How I Grew My 'Herbally-Focused' Instagram To 500,000 Followers With No PPC

By Harrison Baum, CEO & Founder Daily High Club.

Daily High Club’s massive social media footprint started with nothing more than an idea and $700. Now, over 4 years, 400,000+ bongs, and 550,000 instagram followers later it has exploded. Daily High Club’s Instagram page drives more social traffic than their competitors and most online businesses. Here’s how it happened!

In the beginning when I realized traditional marketing outlets limited our industry, it was terrifying. Most conventional digital marketing strategy relies on paid ads through Facebook FB, Twitter TWTR, Google and other mainstream sites which banned advertising for cannabis and “tobacco” products. This means absolutely no retargeting or sponsored posts. 

• Awesome Content is king

No matter how expensive your camera is, boring pictures will not drive traffic. Product photos can drive sales and memes can drive traffic through tags and shares - but you’ll have a homerun if you can do both well! 

Related Story: Cannabis Still Can't Be Sold, Promoted On Facebook Or Instagram

On 4/19, we made a super low budget video ending with me getting circled by motorcycles and ninjas while I poured cheetos on myself. But is was genuine and unconventional! On 4/20 the video reached #1 on Reddit’s r/videos and resulted in thousands more social media followers.

• Make it real

Clearly picture your product and use organic backgrounds when possible. Audiences in this space are more discerning. They want a real-life connection versus obvious and overly produced advertisements. Community is valued higher than corporations in the cannabis niche.

• Be discreet

Don’t use words or phrases that are against Instagram guidelines. If you’re questioning whether you should use a word or not, be on the safe side. 

• Connect with your community

Use memes that are relatable and ask questions in your posts. You’d be surprised the conversations you’ll start! And that just drives more traffic and awareness to your brand.

We do livestreams on Instagram a few times a month with our head of marketing Liz Whiting and Head of Brand Partnerships Ezra Sokobin. They directly connect with our audience, get real-time feedback and hang out with guest influencers, brands and even celebrities. 

• Post at peak times

Know your audience and when they’re active. You wouldn’t want to post a high performing piece of content on off-hours. Smokers are up late and are not the type to pay much attention to a post at 6am on a Monday. Use your analytics to know when your audience is most engaged to make the most of your reach.

Follow Benzinga and Javier Hasse on Instagram for more awesome content on cannabis, hemp, CBD, and finance!

• Work with relevant influencers

Find like-minded individuals that match your brand to help amplify your message and reach. Also give them your product to giveaway to their fans. Daily High Club once got over 20k followers in 24 hours from a single giveaway following Instagram guidelines! 

• Let users generate content and spread the word for you 

Utilize customer content and encourage them to use hashtags. We have a card in every box telling people they can win a Mega Box if they use the #dailyhighclub to share their experience. #dailyhighclub has been used nearly 30k times!

• Use hashtags organically

• Related Story: Leveraging Instagram To Build Cannabis Businesses

People don’t like a post filled with hashtags, it looks spammy. Instead use your hashtag organically where people barely know it’s there.

• Accompany your product posts with relevant IG stories

Make sure you are not being spammy or too ad-like in your first story.

• Be on top of holiday sales and events

The holidays are an emotional and high-traffic time. Associating your brand with them in a positive light can evoke feelings of joy when they see your product.

The preceding article is from one of our external contributors. It does not represent the opinion of Benzinga and has not been edited.