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  • CBD Marketing: Common CBD Misconceptions Explained

Three short years ago, someone probably would have looked at you strangely if you started talking about CBD. But, today, CBD products are in grocery stores, the health benefits of CBD are being touted everywhere, and some are predicting that the CBD market could balloon out to $22 billion by the year 2022.

But because CBD exploded onto the scene so quickly, there’s a lot of misinformation out there about what it is, where it comes from, and how it can help consumers. If you understand these gaps in consumer knowledge, you can market your products more efficiently and snap up an even greater share of this ever-growing market. In our CBD study of over 10,000 respondents, we were able to identify some common questions CBD users and non-users have about CBD.

Let’s walk through some of the most common misconceptions about what CBD is and isn’t.

Consumers Don’t Understand Where CBD Comes From

Many consumers are unclear on where the CBD they’re using comes from. In our survey, we discovered that 24% of CBD users were unaware that the chemical compound can be extracted from both cannabis and hemp plants.

There is still some legal gray area when it comes to CBD extracted from cannabis plants. Educating consumers on the differences between the two plants and assuring them that your product is legal in all 50 states and safe can go a long way to building trust with your brand.

They’re Unaware of the Types of CBD

Not all CBD is created equal. If you’re in the CBD business, you know the differences between full-spectrum, broad-spectrum, and CBD isolate. But it turns out that most consumers are blissfully unaware of the differences among these three forms of CBD.

In fact, our survey found that 75% of CBD acceptors (those who have considered using CBD but haven’t yet tried a CBD product) had no idea that there were different types of CBD.

This again highlights the importance of educating consumers about your product. If you sell a full- or broad-spectrum product, you’ll want to explain the entourage effect and demonstrate the benefits of using a product with additional cannabinoids. If your products are CBD isolates or broad-spectrum, you can reassure those consumers who may be concerned about the effects of using a product that contains THC.

They Don’t Think Beyond Oils & Edibles

A lot of consumers have a fairly limited knowledge of the types of products that can contain CBD. While we all started out hearing about oils and edibles, like gummies, today’s CBD brands have found ways to expand their range of products greatly in a few short years. CBD can now be found in beauty products, creams and lotions, gum, and beverages.

But most consumers still don’t know about the wide range of CBD products available. While 53% of active CBD users know about CBD oil products and edibles, less than half are aware of CBD lotions or pills.

Those numbers decrease even further as the product becomes more novel. Seventy-two percent of active users are unaware that CBD gum brands exist, while 74% don’t know about CBD beauty products.

Among non-users, knowledge about those less mainstream forms of CBD is even less. Nearly 90% of non-users had never heard of CBD beauty products or gum.

It’s hard to sell a product if consumers don’t know that it exists. If your brand operates in one of these lesser-known spaces within the CBD market, you’ll have to focus more of your efforts and marketing dollars on educating consumers before you can begin to highlight the benefits of your specific products.

They Aren’t Aware of CBD’s Health Benefits

Even with all of the talk about CBD over the past few years, consumers are still shockingly under-educated about the health benefits of using CBD products. Just under half of all CBD users we surveyed were unaware that CBD can help reduce anxiety and stress and promote sleep. Fifty-four percent didn’t know that CBD could provide temporary relief for pain and inflammation, and 57% were unaware that it could help with chronic pain.

CBD’s wide range of health benefits means that a broad swath of the population can benefit from your brand’s products. But they’ll only know to consider you if they know you can help with a problem they have! Again, education in the early stages of the customer journey is key.

The CBD market is expanding at a breakneck pace. Now is the time to get in, educate consumers, and grab as much of the growing market as possible. If you understand consumers’ areas of confusion, you can educate them early and build trust from those first steps in the customer journey.

Our CBD marketing experts are well-versed in the misconceptions around CBD, the regulations that face CBD brands marketing their products, and the best solutions to get in front of your most likely customers. For more information about our study, the largest CBD marketing study conducted in the U.S., or to learn how we can partner to help grow your brand, contact us today.

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