Imagine this: You have a lot of legal CBD products made from hemp in your warehouse, but you can’t tell anyone about them without putting your whole marketing budget at danger. That’s the puzzle at the center of custom hemp packaging and branding. It’s a dangerous thing to do. Even if your grandma is using hemp lotion, the big social media sites still act like your ad money is radioactive.

Let’s begin with social media, which is both everyone’s digital town square and, unfortunately, the wild west for CBD marketing. You can show hemp-based lotions on Facebook and Instagram, but if you add the word “CBD” to the description, your campaign might disappear into thin air. What is TikTok? More picky. Sometimes the best thing to do is to actually and figuratively dance around some terms. Try saying “wellness oil” instead of “CBD.” But algorithms are smart; it’s like walking quietly past a sleeping dragon.

Ads in search engines aren’t much nicer. Google’s rules about ads might make you dizzy. Some brands are allowed to air a few adverts. What else? Click “submit” and watch the disapproval come in. Think about content marketing instead of straight-up sales pitches. It helps to focus on education. Get a blog going. Tell actual customer experiences, add some SEO magic, and let people find you naturally. No sales pitch, simply solid information that softly opens the door.

So where can you spend money and not lose it all? Email is still the best. If you already have a list, take care of it like a garden. Give people updates and discount codes. No need for approvals. You decide what the message is. Affiliate marketing can also work quite well. Find the right publishers, work out the details of the placements, and allow people you trust do the hard work.

That being said, don’t forget how powerful word of mouth may be. Make a program to keep customers coming back. People trust their friends more than they trust any Instagram star. Farmers markets, co-ops, and small stores are still great places to find gold. A handwritten sign and a smile may sometimes do what a digital ad can’t.

Always keep your documents in order. That means COAs, legal documents, and unambiguous labels. Regulators are like hawks; if you make a mistake, it’s a mess that no one wants to deal with. Work with agencies or freelancers who are aware of these issues. Getting some expert guidance early on can help you avoid problems (and save money) later on.

There are some good things about it, too. Creativity grows when it is limited. One company paid for a local dog walk and gave out samples, with dogs wearing bandanas with the company’s logo on them. Another person opened a pop-up shop at a yoga event. People saw it, smiled, and then went back online to buy later. No algorithm filter can stop that kind of persistence.

It’s not easy to market CBD hemp, but it’s a little exciting to avoid dragons and stay out of sight. Find your group, be honest, and add some fun. The journey is often full of surprises, but those who stay with it will discover others ready to listen, even in the most unlikely places.