Similarly to other industries like iGaming, marketing your cannabis brand presents a number of unique challenges. Not only do you need to change people’s perception about your offering, but you’ll also need to keep in mind regulations.
Mainstream adoption is at least becoming quicker on the uptake. Though, this presents a new challenge — the market is becoming more crowded too. This gives you just one more reason to leave it to a marketing agency that specializes in cannabis & CBD products.
We’ve scoured the web and read the online reviews to weed out the agencies that lack the skills and social proof. You’ll notice that many have a strong focus on branding and visual assets like logos and packaging, crucial elements if you want to set yourself apart while at the same time building trust.
15 Highly Rated Cannabis Marketing Agencies:
As their name suggests, SmartSites is regarded as one of the leading website design agencies and they’ve attracted the attention from yours truly, BestFirms, and G2. Their team of award-winning web designers are the brains behind hundreds of websites. Examples of their work include a custom website design for Lender 420, a marijuana funding company. For this project, they used WordPress and a classic design. Intuitive navigation and clear call-to-action buttons have made it easier for them to engage their B2B market. That said, their work doesn’t stop at website design. Their team can also assist with paid ads, search engine optimization (SEO), as well as email, SMS, and social media marketing. Key services include: Outsmart the competition with best-in-class digital marketing services. With over 1,000 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ reviews online, SmartSites is America's #1 rat... 50+ New Jersey Best for: Small and Medium Size Businesses Outsmart the competition with best-in-class digital marketing services. With over 1,000 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ reviews online, SmartSites is America's #1 rat... CBD businesses that want to leverage social media can check out Sociallyin. They’ve marketed CBD products for a great number of their clients using Facebook ads, a medium that’s challenging for these types of products. They’ve also helped clients like Reefertilizer with SEO. When they experienced a sudden drop in online sales, Sociallyin identified loading speed as the culprit. They tested their home page and uncovered several technical things that needed improvement. The result — organic traffic increased by nearly 90% which has helped them to generate just over 13% more sales. Key services include: SociallyIn offers creative content tailored to each business, offering influencer marketing, social media solutions, social media advertising & more. 50+ Atlanta Best for: Businesses of all sizes SociallyIn offers creative content tailored to each business, offering influencer marketing, social media solutions, social media advertising & more. If you’re interested in running an influencer marketing campaign, NeoReach can help you to reach new audiences. Their client list includes leading CBD brands such as Sunday Scaries which they’ve helped to source top-class niche influencers. One of NeoReach’s top skills is influencer sourcing. Everything they do is backed by data and their team relies on competitor audits and platform-specific insights. Influencer sourcing, though, is only one of their skills and they can manage the whole process. Key services include: NeoReach creates world-class original influencer campaigns for leading brands and Global Fortune 500 companies. Founded in 2013 and managing over $250... 50+ Los Angeles, San Francisco, Orlando, Tokyo Best for: Large Companies NeoReach creates world-class original influencer campaigns for leading brands and Global Fortune 500 companies. Founded in 2013 and managing over $250... Are you an Influencer looking for an agency? Discover your options with influencer talent agencies. If you specifically need help with search engine optimization, there’s Coalition Technologies. They’re rated as one of the best SEO agencies in the United States and have worked with clients from basically all over the world. Not only isn’t their target audience limited to only a few countries, but their scope also extends to several industries, including cannabis. They can help you to generate more website traffic and convert visits into sales, like they’ve done for names like Tops Cannabis, CoreCBD, and Daily High Club. To help CoreCBD do just that, they built a brand new WordPress website and offered their top-rated SEO services. The solution might sound straightforward, but they managed to double website traffic. Even more impressive, their efforts helped CoreCBD to grow their overall revenue by over 300%. One of the benefits of collaborating with Coalition Technologies is their communication. You’ll be kept up to speed via biweekly reports and alignment meetings. Key services include: PufCreativ is an award-winning cannabis marketing agency that’s based in Denver, Colorado . Most recently, they walked away with two prizes at Cannabis Marketing Association’s Seven Awards 2023. One was the Best Brand Identity Package Award for their work completed for Gentlemen Smugglers, and the second for the website they designed for Rebel Spirit. Some of the other clients that they’ve worked with include The Fire Station, Sunrise Supplements, and Pot Zero. From SEO to social media management, they offer