What’s Up With Instagram?
It’s become so common as to be cliché, but as cannabis businesses we are painfully aware of the fact that our social media accounts, in particular Instagram, could be deleted at any time. It’s gotten so bad, many people I speak to refuse to put any investment into their social media presence for fear it will be wasted. While I understand the sentiment, especially in a business climate where every marketing dollar is a precious commodity, disavowing one of the best platforms for connecting with your clients is probably misguided.
Making matters more complicated, there’s a lot of rumor and misinformation being spread. When your account is deleted, was it because you’re a cannabis business, or because you were violating terms of services, or for some other reason all together? The truth is it’s normally impossible to know for certain.
As an example, take a look at the sudden dip in followers that most of us experienced a couple weeks back. At first glance, this seemed like Instagram was purging accounts, and I know several people who jumped to the conclusion it was cannabis related. But not so fast.
It gradually became apparent that the purge was much wider in scope, with some celebrities losing millions of followers. Instagram later claimed the loss of followers was due to a bug. After 24 hours of confusion, everything returned to normal. But that’s likely not the end of it. There have been a variety of reports stating that Instagram is actively looking for a way to deal with bot accounts, and there’s a high probability the “bug” had something to do with them testing a solution. Don’t be surprised if a permanent purge happens at some point in the near future.
But what about cannabis businesses? Even if that event affected everyone, there’s no doubt that cannabis accounts do garner more prohibitive restrictions, right?
Probably, but maybe not as much as you think. I know of several cannabis accounts that were deleted that were also using a third-party app to help manage their posting. Most of these third-party apps violate Instagram’s terms of service, and if you use them, especially if you post in high volume with them, you are in danger of having your account deleted.
The sad truth is in most cases, you’ll never know why your account was deleted. One cannabis Instagrammer has started a petition calling upon Facebook to update its terms of service and provide more transparency in how they handle cannabis, especially in legal states. I urge all of you to go sign it.
In the meantime, don’t let the uncertainty stop you from utilizing social media to market your business. With competition what it is, and the very small margins we’re all operating with right now, we can’t afford to ignore such an important marketing tool, especially one that is free to use. And while losing your account can hurt, spending the time and effort to grow followers and engage with your potential customers won’t be wasted just because you’re account was deleted. If anything, if the worst case scenario does happen, losing your account might help draw even more attention to your company and strengthen the connection with your audience.
Just make sure that you are doing everything by the book. Follow all OLCC rules for advertising, avoid showing consumption, and don’t try to use social media to actually sell your cannabis products. Don’t do paid ad campaigns. They probably won’t work, and even if they do once or twice, it’s not worth the risk. And make a back up account right now, so that you’re ready to start in again if anything happens to your current account.
Most importantly, share information. The more we communicate with each other, the better we can understand what’s allowed and what’s likely to get an account banned.
Good luck, and if you have questions, feel free to reach out in the comments or via email.
