When you picture a cannabis influencer, you might think of bong rips on Instagram accounts and TikTok, and you aren’t (entirely) wrong.
However, there’s a wide array of cannabis influencers across every social media platform that are doing more than showing off their smoke.
Cannabis is a community and culture, but it’s also an industry supporting nearly half a million jobs in the US alone. There are social media influencers advocating for cannabis legalization, social change, improved business practices, cannabis education, and much more.
This post breaks down the modern cannabis influencer, their impact on brands and cannabis businesses, and the top influencers to start following today.
What is a cannabis influencer?
Cannabis influencers are people who use their platform to talk about cannabis wellness, the industry’s happenings, cannabis culture and what consumers can expect from CBD and cannabis products.
Cannabis influencers distribute content in various ways, including social media channels like LinkedIn and X (formerly Twitter). Many even have their own newsletters or podcasts, some with millions of impressions.
In general, these content creators are defined as individuals with large followings in a specific niche or industry who have the ability to influence purchasing decisions. While this is accurate, it doesn’t fully envelop what an influencer truly does.
Sometimes, influencers don’t necessarily influence purchasing decisions but rather use their expertise in that niche to equip the audience with knowledge to make their own purchasing decisions. This is just as valuable of an angle for brands to take, especially cannabis brands where education is a necessity.
Despite some negative connotations associated with people making a living online through brand partnerships and ad views, you can’t deny how quickly the influencer industry is growing and how profitable it is for businesses.
Can cannabis influencers help my business?
The cannabis industry is full of smaller sectors that can benefit from what cannabis influencers are offering. Cannabis retailers, consumer brands, event companies, B2B tech companies, and even celebrity brands are using influencers as part of their marketing mix.
Cannabis influencer marketing also fills a deep need. If you’re anywhere close to the cannabis industry, you know there are unique challenges cannabis operators face. The inability to deploy traditional marketing tactics is one of them.
With influencers, you don’t need to worry about paid ads or tweaking your copywriting to avoid flags on your account. Cannabis influencers usually have an audience made up mostly of other cannabis lovers, so they can turn to their organic network to boost your brand.
The key is finding the right cannabis influencer who serves your target market, which goes deeper than just “people in cannabis.” Are you a California brand? Target a California influencer. Are you a B2B operation? Make sure your influencer’s audience is on LinkedIn.
One big key to working with cannabis influencers is ensuring the relationship is authentic. Brand-influencer mismatches can lead to lost revenue or even both the brand and the influencer losing their audience’s trust forever.
Make sure the cannabis influencer you’re partnering with likes your products, and if possible, shell out the budget to pay that influencer to be exclusive with you. If you’re a pre-roll brand, pay that influencer enough to not work with other pre-roll brands so they can focus on promoting your products alone.
Read next!
How to Promote Your Dispensary on Social Media
How do I find cannabis influencers to work with?
Most cannabis influencers, and influencers in general, are on social media. Whether they’re on one platform or all of them, a strong social media presence is important. Using traditional social media channels, LinkedIn, Instagram, X, and Facebook, are good places to begin your search.
You can also lean on the help of outside resources, like Hi-Curious, a content marketplace designed to pair cannabis influencers with brands. Hi-Curious influencers have generated millions of impressions for their clients and can help you do the same.
If you’re searching for cannabis influencers organically, look beyond the follower count. Sometimes, smaller cannabis influencers are able to deliver better results because their audience is small enough to be engaged with on a personal level. Large followings mean nothing without deep engagement.
It’s also important that you identify your cannabis influencer’s audience. Are they C-suite executives? Cannabis founders? Cannabis consumers but not working in the industry? It’s likely the audience is a mix of different demographics, but a breakdown of who they are can help you determine how to best approach an influencer campaign.
Here is a list of questions you can ask cannabis influencers to learn more about them:
- What is the best-performing campaign you’ve worked on as an influencer, and can you tell me how you achieved those results alongside the marketing strategy?
- Can you give me a high-level overview of who your audience is and what sector of the industry they work in?
- Who are some cannabis brands you’ve worked with in the past?
- What channels do you distribute cannabis content on?
- What are your typical pricing ranges?
The top cannabis influencers to follow
Here is a list of cannabis influencers the Flowhub team is following. This is not a complete or exhaustive list.
Many of the people listed may not even consider themselves influencers, but their expert cannabis knowledge means people automatically trust them, and brands can leverage that trust when the audiences align.
Have ideas of people to add? Email marketingteam@flowhub.com to let us know!
Krista Raymer
Krista Raymer is the Founder of Vetrina Group, a cannabis retail consulting firm focused on driving profitability in dispensaries.
Krista shares insights and strategies on LinkedIn about training budtenders, leveraging promotions and loyalty programs, untangling POS data, and more.
Jeremy Johnson
Jeremy Johnson is the Business Development and Partnerships Manager at Dispense, a dispensary e-commerce platform acquired by Alpine IQ.
Jeremy’s posts lean heavily on cannabis tech, but he also shares his opinions on industry operations and happenings, SEO, and cannabis marketing.
Kyle Sherman
Kyle Sherman is the Founder and CEO of Flowhub, the dispensary growth and payments platform for dispensaries.
As an industry veteran, Kyle regularly shares insights from his journey in cannabis, advice for dispensaries, and insider takes on relevant cannabis trends.
Anthony Domangue
Anthony Domangue is a cannabis cultivator and consultant. He recently launched his own genetics and cannabis cultivation education company, Southern Roots Genetics.