various services. If you need a lot of digital assets designed, they can be a great choice. They can help you with logos, packaging, photos, videos, and content creation. What’s more, they can also help you with trademarking. Apart from the added prestige this creates, it also prevents counterfeits and offers legal protection. Key services include: Based in Seattle, Wick & Mortar is another award-winning branding and marketing agency. Aside from bagging a number of awards, their work they’ve completed for cannabis companies has also landed them recognition from Forbes, Entrepreneur, and CNN Money. While they’re the oldest and longest-running cannabis agency in the US, they choose to remain a boutique agency. They view themselves as “ambassadors of weed” on a mission to cultivate mainstream acceptance. Some of the brands that they can call their clients include Rebel Spirit, Northern Spirit, and Ash + Ember. For example, they’ve helped Ash + Ember with a number of unique challenges they encountered when they entered the retail market. One of the challenges was to create a space for its female owners in a market that’s dominated by men traditionally. Key services include: Based in Ontario, Canada, Cola Digital works with cannabis and marijuana companies across various business industries and continents. Since 2014, they’ve partnered with dozens of companies that include names like the Alternative Health Association of Canada (AHAOC), The Purple Butler, and Fresh Bud Cannabis. Whether it’s for medical or recreational use, they offer a wide range of data-driven, performance marketing solutions. They believe in the Rule of Seven. According to this old marketing principle, a prospect needs to hear your ad message a minimum of seven times before they will purchase it. To help spread the word about your products, they use their unique conversion funnel designed specifically for cannabis and CBD marketing. Using unique, highly targeted content, they target the four different stages. This approach has served them well and they’ve helped their clients to increase search rankings by nearly 50%, boost website traffic by as much as 90%, and cut CPA in half. For example, when MMI Agriculture needed to boost brand awareness, website traffic, and lead generation, they implemented copywriting, link building, and page speed optimizations. Their SEO and content marketing efforts paid off and they exceeded their initial goal of increasing all three by 25%. Key services include: Based in Portland, Oregon, KindTyme is a creative agency that works with businesses of all sizes. They place a lot of emphasis on visuals. Their team is experienced at using high-end design to create visual and auditory experiences. From packaging to videos to commercial photography, they offer a complete suite of design and media services. They’ll help you to communicate your culture and make you look good doing it. For example, when Capital Cannabis wanted to create an American-inspired brand, KindTyme was so kind as to assist. They did this by transforming their current American flag logo into an abstract representation of the flag and their brand. Key services include: If you have a burning desire to improve your branding, you can place your hope in HIGHOPES. Their team of creatives and strategists boast a combined experience of over 15 years and for the seven years that they’ve been operating as HIGHOPES they’ve worked with over 100 companies. All their creative solutions are customized specifically for the cannabis niche, including recreational as well as medical industries. Aside from branding, their services also include website design, marketing, and advertising. Some of the clients that they’ve worked with include Wunder, Double Delicious, and Better Daze. For example, they’ve helped Double Delicious to evolve their identity by repositioning them as a value cannabis brand. This has helped them to expand their product offering and grow their market share for various product categories. Key services include: According to their website, they’re the first agency to specialize in full-service, omnichannel marketing for the cannabinoid sector. They were founded in 2020 by two women to help specifically with paid media, one of the biggest marketing challenges. From strategic planning to customer relationship management, you can turn to them for full-service management. They can also connect you with publishers and platforms to make sure that your message is heard by your target audience at the optimum time, whether that’s via billboard or email newsletter. Key services include: Blue Dream is brought to you by Ganjapreneur, a popular web resource for cannabis industry professionals and business owners. The team behind Ganjapreneur realized that many cannabis brands were turning to marketing agencies that lacked knowledge about the industry. Blue Dream was born to fill this gap and create a more cannabis-conscious design. As for their process, they take a big-picture approach. Their team will work with you to identify and execute a marketing strategy that will leverage all mediums. Whether you’re at the beginning of your brand development or need a rebrand, they can be of service. Key services include: If you’re interested in working with a boutique marketing agency, you can check out Hazy Marketing. Their mission — creating polished, online identities for their clients. When you work with them, you can look forward to transparency and ongoing