Who Needs Google And Facebook? Enlighten Launches Ad Buying Platform For Cannabis Companies

Technology solutions and marketing services provider Enlighten confirmed Wednesday the launch of a cannabis-specific marketing platform called AdSuite.

Ad Suite is a self-service platform that makes obtaining, running, and analyzing marketing campaigns simpler and quicker.

The company utilizes consumer and location data, offers its clients insight into the performance of each campaign, and enables them to find and keep new customers.

“For businesses, the start of the new year has always been a time to evaluate how and where to spend marketing budgets to achieve optimal ROI; and with the challenges COVID presented last year, including budget cuts and changes in consumer purchasing behavior, cannabis companies had to adjust their marketing strategy to get their messages in front of the right audiences no matter where they were – in-store or online,” Enlighten CEO Jeremy Jacobs stated.

Some of the main features AdSuite offers include:

• Affordability through Cost Per Impression model, which asks from advertisers to pay only for ads displayed, without fixed costs.
• Controlling and customizing campaigns to meet the demands of the business.

• Real-Time Results providing real-time campaign analytics.

Benzinga reached out to Enlighten Co-Founder Colby McKenzie to learn more.

Can Cannabis Companies Advertise On Google And Facebook?

McKenzie first explained the difficulties of advertising on Google GOOG and Facebook FB for cannabis companies.

“It is truly a special dance to get anything cannabis-related onto Google or Facebook and if something does pass through the heavy restrictions, it's often a short-lived opportunity. While many brands try to finesse and advertise via these platforms, most understand that the focus must be on platforms that actually allow cannabis advertisements,” McKenzie told Benzinga.

The new platform was created to be an affordable option for both large and small enterprises.

“We want any cannabis company that is looking for a simple and seamless way of buying and managing advertising campaigns to utilize AdSuite," he said. "However, in creating a self-service platform, we wanted to make sure that we created a tool for the entire industry and did not leave out the regional brands with smaller marketing budgets. AdSuite can be tailored to the exact needs and budget of any brand since it has no minimums.”

Creative, Authentic, Targeted

McKenzie also shared with Benzinga his thoughts on what is the most important part of a strong marketing campaign.

“We like to use the acronym CAT," he said. "It stands for creative, authentic, targeted. It's important to stand out and market creatively. It's important to portray an authentic message true to one's brand that resonates with its core customer. And last, but not least, it's vital to be precise in targeting the right demographic with one's advertising budget. That is why all of Enlighten's advertising mediums ensure that the advertisement is being seen by a known cannabis consumer in the geographic region that the brand is focused on."