Anthony shares cultivation tips, his journey to becoming a cultivator, and lessons to learn from cannabis cultivation.
Regent Wanda L. James
Wanda James is the CEO of Simply Pure, the first Black-owned and veteran cannabis license holder in the country. She's also elected to the CU Board of Regents for Congressional District 1.
Wanda shares cannabis history, politics, and her experience building one of Colorado’s highest-rated dispensaries.
Taylor Stafford
Taylor Stafford is the CEO of CASA, a tech company helping retailers streamline inventory management, demand planning, and data challenges.
Taylor breaks down the inventory and data management challenges faced by retailers.
Jorge Cervantes
Jorge Cervantes is a globally recognized cannabis cultivator and expert on indoor, outdoor, and greenhouse environments.
Jorge shares cultivation learnings, science, and cannabis industry happenings.
David Kram
David Kram has been an investment banker in the cannabis industry for more than a decade. He’s been involved in the purchase or sale of dozens of cannabis licenses and shares his insights actively on LinkedIn.
Steve DeAngelo
Steve DeAngelo is often credited as “the father of the legal cannabis industry.” He founded Arcview Group, Harborside, and The Last Prisoner Project, three impactful organizations in cannabis.
Steve shares what he’s learned after being in legal cannabis for decades and where to catch him speak as travels across the country.
Rosie Mattio
Rosie Mattio is the Founder and CEO of Mattio Communications, the cannabis industry’s leading PR firm representing some of the biggest companies in the space.
Rosie shares her client’s highlights and wins, cannabis industry news and her commentary, and general industry happenings.
Karson Humiston
Karson Humiston is the Founder and CEO of Vangst, a company that helps people find jobs in cannabis.
Karson shares updates on her life as a startup CEO, trends in cannabis jobs, and more.
Kenya Alexander-Davis
Kenya Alexander-Davis is the CEO of Green to Green Solutions, a fractional CFO firm for cannabis businesses. She helps cannabis clients understand their finances so they can make decisions that lead to more profitable outcomes.
Kenya shares financial insights, tips, and opinions on the cannabis industry in general and from a financial standpoint.
Don Murphy
Don Murphy is a policy reform advocate and government relations expert. He is one of the few conservative voices advocating for cannabis reform.
Don shares cannabis industry news, political commentary, and things you should know about advancing federal cannabis reform.
Tom Agnell
Tom Agnell is the editor at Marijuana Moment and has 20 years of experience in cannabis reform.
Tom shares cannabis news and is often the first to break cannabis stories on X, making him one of the most trusted cannabis news sources in the world.
Kevin Jodrey
Kevin Jodrey is the founder of Wonderland Nursey and the Co-Founder of The Ganjier.
Kevin is one of the most respected cannabis growers of all time and shares industry happenings, news, and his experience in the industry.
Lauren Carpenter
Lauren Carpenter is the Co-Founder and CEO of Embarc. Before co-founding Embarc, she was the Chief Strategy Officer for Sweet Flower, and Director of Government Affairs for Western States at MedMen.
Lauren uses LinkedIn to talk about her experience as a retailer in the world’s biggest and most competitive single cannabis market, and what she's learned about entrepreneurship from building a company that places community at its core.
Lauren Mundell
Lauren Mundell is the Co-Founder of Curious Cat Media and the Founder of Hi-Curious, a cannabis influencer marketplace.
Lauren "says the quiet part out loud" and also shares marketing tips, industry happenings, and her insights on how to create a better cannabis industry for everyone.
Jocelyn Sheltraw
Jocelyn Sheltraw is the Co-Founder and CEO of Budist, a product review site and community aimed at the cannabis industry.
Jocelyn has also served on several advisory boards and shares her insights on the cannabis industry, advocacy work, and industry happenings.
Emily Paxhia
Emily Paxhia is the Managing Director for Poseiden Investment Management, one of the industry’s leading investment firms.
Emily shares cannabis financial news and industry happenings, where you can catch her speaking and cannabis industry events to attend.
Morgan Paxhia
Morgan Paxhia is the Co-Founder & Managing Director at Poseidon Investment Management.
Morgan talks about cannabis financials, investing, where to see him speak, and where to listen to new episodes of his podcast, Higher Exchanges.
Angela Pih
Angela Pih is the Global Chief Marketing Officer at CCELL, an innovator and pioneer in atomization technology for vaporizers. She is also the Founder of the cannabis marketing firm Brand Trust and serves on the advisory board at The Emerald Cup and Lucid Green.
Angela shares her insights and opinions on the evolving cannabis industry and what it means to be a cannabis marketer.
Elliot Lewis
Elliot Lewis is the Founder and former CEO of Catalyst Cannabis Co. and the CEO of South Cord Holdings.
Elliot is known for sharing his unabashed views on the cannabis industry, insights into his journey, and news and happenings in the industry.
Seth Yakatan
Seth Yakatan is an advisor and Founder of Katan Associates International.
Seth shares his insight on the cannabis industry's big news, his journey as a cannabis entrepreneur, and more.
Nancy Whiteman
Nancy Whiteman is the Founder and (former) CEO of Wana Brands, one of the nation’s leading cannabis edible brands.
Nancy shares her honest opinions about the cannabis industry, the big moves Wana is making, and occasionally some humorous posts that keep the entire cannabis industry laughing.
Contribute to the influencer conversation
Have more cannabis influencers you want to add to the list? Reach out to Flowhub and let us know! As the industry evolves, more cannabis influencers are appearing on the scene and new names are always welcome.
