CBD Bloggers & Influencers

I wanted to find and build a bit of a community around people who had a keen interest in the CBD industry, but the more I looked, the more I struggled to find other CBD bloggers that weren’t associated with a brand.

I therefore decided to create a list of bloggers and influencers that talk on the subject, without a direct connection to a brand or company, allowing them to offer a free and open review on any CBD products.

If I’ve missed anyone out that you feel should make the list, don’t hesitate to get in contact and let me know, I’d be more than happy to update the blog.

CBD Influencers

1) CBD Sloth

OK, I was always going to put myself first, guilty! I started at the beginning of 2019, with the aim to help offer greater transparency on the industry, guiding people to purchase the best products for their situations and to explore the curious world of CBD.

Since then, I’ve gone on to win Media of the Year at the Cannabiz Summit Awards, I was a judge for the Men’s Health awards in the CBD category and I’m now a media partner for a number of CBD expo’s.

www.cbdsloth.com

2) Ruby Deevoy

Ruby Deevoy is a freelance journalist that specialises on cannabis. She has written for a number of publications, including the likes of the Mirror, Express and the Daily Mail, however I best know her for her articles in Top Sante and the Independent.

Ruby does an amazing job of getting the UK publics attention onto CBD, covering subjects such as why so little has changed since cannabis was available on the NHS and lists of the best CBD oils.

http://rubydeevoy.com/

3) Sarah Sinclair

Sarah Sinclair is the managing editor for Cannabis Health News, one of the key publications for the cannabis industry with an illustrious team.

She writes daily content for the CannabisHealthNews and does an incredible job of shining a light on medical subjects and how cannabis could potentially help.

Sarah Sinclair

4) Charlotte Caldwell & Billy Caldwell

Billy Caldwell sadly suffers from multiple epileptic seizures every day, but both Charlotte and Billy reached the media’s attention when they were travelling back to Heathrow and had the potentially life-saving cannabis oil taken away from them.

Since then, they’ve donned the pages of various national publications and seen as one of the biggest advocates for legalising cannabis for medical purposes.

5) Dr Michele Ross

Certainly the most qualified of the group to talk on the subject, Dr Ross has a PhD, an MBA, she’s a neuroscientist and a health coach. She regularly pushes plant based medicine as a way to tackle chronic illnesses, in order to help people live the best life possible for them. She’s written a number of bestselling books on the subject and appeared on a number of shows, so she’s certainly a big name in the industry.

https://drmicheleross.com/

6) Jolene Goring

With almost 90,000 followers on Instagram at time of writing, she directly highlights herself in her bio as the ‘no1 CBD influencer’. She was also the winner of Mrs Arizona Globe, while she does the occasional healthy eating post.

I’ve seen a number of posts posing next to a bottle of CBD oil, which tend to gain around 2,000 likes.

https://www.instagram.com/jolenegoring/?hl=en

7) Chris Lavish

Chris Lavish has a verified Instagram account with 222,000 followers and has been featured in various publications, from GQ to Harper’s. He makes the list as he has been shot on Instagram loving his CBD latte’s, which apparently he orders quite often. He is now sponsored by the Matcha Bar where he picks up his CBD latte’s from.

https://www.instagram.com/nyclavish

8) Bess Byers

Bess Byers, or Imcannabess, has over 80k followers on Instagram, predominantly US based, as she shares her lifestyle posts and weed smoking (albeit she had an extended break away). She’s stood the test of time in Instagram and launched a digital marketing agency called Blaise Creative.

https://www.instagram.com/imcannabess

9) Jade Proudman

I first spoke to Jade on behalf of her CBD brand Savage Cabbage, where she had her own set of CBD products, as well as being the UK distributor for Charlotte’s Web, one of the biggest CBD brands.

However, since then, I seem to see her name and face everywhere, including on This Morning with Phil and Holly. She’s the UK representative for the European Industrial Hemp Association, speaking to people in parliament around the laws with cannabis.

https://uk.linkedin.com/in/jade-proudman-ma-a63a80119

10) Meaghan Bolton

With a hefty 445,000 followers on Instagram, it is understandable why CBD brands want to be seen on Meaghan’s feed. Her images are more associated with bongs and smoking some bud over sublingually taking CBD oil, but the industry is so intertwined.

https://www.instagram.com/cloud_9_baby/

11) Silenced Hippie

The 28 year old Rhode Island cannabis advocate has seen her Instagram numbers shoot up over time, now surpassing the 300k mark. The key factor about this CBD influencer is that she also has 523,000 subscribers on YouTube, a platform that I think offers much greater returns that Instagram.

https://www.instagram.com/silencedhippie/

14) CBD Woman

Rachael runs the popular YouTube channel ‘CBD Woman’, which has over 10k followers, with her videos averaging 800 views each. But a couple of her videos have really become hugely popular, such as her guide on calculating CBD dosages.

