Marketing

Scaling a Cannabis Accessories Brand in a Restricted Advertising Environment

Published

2 months ago

April 21, 2026

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Over the past several years, I’ve built a cannabis-focused media network with an audience of over 20 million followers across platforms, while also growing an e-commerce business that has processed over 125,000 orders and become one of the most reviewed stores in its category.

Highlife Media was founded in Switzerland in 2016. After years of promoting clients in the cannabis industry, building audiences, testing content and learning how limited platforms behave in practice, my team and I entered e-commerce ourselves. In 2021 we launched ours head shop online called World of Bongs. This store is not built on assumptions. It was built on years of experience in cannabis media, traffic generation, audience building and platform risk.

This background matters because if you are selling products like bongs, dig equipmentOR evaporativeyou are not acting like a typical e-commerce brand. You’re building in an environment where ad access is limited, payment processing is more expensive, compliance rules are constantly changing, and all growth channels can disappear overnight. Scaling in this category is less about following a single tactic and more about building a resilient system that works under pressure.

Building with experience, not guesswork

One of the biggest mistakes cannabis brands make is approaching growth like any other consumer category. In reality, the playbook is different from day one.

This became clear early in the years of space operation. Through Highlife Media, my team and I promoted brands, built niche communities, worked through platform regulations, and saw firsthand what drives results and what shuts down. This provided a much clearer understanding before starting an e-commerce operation.

Instead of relying on a single channel, World of Bongs was built around a larger system. SEO was a crucial pillar from the beginning, but it was never treated in isolation. The same goes for social traffic, influencer marketing, affiliate partnerships, email capture, backlink building, and branding. The goal was not to find a growth hack, but to create a structure in which each channel reinforces the others.

Social media has also evolved beyond a source of traffic. He became a reaction engine. By operating large cannabis-focused sites and communities, it’s possible to see which products drive engagement, how audiences react to different formats, and where trends are headed. In a category where live ad testing is limited, that kind of real-time insight becomes a significant advantage.

Platform limitations are evolving but still unpredictable

Anyone who operates in cannabis or accessories knows that platform compatibility is rarely straightforward. A brand can be fully legally compliant and still face constant friction online.

The meta has become a little more flexible in certain areas, especially around accessories, but the environment remains sensitive. Small changes in wording, visuals or landing pages can determine whether content works or gets flagged. TikTok remains very restrictive. YouTube enforces strict policies, especially around monetization and promotional content. Google offers strong opportunities through search, but brands still need to carefully navigate keyword restrictions and policies. X is generally softer, making it one of the most flexible platforms for cannabis-adjacent brands.

The biggest issue is inconsistency. Enforcement is often algorithmic, meaning results can vary across accounts and over time. This creates uncertainty and makes it difficult to rely on any single channel.

Experience plays a key role here. Operating across major media networks provides continuous insight into how content is performing and where boundaries lie, making it easier to quickly adapt to changing platform behavior.

Why audience ownership matters

Because paid buy-in is limited, cannabis brands need to rethink what they actually own.

Traffic tied to a single platform or account is very risky. A more sustainable approach focuses on the assets that remain in your control, including search visibility, email lists, SMS subscribers, affiliate relationships, brand recognition and repeat visitors.

A common pattern is for brands to focus heavily on one platform, often Instagram, running a few impactful campaigns and then losing momentum when results don’t scale.

Long-term growth requires a broader presence. This includes platforms like Facebook, Instagram, X, TikTok and YouTube, each used with a clear role. The key is diversification and sustainability, not dependence.

SEO as a key driver of growth

For cannabis accessory brands, SEO remains one of the most reliable and scalable acquisition channels.

Strong SEO isn’t just about publishing content. It results from multiple factors working together, including on-page optimization, site structure, category targeting, content quality, backlinks, brand searches, and user behavior.

For product-focused businesses, ranking for high-intent category keywords is especially valuable, as these users are often closer to making a purchase.

SEO also doesn’t work in isolation. Social traffic, exposure to influencers, brand awareness and content sharing contribute to stronger signals over time. It is part of a larger ecosystem.

Payment processing as a structural challenge

Payments infrastructure is one of the most overlooked aspects of scaling in this space.

Cannabis-adjacent businesses are often classified as high-risk merchants, leading to higher transaction fees, ongoing reserves, stricter compliance controls and the possibility of unexpected account changes.

These conditions directly affect margins and operational stability. Even with high traffic and conversion rates, unreliable payment processing can derail growth.

For this reason, experienced operators treat payments as an essential part of their setup, with redundancy, monitoring and flexibility built in from the start.

Email, SMS and traffic return to an asset

In a limited environment, each visitor becomes more valuable.

