top of page

<

What regulations do CBD brands need to meet to advertise their products in the UK?

​

What vocabulary and/or imagery can’t you use?

Words of warning

Avoid the following descriptive terms when advertising your CBD brand (list is not exhaustive):

​

  • Avoids

  • Prevents

  • Boosts

  • Protect against

  • Calms Cures

  • Relieves

  • Eliminates

  • Repair

  • Fights

  • Restores

  • Heals

  • Stops

  • Treats

 

When advertising your CBD product, use highly subjective language to make beneficial claims such as:

​

  • Support

  • Maintain

  • Helps to maintain

​

Making attractive images related to your CBD products and adding them to your Instagram story with relevant hashtags will promote your CBD business. For example, posting images about the CBD products that people use, or you must post a picture of how CBD products work.

​

Advertisers should take particular care to ensure that any imagery and wording which accompanies factual statements about the CBD content of a product does not link it to cannabis.

​

What are the CBD regulations for advertisements?

​

Advertisers must first ensure that the product they are marketing can be legally sold in the UK. The raw product must not contain more than the maximum permitted level of THC and any CBD products that do contain more than this level simply cannot be sold or advertised. Advertisers also need to consider how their products will be classified. For example, they should consider the following questions:

​

  • Is it a controlled substance?

  • Is it a food or a food supplement?

  • Is it a medicine or presented as a medicine?

  • Is it a cosmetic product?

  • Is it a non-nicotine-containing vaping e-liquid?

​

The nature of the product will have an impact on licensing requirements and the applicability of certain advertising rules and restrictions. Many products such as foods, food supplements, cosmetics, medicines and e-cigarettes, and e-liquids are subject to sector-specific advertising rules as well as compliance with general advertising rules. These rules are generally quite strict.

​

Ads must also be socially responsible e.g. should not be associated with illicit drugs. Although those who are likely to see CBD product ads would generally be aware that CBD is derived from the cannabis plant. Before you advertise your CBD products, you need to work out what they will be classified as – food or food supplement, novel food, or medicine.

​

How to advertise CBD on social media without getting banned?

​

Brands with a diverse portfolio of products can also take advantage of Facebook to redirect to indirectly market CBD products. Using clever website design, marketers can entice users coming from the platform to check out their other offerings. Enter your CBD items. Note that this workaround is far from foolproof. There’s no guarantee that your ad won’t get taken down in the future, even if the product being featured does not contain CBD.

​

Twitter is a great channel to promote related news and answers to burning questions people have about CBD use. CBD One, a UK-based brand, tweets about topics such as insomnia, or whether the compound shows up on blood tests. Both posts link to a blog, which brings users one step closer to becoming a customer.

​

In terms of advertising, LinkedIn, surprisingly, is more forgiving compared to Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. According to LinkedIn’s policies, brands are not allowed to run “ads related to illegal, prescription, over-the-counter, or recreational drugs are prohibited”. While this does mean that you still won’t be able to directly sell CBD, you’re allowed to run ads that promote informational content that will help your brand build thought leadership.

​

Here is the guideline with details of the methods that teach you how you can advertise your CBD products on Instagram without getting banned and violation of the privacy policy of Instagram.

​

  • Use non-paid advertisements

  • Reposting relevant content

  • Post CBD-relevant images on Instagram

  • Hire Influencers

  • Be social

​

If you don’t want to be banned on Instagram while advertising CBD products, you must take care of some things. Here are some quick and effective tips for you that help to advertise your CBD products.

​

  1. Never think about the paid advertising on Instagram for your CBD products as it is against the privacy policy of Instagram. If you do so your ad may be approved but after some time your Instagram account will be banned.

  2. The privacy policy of Instagram restricts the word CBD so never use the word CBD in any of your Instagram posts, stories or image.

  3. Use the word hemp products as it is safe and indirectly refers to the same CBD.

  4. The story, post, and images you posted on your Instagram account will never reflect the idea that you are selling CBD products.

  5. However, the Story, posts, and images you posted on your Instagram account just show that you are sharing some information or your experience regarding hemp products (CBD).

  6. While advertising your CBD products never target specifically the teenager audience.

  7. Ask your customers to share feedback on your CBD products on their Instagram accounts.

  8. Effectively use tags and hashtags to grab the attention of your audience.

  9. Go live on Instagram with your customers, share their stories and grab the attention of other audiences.

  10. Connect with the Instagram influencers.

​

Which CBD brand has the most successful marketing?

​

Charlotte's Web pioneered hemp-derived CBD in the US and has become the number one CBD brand name through word-of-mouth and social media as its core group of passionate advocates helped spread the story of Charlotte Figi and others who have benefited from CBD.

​

On October 2, 2019, Charlotte’s Web unveiled its Trust The Earth campaign in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Shepard Fairey’s Studio Number One created a huge mural featuring a hand holding a hemp plant and the call-to-action “Trust the Earth” above “Hemp for Natural Health”. The company’s first national CBD advertising campaign combined out-of-home (OOH) ads with a microsite, and digital content.

​

What are the requirements of CBD brand packaging?

Basic requirements about the packaging for CBD oil are given as:

​

  • Name of the product

  • Ingredients

  • Instructions about its usage

  • Amount of CBD and THC present

  • Nutritional information

  • Manufacturing and expiry date

  • Storage conditions

bottom of page