She hasn’t posted in the past year, so it’s possible she’s taken a step back from content creation, but her content was getting a phenomenal amount of views a few years back.

15) Kris Purple

Running under the Instagram account name misspurple_vape, Kris is a French vape fan, who has an abundance of vaping equipment and, as the name might suggest, seems to have a large supply of them in a purple colour.

Offering advice and guidance for others looking to try their hand at vaping, she’s an absolute go-to for e-liquids.

https://www.instagram.com/misspurple_vape/

16) Lauren J Daviss

Lauren is best known for her incredible Tik Tok account Fiddyshadesofgreen, while she has also spoken about her issues with high blood pressure at 22 years old a couple of years back.

She turned to CBD and is a big advocate of cannabis, while she posts regularly on her Instagram account with over 80k followers.

https://www.instagram.com/laurenjdaviss/

17) Hannah Deacon

Hannah turned to medical cannabis due to her son Alfie suffering from a rare form of epilepsy.

Heading off to the Netherlands in 2017, Hannah utilised full extract cannabis oil in order to stop the seizures from occurring.

Her son Alfie was also the first legal NHS prescription of medical cannabis, something many others are trying to get but frustratingly aren’t getting any luck with.

18) Vera Twomey

Vera is another person on this list who has fought tooth and nail to get medical cannabis for their child, being her daughter Ava.

Based in the Republic of Ireland, Twomey has campaigned heavily to get medical cannabis available in Ireland and she has fast become one of the most well known figures in the industry in Europe.

19) Carly Barton

Carly Barton is a well known medical cannabis activist who is best known for founding the CanCard.

She had turned to cannabis following a stroke and having to take opiates for six years. So she started working with the CPS and DPP to find a solution so people who were suffering wouldn’t have their cannabis taken away and could legally possess it.

The medical ID card can be shown to police to prevent you from being arrested for basically having medicine on you.

20) Michael J Fox

The legendary actor from Back to the Future has been apparently using CBD in order to help with his health issues, as he suffers with Parkinson’s disease.

The famous actor has 1.2 million followers on Instagram, as well as a further 1.4 million on Twitter, so he certainly has a powerful reach, however he doesn’t post very often and I’m not sure if he works with brands so this might be out of reach for many CBD companies looking for a key influencer.

21) Aisling Bea

I am a HUGE fan of Aisling Bea, I saw her live in Preston Park in Brighton not too long ago, while I’ve always loved her stand-up, plus she’s an incredible actress as well.

What I wasn’t initially aware of was her fondness for CBD oil. She posted on Twitter in 2018 about her usage of CBD to help her sleep, highlighting it to other insomniacs. She also highlighted afterwards that she wasn’t paid to post the tweet, she just wanted to spread awareness of the power of hemp.

22) Montel Williams

Montel Williams is an American TV host, most famous for the Emmy award winning The Montel Williams Show.

He was sadly diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1999, while he then invested millions into his own startup CBD company. A high profile advocate of the hemp plant, Montel has helped to remove the negative stigma around cannabis.

CBD Bloggers

1) CBD Sloth

Alright, I’m being cheeky putting myself in twice, but why not! The Instagram account has over 10k followers, while my personal Twitter account is verified, with over 60,000 followers.

www.cbdsloth.com

2) Leafie

Leafie is a publication that is always at the forefront of news on the CBD industry, producing content on a daily basis with the aim to demystify the world of CBD.

Featuring product reviews, industry news and questioning the stigma around psychedelics, I could read Leafie for hours!

https://www.leafie.co.uk/

3) Ismokemag

This UK blog has grown exponentially, largely thanks to their booming YouTube channel, which now has almost 24,000 subscribers (at time of writing), averaging just over 1,000 views per video. They argue for cannabis to be legalised here in the UK, they offer product reviews and they give tips and guidance, as well as cooking tips and some very funny posts on top.

https://ismokemag.co.uk/

4) Cannavieve

While I have seen plenty of influencers get involved with CBD, there has been a distinct lack of CBD bloggers, so I was very happy to see another in Genevieve. Providing educational cannabis marketing and consultancy, Cannavieve is a reflection of her 7 years using cannabis, both medicinally and recreationally.

www.cannavieve.com

5) Green Queen Magazine

I have been reading the amazing articles by May Woods in Green Queen Magazine for a good while now, as she posts all of the latest industry news often way before most of us have a clue about it. I love the posts around CBD and the blockchain and new technologies!

greenqueenmagazine.com

I’ll continue to build this list over time, but so many are too closely connected to a single CBD brand, making it hard to genuinely consider them, but there are plenty more out there trying to share information on the subject. Keep an eye on this list, as it will build with time.