Capturing user data is essential to building long-term relationships. Effective email and SMS strategies start with strong entry points, such as clear offers and well-designed pop-ups, and continue with structured retention and re-engagement flows.

Traffic from social media, influencers, affiliates, SEO or other channels becomes significantly more valuable when fed into an owned audience.

Email marketing, in particular, remains one of the most important channels for retention and monetization, as it provides direct access to customers regardless of platform.

Influencer and affiliate marketing as layers of distribution

Influencer marketing continues to play an important role in this category, but works best as part of a larger system.

Isolated campaigns rarely create lasting impact. Continuous collaboration with creators, combined with strong content and optimized landing experiences, produces better long-term results.

Affiliate marketing adds another layer of scalability by enabling partnerships with specific publishers and communities based on performance.

Both channels require structure. Commission models, partner selection and consistency are essential. When properly integrated, they become powerful distribution layers.

Strategy is where most brands fail

In recent years, a pattern has become abundantly clear: the biggest gap is not execution, but planning.

Many brands operate without a structured marketing strategy. Budgets are unclear, platforms are chosen haphazardly, content lacks direction, and influencer efforts are disjointed.

In a limited industry, this approach rarely works.

The best performing brands define a clear framework from the start. They determine investment levels, prioritize channels, define their brand positioning and align content, influencers, affiliates and distribution into a cohesive system.

CONCLUSION

Scaling a cannabis accessory brand isn’t about hacking the system. It’s about understanding how all the pieces fit together.

Operating in this space requires a comprehensive understanding of platform limitations, payment infrastructure, SEO, content, email marketing, influencers, affiliates, and brand positioning.

Even if not every function is handled internally, it is essential to understand how each component works in order to evaluate performance and make informed decisions.

Most brands don’t struggle for lack of trying. They struggle because their structure is not aligned. Brands that succeed take a different approach. They think in systems, plan ahead and build multiple channels from the ground up. That way, when a channel slows down, the business continues to operate.

In a market as constrained as cannabis, this structured approach is what enables long-term growth.

Note: Partner content is published in collaboration with our promotional partners. Each article is reviewed for quality and relevance by our editors, but we do not endorse or value the opinions expressed by guest contributors.

Announcements

The Grassroots Press Revolution Has Arrived: Introducing the Green Press Collective

Published

1 day ago

June 12, 2026

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The Grassroots Press Revolution Has Arrived: Introducing the Green Press Collective

When it comes to publicity and marketing, herbal medicine brands have always had to play by different rules. Restricted from mainstream advertising, penalized on social media and fighting stigma at every turn, getting the word out has never been easy. And while mainstream news provides wide distribution, it rarely gives meaningful attention: herbal medicine stories get lost in the noise, ignored by media that don’t understand or care about this space. That changes today.

Four of the most popular grassroots media platforms in the cannabis space: Ganjapreneur, CashColorCannabis, Beard Bros Pharms AND Fat Nugs magazine have officially joined forces to launch the cannabis industry’s first media co-op: Green Press Collective (GPC). Built by industry, operated within industry and designed to serve industry.

GPC was created with a simple mission: to build an effective media distribution solution that actually reaches the cannabis, psychedelic and herbal medicine audiences that brands and businesses are trying to connect with, while also encouraging industry participants to engage directly with the independent media platforms that have supported these communities for years.

For the first time ever, cannabis and herbal medicine companies now have a centralized media hub capable of delivering massive, targeted outreach directly to the community and the culture itself.

Built by Community and Culture

Major press distribution services have long positioned themselves as the default option for cannabis businesses looking to make announcements, launch products, secure visibility or build legitimacy. But the reality within the industry has often looked very different. Many companies have found themselves paying a price for press releases that disappear into the digital abyss, generating little meaningful engagement from consumers, operators, advocates or members of the actual cannabis community.

“That’s the kind of no-nonsense approach that operators in our industry don’t have time for. Throwing things at the wall and seeing what sticks is not really a winning strategy,” said Dustin Hoxworth, Founder of Fat Nugs Magazine.

“I’ve been telling brands and businesses within the cannabis industry for years now that their press release that they’re spending thousands of dollars with PR Newswire and others is like setting fire to your money. No one really cares and you won’t get the eyeballs that matter to you. Meanwhile, the mainstream media has become notorious for controlling a number of known and unknown control massive portions of what people see, hear and believe every day. That kind of narrative control is dangerous and one of the only ways to counter that is by supporting grassroots media instead of giant corporate machines watching us from the outside.

The Green Press Collective completely changes the equation by combining the audience, influence, reach, editorial infrastructure and cultural credibility of four independent cannabis media companies with deep roots into one coordinated publishing network.

