In the boom of CBD brands, many have tried to cut corners to save money or because they are not familiar with the expectations of regulators when it comes to ingestible products. Here are five marketing mistakes made by CBD brands that you need to avoid.
1- Making CBD Health Claims
When advertising your CBD products, you might be tempted to tell people how great CBD is for certain health conditions. However, it is not legal to make health claims about CBD products because they are not approved for any use by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). That’s also why you cannot call CBD products dietary supplements. We all see bold health claims about CBD being made, but in reality, making those claims is a legal risk that could also misguide people with serious health problems. A much better approach is to educate customers and seek to give them realistic expectations.
2- Mislabeling CBD Products
CBD products are subject to state and federal regulations. One major reason the FDA has cited CBD companies with warning letters is because of mislabeled product packaging. This often occurs because the potency of the product is not the same as the lab results from independent testing. It is extremely important to strictly adhere to testing requirements. You should test your final product, even if it isn’t required, to ensure that what your labels claim is in the product is actually in the product.
3- Selling Products in States Where CBD is Not Legal
There are 50 states and 50 different CBD regulations you need to get up to speed on if you are in the CBD business. Even if you are just an online store, there are certain states where it is not legal to sell CBD or certain hemp products. This is mainly an issue with smokable hemp which isn’t legal in many states such as Texas, Iowa, Idaho, Kentucky, and Massachusetts. That means that even if you sell smokable hemp online, it is not legal to fulfil orders to those locations.
4- CBD Recipes
CBD recipes are one of the worst marketing pitches ever. Why? Well, that’s because orally ingested CBD has extremely low bioavailability. Cooking with CBD is very wasteful and products like CBD tinctures will not likely retain their benefits through cooking. CBD recipes also often fail to consider decarboxylation- the process that converts CBDA into CBD that people can absorb. You are setting up customers for confusion and a poor experience by recommending they try cooking with CBD. It isn’t practical and it won’t help them.
5- Organic CBD Advertising
CBD labels cannot include the use of the word “organic” unless the product has been certified as organic in accordance with the National Organic Program. The organic certifying agency must be registered with the USDA. You cannot use the word organic in any marketing unless you have obtained certification from an agency that is registered with the USDA.
Photo: Photo by Campaign Creators on Unsplash https://unsplash.com/photos/yktK2qaiVHI