feedback. Aside from their work ethic, they also bring valuable expertise and connections with growers, dispensaries, and vape shops, helping you to target local as well as national markets. Another advantage of working with Hazy Marketing is that they also include eCommerce. Their team can help you to improve the online buying experience tailored for industry. Key services include: Cannabis brands with physical locations can check out Budder Creative. What makes them such a great choice for retail locations is that they offer a unique merchandising kit of parts created specifically for retail needs. It’s completely customizable and supports hundreds of configurations. Aside from creative packaging and merchandising solutions, they can also help with various other marketing-related services. Budder Creative’s team of thinkers, creatives, and writers realizes that your digital presence is as important as the in-store experience. Their main focus is ensuring your website and social media presence are engaging. That’s exactly what they’ve done for Native Sun. Over the span of eight months, they refreshed Native Sun’s visual identity across their website and social media sites. They also applied this enhanced brand identity to their flagship store. Key services include: For help specifically with paid media, you can partner with Icarus Digital Marketing. Their story began as a nimble, two-man team. Fast-forward a couple of years and they’ve grown their presence to one of the leading digital marketing agencies that work with the CBD industry. When working with the Icarus team, you can look forward to a collective effort with an emphasis on collaboration. They strive to work with their clients on a long-term basis and as such keeping the communication lines open is crucial to them. As for their approach, they combine analytics with creatives. Their team of paid media experts rely on data and best practices when creating their social media ad campaigns. Key services include: Headquartered in Boston and Chicago, the Cannabis Creative Group is an award-winning, full-service marketing agency. Aside from these two cities, they have team members located in several other US cities, while their clients that include names like Eastern Cannabis, Ethos Eleven, and Drops of Life, come from all over the globe. As their name suggests, their speciality is the CBD and cannabis industry. They create their performance-based digital marketing strategies around regulations. From strategy to search engine marketing to social media, their services span various mediums. For example, when Drops of Life wanted its digital brand presence to match its enhanced product quality, they created a cross-channel strategy that leveraged social media and search engines among others. The main focus, though, was its website and visual brand identity to give them a solid foundation. Key services include:1. SmartSites
SmartSites
SmartSites
2. Sociallyin
Sociallyin
Sociallyin
3. NeoReach
NeoReach
NeoReach
4. Coalition Technologies
5. PufCreativ
6. Wick & Mortar
7. Cola Digital
8. KindTyme
9. HIGHOPES
10. Pheno
11. Blue Dream
12. Hazy Marketing
13. Budder Creative
14. Icarus Digital Marketing
15. Cannabis Creative Group
Wrapping Things Up
If your cannabis business doesn’t quite meet your high hopes, there are several reputable marketing agencies that can help. Some serve other industries as well, while others choose to stick to the CBD industry.
If you decide to work with a marketing agency that works across various industries, double-check that they have a proven record. Marketing this type of edible takes a completely different approach than you would take to get more people to buy your new chocolate bar, for example. Not only is the target audience completely different, but you’ll also need to account for specific rules.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the challenges of marketing cannabis products?
There are a number of unique challenges that you need to factor in when marketing cannabis products. One of the biggest is the legal and regulatory implications. While many US states have legalized recreational use, it’s still illegal under federal law. Aside from these rules, you’ll also need to deal with stigma, stereotyping, and fewer ad channels.
What are popular marketing strategies for cannabis brands?
While not all channels allow ads marketing cannabis products, there are several marketing strategies and techniques that you can use. Some of the most popular tactics include:
- Search engine optimization
- Email marketing
- SMS marketing
- Trade shows and events
- Influencer marketing
- Content marketing
How much do cannabis brands spend on advertising?
According to stats shared by Statista, since 2018 the ad spending on cannabis in North America increased. In 2022, it added up to just over $1.6 billion. It’s expected to exceed $2 billion in 2023 and is set to top $3 billion by the end of 2025.
Are there any good marketing agencies that work only with cannabis brands?
There are several great marketing agencies that solely work with the cannabis industry. You can, for example, check out:
- PufCreativ
- Cola Digital
- KindTyme
- Pheno
Are there any influencer marketing agencies that cannabis brands can partner with?
Cannabis companies that want to use influencer marketing specifically can check out NeoReach. They’re a full-service influencer marketing agency that has a proven track record of working with CBD brands.
