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Medical cannabis marketing rules in Ohio

Ohio’s medical cannabis marketing and advertising guidelines are outlined in Rule 3796:5-7-01 of the Ohio Administrative Code. The laws differ slightly for cultivators, processors, and labs than they do for dispensaries. No matter what kind of plant-touching business you are, all marketing material must be submitted to the state for review, and the state has 10 days to get back to you to approve, reject, or make recommendations for editing the advertising or marketing campaign in question.

What types of marketing are not allowed in Ohio?

Ohio Administrative Code does not allow the following types of marketing:

  • Billboards
  • Radio or TV broadcasts
  • Handheld signs such as sandwich boards
  • Flyers or leaflets to hand out in public places
  • Advertising that’s left on private property without consent
  • Advertising on publicly-owned property
  • Vehicle advertising, such as ads on taxis or mobile billboards

What marketing aesthetics are not allowed in Ohio?

Overall, all advertising needs to clearly appeal to adults and not to children. Bright colors, cartoon-like figures, and references to pop culture icons are not allowed. Use of the cannabis leaf is also not allowed.

What are the rules for non-medical cannabis marketing?

Adult-use sales first began in Ohio on August 6th 2024. As the state continues to develop its adult-use regulations under the Division of Cannabis Control (DCC), it’s likely that there will be changes to the marketing and advertising rules in the future. However, for the time being, it is safest for Ohio cannabis companies to follow the medical marijuana advertising rules.

Opportunities for ancillary businesses in Ohio

Cannabis companies are going to need help from the professionals — and it’s your time to shine. Leverage your experience in other professional sectors to help cannabis companies in the Buckeye State perform their best.

These are great opportunities to start serving Ohio’s growing cannabis market without ever touching the plant.

Attorneys CPAs and accountants HR companies Payroll processing companies Banking and financial services Compliance consulting Recruiting and job placement Cannabis accessories Software and technology Advanced grow tech Agriculture and farming Real estate

How to get started with marketing cannabis in Ohio

New to cannabis? Start with our Brand Speedrun

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Cannabis companies we’ve worked with

Develop your cannabis marketing strategy in Ohio with CannaContent

CannaContent’s full suite of complementary digital marketing services

Content marketing

From Cleveland to Cincinnati, education is the bedrock of cannabis marketing in Ohio — not just to introduce newcomers to the plant, but to showcase why your business or dispensary is the one Ohioans should choose to work with or buy from. Pair those powerful pieces of content with cutting-edge SEO strategy, and you have a rockstar content marketing plan ready to go.

  • Content produced with an unrelenting focus on quality
  • Educate and inform customers while feeding SEO strategy
  • Develop thought leadership in the cannabis space

Search engine optimization + local SEO

“Dispensary near me” is one of the first things your customers are going to search for if they want to buy weed. For ancillary professionals who can work with anyone in the world, regional expertise is still highly sought after. Reach those motivated would-be customers with a strong SEO strategy that hyper-focuses on reaching the prospects most likely to turn into returning customers.

  • Target customers and leads in your service area
  • Drive qualified traffic that converts to leads
  • Send customers to your website and not to a third-party listing service

Social media management

Our social media marketing approach focuses on brand awareness, bringing people to your door that may not have heard of you before. And while social media marketing is quite challenging in this space, it’s nonetheless a key touchpoint that you have to keep updated — and engaging — for would-be customers.

  • Share content that’s both engaging and fully compliant with platform terms of service
  • Connect with cannabis influencers and changemakers throughout Ohio
  • Fully managed calendars, content support, and advisory services available

Brand identity development

A logo is just the tip of the branding iceberg. How your brand makes customers feel is what motivates them to come back time and again — and that’s exactly what you need to establish in the earliest days of your company. 

  • Look polished and perfect in front of your target audience
  • Create the building blocks for brand recognition and customer loyalty
  • Build brand assets that support your company well into the future

Web design and development

Speedy websites, a good user experience, great content — it’s all a part of telling your story online. And as your “digital doormat,” your website is absolutely essential. Get it right out the gate.  

Designed and built with SEO best practices and ADA recommendations in mind, our sites are easy to navigate and understand, which means they resonate with your customers. All website design and development packages include SEO analysis and all the content you need to get started. And we’ll have you up and running quickly so you can reach customers faster and ahead of the competition.

