Originally published by High Times.
Instagram has become one of the most powerful tools for brands to market themselves. Every year the platform continues to expand its user base, making it an even more valuable resource for business. But Instagram isn’t exactly 420-friendly. In fact, most social media platforms censor cannabis content. Anyone whose canna-biz is on Instagram is well aware of how often pages are disabled.
The worst part about it is the uncertainty that comes with not knowing when a page will be recovered; which is exacerbated by the fact there’s no clear path to getting a page restored. Fortunately, there are procedures you can follow that will help resurrect dismantled pages with everything in tact.
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Working in the social media space has launched us to the forefront of these issues, and we’ve helped restore a number of major cannabis industry brands’ Instagram pages, such as Nameless Genetics and Trychemistry full spectrum vapes. Here are some tips and tricks to help keep your account from being deactivated along with a few links in case it does happen to you.
Keep your page on private
Keeping your page on private limits your content from reaching the “explore page” on Instagram. This prevents random people and minors from reporting your page.
When content is flagged by users, Instagram gets notified. Keep your page limited to those who are actual fans of your brand and that will prevent your page from receiving random complaints. Aside from that, you can individually monitor your new followers as they come in to make sure they are 18 to 21+ depending on your product.
Consumption videos are never safe to post
The reality is that videos showing the consumption of cannabis are a sure way to get flagged by Instagram. We recommend saving that content for your website versus social platforms.
Instagram isn’t a tool to sell product directly
Although your captive audience is on Instagram, it’s still illegal to use the platform as a tool to actually sell product. It’s imperative to direct all questions away from Instagram DM’s and talk to customers via email.
Submit your information
Here are some links we have used to recover Instagram accounts from being disabled in the past. This link is to submit a complaint about a business, product, and/or service page that has been deactivated. This link is for submitting a personal page that’s been disabled. It’s important to diligently submit these forms multiple times a day. Our recent client @namelessgentics_ found success following the submission process.
A few things to have on hand before submitting:
- Local business license
- Tax filing
- Invoice
- Drivers License
- Certificate of Formation
- Articles of Incorporation
- Utility bill
- Proof of domain name registration
- Order fulfillment documentation
- Access to original email account was started with
Good luck!
