the run-up to the social media company’s policy change.

“If (other social media firms are) seeing that there’s real money to be made by allowing cannabis companies to advertise on a specific platform, I think they’d be foolish not to open up the doors to cannabis companies,” she said.

Still, some questions remain about exactly what Twitter’s new cannabis advertising policy permits and what it doesn’t.

Twitter’s cannabis advertising rules

Some U.S. cannabis industry players have already moved to take advantage of Twitter’s policy change, with vaporizer company Pax announcing Wednesday it is “among the first of Twitter’s cannabis advertising partners,” Pax’s vice president of marketing, Luke Droulez, said in a statement.

Others are taking a wait-and-see approach.

Thomas Winstanley, chief marketing officer for East Coast multistate marijuana company Theory Wellness, said Twitter’s new approach to cannabis advertising is“more symbolic than it is practical for our operations,” at least for now.

Winstanley said Twitter’s rules for U.S. cannabis companies are different than the social media company’s advertising rules for Canada, where Twitter already allowed advertising by legal marijuana businesses.

Twitter’s U.S. marijuana advertising rules state that advertisers “may not promote or offer the sale of cannabis,” including CBD, with an exception for topical hemp-derived CBD products containing less than 0.3% THC.

Winstanley interpreted that rule as meaning that Theory Wellness can’t chase a return on Twitter advertising spending by converting an advertisement directly into a sale.

In his estimation, though, brand-awareness promotions would be in-bounds.

Twitter has not responded to an MJBizDaily request to clarify what’s permitted under its U.S. cannabis advertising policy.

“Being one of the first brands to advertise, you get a lot of impressions and a lot of scrutiny,” Winstanley said.

“And so we will likely watch and see as this new segment of (Twitter’s) business starts to evolve and develop.

”https://mjbizdaily.com/twitter-ad-policy-change-marks-notable-shift-in-us-cannabis-marketing/