Together, the collective represents over half a million social media followers, 110,000+ email subscribers and 80,000+ monthly website visitors. Most importantly, the people behind GPC are not outsiders looking in. They come from the community and culture themselves and have covered the space for years, so their combined audience is extremely important to anyone looking to reach business owners, professionals and connoisseurs of the space.

“This is much bigger than media coverage,” said Mehka King, Founder of CashColorCannabis. “For years, we’ve each told important stories, built trust with our audiences, and documented this industry from the inside. By coming together, we’re creating opportunities to help give those stories more reach and ensure culture remains part of the conversation as the industry continues to evolve.”

A new era for independent cannabis media

Green Press Collective has already spent months quietly operating behind the scenes, testing systems, refining operations, improving publishing workflows and working directly with selected brands and partners to ensure the structure is fully prepared before its official launch. According to the founding members, the early response has proven that a broader distribution infrastructure built specifically for the cannabis and herbal medicine audience has been sorely needed for years.

“I think offering brands an option to publish announcements directly is the most transparent and effective way for publishers to monetize distributions,” said Noel Abbott, Co-Founder and CEO of Ganjapreneur. “We get so many press releases sent to us every day, there’s no way we can read them all and still do our policy coverage, and it always confused me to think that these brands were basically paying a corporate middleman to send me a hundred emails a day. Why not give people a way to share their company news directly with their target audience? Once we all got a call to talk, the idea it was obvious.”

The formation of GPC also represents a deliberate shift toward collaboration, bringing independent publishers together to build a collective infrastructure strong enough to compete with major advertising and media networks. Instead of sending marketing dollars out of the ecosystem chasing hypothetical results, GPC gives brands an opportunity to get guaranteed exposure while directly supporting the selling points that emerge for this industry every day.

“This industry was built by people who understood the power of community long before anyone outside of cannabis saw the opportunity. That same spirit is what makes the Green Press Collective so important. By connecting four independent cannabis publications, we’re creating a stronger, more unified platform for brands that want real visibility with the audience that actually cares. GPC gives the industry a way to invest in the cannabis market, making the support of the media, making her believe through voices that have earned their credibility.” Bill Levers, Co-Founder of Beard Bros Pharms & Media.

The future of mainstream media starts now

The collective’s long-term vision extends beyond the distribution of press releases. Future plans already being explored include expansion to include additional publishing channels, additional multimedia offerings, cross-platform content collaborations, event integration, and new forms of audience amplification in the cannabis, psychedelic, and herbal medicine sectors.

Right now, founding organizations are focused on providing notification delivery and building the infrastructure to deliver meaningful results. Brands, operators and organizations interested in submitting notices can review the guidelines and learn more about the process via the GPC website:

https://www.greenpresscollective.com

Cannabis Industry News

Lawsuit Accuses Cannabis MSOs of Making False Medical Claims

Published

1 month ago

May 8, 2026

admin

A class action suit filed in federal court on Monday alleges that three Chicago, Illinois-based cannabis operators made false medical claims about their products, Chicago Tribune reports. The suit, filed on behalf of 42 customers in a dozen states, alleges that Cresco Labs, Inc., Green Thumb Industries, Inc. and Verano Holdings Corp. are causing “human tragedy and misery” by making unsubstantiated claims about the medical efficacy of their products.

A similar lawsuit was also filed in Marion County, Illinois and in Connecticut against Curaleaf Holdings, Inc.

The lawsuit alleges that the companies knew, or should have known, about the dangers of their products and the lack of evidence for medical benefits.

In a statement, Verano called the lawsuit “part of a broader litigation campaign that plaintiffs’ counsel has brought against several multi-state cannabis operators and mirrors claims that were rejected by courts in similar legal actions against multi-state operators in the industry earlier this year.”

“The medical use and benefits of cannabis have long been recognized by the states themselves, as reflected in the comprehensive medical marijuana programs that state legislatures and regulators have created and overseen for years. Recently, the federal government—through both the President’s December 2025 Executive Order and the Department of Justice’s April 2026 order—has similarly embraced the medical of April 2026. We strongly disagree with the allegations and intend to defend the case vigorously.” – Verano in a statement to the Tribune

Cresco did not comment on the lawsuit.

The suit also accuses the defendants of a “conspiracy” to operate an illegal and fraudulent industry.