  • Create a fast-loading, easy-to-navigate site your customers love to visit
  • Establish a strong online “home base” for current and potential customers
  • Design and content that converts curious onlookers into customers

Our clients are talking! Here’s what they’re saying:

Stella and her team at CannaContent were truly incredible to work with. Early on in our project, we had a deep conversation that helped define the scope of our project and helped us all envision exactly what type of website content we would end up with. Stella and her team dove deep, using a very collaborative approach to truly understand our business and find the right way to describe what we do in a way that is compelling for customers and drives traffic to our site. I was extremely appreciative of her patience in my many revisions and hours spent making sure everything looked just right, and her team did the same for us. I highly recommend CannaContent for any project!
Mark R. Waller, CPA
Co-founder and Managing Partner,
Morem & Waller, CPAs
Working with the CannaContent team has been an absolute delight. They are not just incredibly approachable and receptive, but their intelligence shines through their insightful strategies and solutions. Their consistently fantastic work reflects their dedication and expertise, making our collaboration a true pleasure.
Jill Conforti
Marketing Manager, The Travel Agency
Brand awareness is important from day one – especially digitally through SEO and social media awareness. True Labs decided to partner with CannaContent to help us with this effort. Through a combination of website optimization for SEO, blogs, social media posts, and newsletters, CannaContent helped True Labs move to the top search results and gain digital presence and brand awareness not only in our state of New Jersey, but nationally! We couldn’t be happier with the results that the CannaContent team unlocked for True Labs!
Sarah Ahrens
CEO, True Labs for Cannabis
As an emerging provisionary center in Michigan we have needed a lot of help and guidance regarding best practices in the marketing sphere of cannabis. We have been very lucky to have a team at CannaContent leading us through these harrowing waters. They have been incredibly supportive and available for us. The team keeps us on track with content schedules and brings in new ideas that we otherwise wouldn't have thought to utilize. One on one both Stella and Xavier have gone above and beyond to help our team with the support and guidance we've needed.
Mikey Winslow
General Manager, Iconic Wellness and Provisioning
During my time as Vice President of Marketing for Ethos Cannabis, CannaContent was an indispensable partner in developing a highly informative and robust library of educational material. Their work was critical in providing well-researched and clearly written articles to our patients and customers that gave them the knowledge they needed to make the best possible choices about how cannabis related to their health and wellness. That content library remains an exceptional resource that can help people make informed decisions about cannabis well into the future.
Mike Bibbey
Former Vice President of Marketing, Ethos Cannabis
If you’re trying to get your brand to stand out, CannaContent has your back. They land your brand voice every time in the content they create. Consider them as the trusted partners that truly act as an extension of your team in bringing your campaign from ideation to execution.
Kierston Powell
Cannabis Marketing Strategist
CannaContent transformed my branding dreams into reality. I love the work they've done for Pretty Pipe Shop! Their team is made of dedicated professionals who are truly committed to helping their clients grow.
Jessie Gill
Founder, PrettyPipeShop.com
CannaContent was a proactive strategic partner that regularly met with the Ethos marketing team to brainstorm and strategize new ways to educate our patients and customers while promoting Ethos’ brand as a reliable, trusted source of information on all things cannabis. They became an essential extension of our team and consistently added value each step of the way with their expert recommendations and insight.
Mike Bibbey
Former Vice President of Marketing, Ethos Cannabis

FAQs about cannabis marketing in Ohio

How are cannabis companies in Ohio marketing?

Carefully. Opportunities for marketing medical marijuana (and now non-medical cannabis) are limited due to state laws. Marketing and advertising campaigns also must be approved by the state before they are used. So yes, that requires some advanced planning, and it also requires some smarts. Plenty of cannabis companies in Ohio are utilizing SEO, social media, email marketing, event marketing, and more to reach customers and build awareness.

When can you start buying non-medical marijuana in Ohio?

Sales of non-medical marijuana in Ohio began in August 2024.

When will cannabis be legal in Ohio?

Ohio voted “yes on issue 2” in November 2023. During that election, 57% of Ohioans voted to authorize sales of cannabis to all adults in the Buckeye State. Now, anyone aged 21 or older in Ohio can enjoy cannabis!

Where can you buy cannabis in Ohio?

As of August 2024, any adult aged 21 or older can purchase cannabis in Ohio. The first dispensaries to sell to adults were dual-use license holders, which are dispensaries that sell to both medical marijuana patients and recreational cannabis consumers. As the program develops throughout 2024 and 2025, more adult-use-only dispensaries will open.

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