Social media has become the always-on storefront window for cannabis dispensaries—part community hub, part discovery engine, and increasingly a customer service desk. Even with tight platform rules, it’s where consumers check menus, find deals, and assess trust in local retailers. Roughly half of U.S. adults use Instagram and large majorities use Facebook, giving dispensaries broad reach if they play by the rules.

Reach alone isn’t the whole story. More than half of Americans say they sometimes get news from social platforms, which positions social content as a quasi-editorial channel. Education about safe use, policy changes, and product basics often lands in feeds before it reaches inboxes. For dispensaries, that means concise, credible storytelling—reels that decode terpenes, carousels that compare formats, and live Q&As with budtenders—can influence not just clicks but also confidence.

Compliance is the guardrail. Meta’s policies still restrict the direct promotion or sale of cannabis, and accounts risk takedowns for explicit purchase prompts. Smart operators emphasize education, culture, and age-gated community building while avoiding price claims or “buy now” language. 2025 guidance notes that Instagram remains both powerful and closely monitored, requiring careful phrasing and content labeling; TikTok is stricter still, rewarding lifestyle storytelling over direct sales messaging.

Paid reach remains limited. Google continues to treat cannabis as a prohibited ad category, with only narrow exceptions allowing topical, hemp-derived CBD (≤0.3% THC) through a pre-approval program in select areas. For dispensaries, this reality shifts budgets toward SEO, email marketing, and compliant brand awareness on social media, while reserving promotional offers for owned channels.

There are faint signs of platform softening. In mid-2025, reports indicated Facebook and Instagram stopped suppressing certain marijuana search results—small steps that could improve discovery even if ad rules remain tight. Brands should still prepare for strict enforcement and focus on building resilient, permission-based audiences.

Creators now act as the new “local media.” Around one in five U.S. adults get news from influencers, with higher rates among younger audiences. Collaborations with trusted creators—paired with transparent disclosures and accurate retail education—can drive first-touch awareness and in-store visits. Dispensaries that co-produce short, evergreen educational videos with credible personalities often see engagement that endures beyond algorithm changes.

Data closes the loop. Consumer research shows brand familiarity influences purchasing decisions, while retail analytics platforms help teams connect social engagement to loyalty and repeat purchases. Combining platform metrics with POS data lets marketers identify which posts correlate with larger baskets, then retarget those audiences via email and SMS.

What works best now? Consistency over one-off virality; education over aggressive selling; community over transactional pushes. Posting three to five times weekly, writing captions for clarity, responding quickly to DMs, and pinning “start here” guides help convert curiosity into store visits. Social media should drive awareness at the top of the funnel, then move followers toward age-gated menus and newsletters where promotions are safer. Encouraging user-generated content—store visit photos, product walkthroughs, and review snippets—builds trust. Measure saves, shares, and in-store traffic lifts—not just likes.