Announcements

Springbig Launches AI Audience Builder, Giving Regulated Retailers a Smarter Way to Target, Engage, and Grow

Published

2 months ago

April 15, 2026

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Springbig Launches AI Audience Builder, Giving Regulated Retailers a Smarter Way to Target, Engage, and Grow

BOCA RATON, FL – Big spring (OTCQX: SBIG), the AI-powered marketing and customer engagement platform serving regulated retailers and brands, today announced the launch of AI Audience Builder, a breakthrough capability that enables retailers to create precisely targeted customer segments using simple, natural language powered by artificial intelligence. There are no filters. There is no manual logic. No data expertise required.

The launch positions Springbig at the forefront of AI-driven retail marketing, providing a tangible productivity and revenue advantage for dispensary operators competing in an increasingly data-intensive marketplace.

Instead of navigating complex segmentation workflows, marketers can now describe an audience in their own words and watch Springbig’s AI build it instantly, dramatically shortening the time from idea to campaign execution.

Transforming the way marketers work with data

Audience segmentation has long been one of the most powerful yet consistently underutilized levers in retail marketing. The barrier has never been data availability. It was accessibility.

Traditional segmentation requires marketing teams to build logic by hand, configure multiple filters, and maintain a working knowledge of underlying data structures. For operators running lean teams across multiple locations, this friction translates directly into lost revenue opportunities.

AI Audience Builder removes that barrier entirely. Key skills include:

Create natural language audiences based on intent, purchase behavior or campaign goals
Instant segmentation without manual filter configuration or technical training
Faster campaign execution that compresses setup time from hours to seconds
Higher targeting accuracy based on real-time customer data
Broader team access, empowering any marketer, not just data specialists, to run sophisticated campaigns

“For too long, the most powerful tools in retail marketing required technical expertise to unlock.” said Jaret Christopher, Chief Executive Officer of Springbig. “AI Audience Builder changes that equation. When a marketer can describe who they want to reach in plain English and have that audience built instantly, it’s not just a better workflow. It’s a direct revenue driver. We built this because speed and accuracy at the campaign level is where it’s earned, and we’re giving each of our clients that advantage.”

Speed and accuracy where it matters most

In high-velocity retail environments, the window between consumer intent and purchase decision is narrow. AI Audience Builder allows operators to react in real time, building and launching hyper-relevant campaigns without the delays historically caused by manual segmentation.

This capability delivers tremendous impact during peak promotional periods, product launches, and high-traffic events, where message relevance directly determines conversion and revenue results.

Operators using AI Audience Builder can expect to:

Launch campaigns faster with dramatically reduced setup time
Reduce segmentation errors that dilute message relevance and waste overhead
Increase customer lifetime value through smarter, behavior-driven targeting
Unlock deeper intelligence from existing customer data without additional infrastructure
Scale marketing output without scaling headcount

The result is a more agile, more profitable marketing operation that keeps pace with consumer behavior and operational demands at the same time.

A platform built for AI-Native Marketing

AI Audience Builder is the latest addition to Springbig’s expanding suite of AI-powered capabilities, which include campaign automation, personalized messaging, loyalty optimization and performance analytics. Each capability is designed with the same goal in mind: to reduce friction for the marketer and increase return on every customer interaction.

For investors, AI Audience Builder represents a significant advancement in platform sustainability, operator efficiency and the revenue impact that Springbig delivers to its customer base. Features that measurably improve operator outcomes strengthen retention, expand usage and accelerate the platform’s competitive differentiation in the regulated retail technology sector.

“Springbig has made a deliberate and committed transition to being an AI-first company.” Christopher said. “We’re integrating artificial intelligence into the core of our MarTech platform and across our organization. The goal is straightforward: automate what’s manual, simplify what’s complex, and use AI to drive operational efficiencies both within Springbig and for every customer we serve. AI Audience Builder is an example of this commitment in action, but it reflects a much larger transformation of our business.”

“The opportunity in AI is not abstract,” Christopher added. “Every campaign that’s built faster, every audience that’s targeted more precisely, every message that comes at the right moment drives measurable revenue for our clients. That’s what we’re building towards: an AI layer that makes the entire marketing operation smarter, faster and more effective at every touchpoint.”

Availability

AI Audience Builder is available now to all Springbig platform subscribers at no additional cost.

To learn more or schedule a demo, visit Springbig.com.

About Springbig

Springbig (OTCQX: SBIG) is a leading provider of comprehensive AI-powered marketing, loyalty and communications solutions for retailers and brands operating in regulated industries. Through its advanced CRM and marketing automation platform, Springbig enables businesses to increase customer retention, drive revenue and deliver personalized experiences at scale. Springbig serves hundreds of retail locations across the United States and Canada and is dedicated to building the technology infrastructure that powers the next generation of regulated retail marketing.

Media contact:

Gabby Marazzi

info@springbig.com

Springbig.com

Investor relations:

investors@springbig.com