Can You Work With These Influencers?

Whether we’re talking about a celebrity, a blogger or a reality TV star, virtually all work with different brands, therefore it is possible to find a deal with them.

The difficulty you will face is largely around the cost to working alongside some of the big names. The idea of working with Montel Williams, Aisling Bea or Michael J Fox just feels a bit out of reach from your average CBD brand. However I have included a list of names, big and small, who have an impact in the industry or a connection.

If you would like to work with these influencers, I’d recommend looking on their Instagram accounts, where many will link out to a contact who manage their advertising opportunities.

Can Influencers Promote CBD?

Yes, influencers can promote CBD and that they use it themselves, however they can’t talk about the benefits of CBD.

The legality around CBD is still very strict, it’s a food supplement, therefore I would recommend guiding the influencers on what to include in the Instagram post.

You don’t need to dictate each word, but guiding them a little can ensure they don’t say anything that puts either of you in hot water.

What Is A Micro-Influencer?

A micro-influencer is an influencer with smaller numbers, normally with anywhere between 3,000-100,000 followers or subscribers.

While celebrities will often have a huge number of followers, their followers might not often take action based on their recommendations or posts, especially if they often work with brands.

On the other side, micro influencers tend to have a more engaged audience, therefore the conversion rate or engagement rate can often be higher per person reached.

Another factor is whether the micro-influencer is within your niche. For example, if you were advertising a kids toy and you could either get featured on a mummy blogger’s Instagram with 10k followers, or a racing driver with 100,000 followers, you might see better results with the smaller blogger due to the audience being highly interested in the niche.

What Is A CBD Influencer?

A CBD influencer can be split into two separate groups. There are big influencers with a strong following, who might like to use CBD, however their audience isn’t specifically targeted towards the industry.

An example of this could be Jennifer Aniston, someone who has a huge interest in CBD and has millions of followers, but her audience might not be overly interested in the subject.

The second category are the influencers who have a highly targeted audience and produce content that focuses on the niche. An example would be my own blog, most of my followers are active users of CBD or at least have considered taking it recently.

I’m A CBD Influencer, How Do I Find Brands?

While I now get contacted by a huge number of CBD brands each and every week, it wasn’t too long ago I was having to send out pleading emails to big hemp brands, asking whether they’d like to work with me.

Gather all your key stats and work out exactly what you’re offering them, then create an email template and reach out to all the CBD brands you’re interested in.

All CBD brands will have a contact page, so you can very easily get an email address or message them via the contact form.

How Do I Get ROI From Working With Influencers?

This is an important question to ask, as I have worked in influencer marketing throughout my life and I know a lot of brands throw money in the bin by poorly handling this process.

Firstly, you should work out exactly what you’re going to get out of the campaign. If they run a blog, you can get a follow link from their website which will help you to rank better on Google for various terms you might be looking to target. This is especially the case if they have either a strong domain or are highly relevant to the niche.

If they’re posting on social, you have to question what they are willing to deliver, whether these are permanent or temporary (e.g. stories) and how many posts they will make.

A video on YouTube might get consistent views over a few years, whereas a post on Instagram will get the majority of the views over a 24 hour period and will then drop rapidly.

You need to look at the cost of advertising and then work out what you expect back in return. Are you aiming to get your brand in front of a bigger audience, are you trying to make sales or are you trying to build brand trust, or enhance your rankings on search engines?

What Should I Agree On Before Working With An Influencer?

I have made some bullet points below on what should be agreed on before progressing with the agreement:

• What the caption or post will say. Don’t hesitate to ask whether they can include something in particular, whether that’s a Call-To-Action, a specific hashtag, to tag in your brand or an important fact.
• Make sure it’s agreed whether the post is temporary or permanent. I’ve seen some bloggers remove articles or the link after a year, it’s not so common anymore but it used to happen a lot.
• Make sure to find out when the post will go live. I helped a beauty brand work with 100 influencers (that was a nightmare) and most posted the article/social posts within a month, but some took a few months to get it live, which was incredibly frustrating.

Who Is The Target Market For CBD Oil?

I’ve read through a number of studies from numerous brands talking about their customer base and the majority of customers seem to be between the ages of 25 and 35.

The US is most certainly the biggest market, however the UK CBD market is growing incredibly rapidly and is seen as the second biggest in the world.