"Unleashing Social Media Power: How Hybrid Social Redefines Success in the Cannabis Industry" Amy Donahue, the founder of Hybrid Social, a social media branding and strategy business, discusses her work in the cannabis industry during a podcast interview with Susan Burns . Amy provides compliant and professional social media services for cannabis clients, including cleanup work for accounts that have been shut down or shadow banned due to violations of social network rules. She emphasizes the importance of educating clients about the true nature of social media and the need for targeted branding in the cannabis industry. Produced by PodConX Bodacious Women in Cannabis - https://bodacious-women-in-cannabis.simplecast.com/ Susan Burns - https://www.linkedin.com/in/sburnslegal/ Amy Donahue - https://www.linkedin.com/in/amydonohue/ Hybrid Social - https://gethybridsocial.com/ Recorded on Squadcast
"Unleashing Social Media Power: How Hybrid Social Redefines Success in the Cannabis Industry"
Amy Donahue, the founder of Hybrid Social, a social media branding and strategy business, discusses her work in the cannabis industry during a podcast interview with Susan Burns . Amy provides compliant and professional social media services for cannabis clients, including cleanup work for accounts that have been shut down or shadow banned due to violations of social network rules. She emphasizes the importance of educating clients about the true nature of social media and the need for targeted branding in the cannabis industry.
Bodacious Women in Cannabis - https://bodacious-women-in-cannabis.simplecast.com/
Susan Burns - https://www.linkedin.com/in/sburnslegal/
Amy Donahue - https://www.linkedin.com/in/amydonohue/
Hybrid Social - https://gethybridsocial.com/
Susan Burns:
All
amy:
Always.
Susan Burns:
right. So it's recorded audio and video, but we only produce the audio. So we don't produce the video as of now. So we don't have to worry about that. And if when
amy:
Good, now I can put
Susan Burns:
we're
amy:
my ponytail in.
Susan Burns:
done, if you want to stay on for just a few minutes to make sure that it's uploaded. So otherwise we'll have to re-record.
amy:
Perfect.
Susan Burns:
And then. Do you have any questions, Amy, before we get started?
amy:
Nope, nope, I've done
Susan Burns:
Okay.
amy:
this a lot. I love spreading the gospel, so whatever you want to talk about.
Susan Burns:
Amen, sister. Remind me the name of your company.
amy:
My company is Hybrid Social.
Susan Burns:
Hybrid social. Oh, that's what I was trying to remember, it's get hybrid social URL.
amy:
Yes.
Susan Burns:
OK, all right. I'll just shut up for about five seconds before I start. And then I'll do the same thing at the end for the editors to make it a little easier. OK, here we go. Welcome to Bodacious Women in Cannabis. I'm Susan Burns, your podcast host. I'm also a cannabis lawyer and nothing delights me more than highlighting bodacious women in cannabis. Today, we have the privilege of talking with Amy Donahue, creator, founder, and high priestess of Hybrid Social. Welcome, Amy.
amy:
Thank you so much.
Susan Burns:
It's a treat to have you. So tell us about hybrid social and how it's related to cannabis. I get
amy:
Well,
Susan Burns:
the hybrid play on words.
amy:
yeah, it's, I've actually been doing social media since my space. And when we had medical here, start in Arizona is when I started getting cannabis clients and pivoted into cannabis.
Susan Burns:
So
amy:
About 12.
Susan Burns:
you're located in Arizona.
amy:
Yeah, I live right in downtown Phoenix.
Susan Burns:
Okay, okay.
amy:
Yeah, so then I started getting cannabis clients about 12 years ago and then, you know, I didn't want any of my gen pop clients to feel uncomfortable being associated with cannabis because there's still so much stigma around it. So that's when I dropped all my regular clients and went gung-ho into the cannabis industry.
Susan Burns:
So you provide social media services for cannabis companies?
amy:
I provide compliant and professional social media services for cannabis clients. Unfortunately,
Susan Burns:
There you go.
amy:
Um, not everybody reads the rules as we all know. It's kind of a hot topic of getting your Instagram shut down because I could go on a rant forever on that. But yeah, I get a lot of cleanup work. I would say probably 15% of my income every year is cleaning stuff up from people who didn't really know how to work the different social networks as
Susan Burns:
So for those
amy:
far as cannabis.
Susan Burns:
listeners who might be new to the cannabis industry and thinking about joining and starting a business, as well as for not all veterans know the rules as we know, or that you wouldn't be having cleanup work, explain a little bit more about that if you would. So what are the particulars? You don't have to go into major detail, but what's the difference about social media for cannabis as opposed to other businesses.
amy:
Well, I think first of all, being that this is an industry of entrepreneurs who maybe did not have a business before, don't understand that social media is not about selling your product. It's about branding yourself. So that's like lesson number one that people just don't understand. But number two, it's federally illegal, even though I'm in Arizona and I can buy as much of any cannabis product I want in this state, it is still federally illegal. So that's what all of the social network rules are based on is that Schedule 1 title that we have or classification, however you want to call it. So and a lot
Susan Burns:
So
amy:
of people.
Susan Burns:
now that would be for marijuana, but what about for hemp? We have a lot of hemp derived products in the market, which are also cannabis.
amy:
So That's where things get dicey because if it goes in your mouth, it still has to be approved by the FDA to actually be legal, even if it's CBD. Everybody says, oh, the farm bill, everything's legal. No, it's not. That's not how this works. there you can still get all the products but if it's a hemp product it still falls under that classification if it's something that's taken orally. Not the same for topicals like lotions and creams and stuff like that.
Susan Burns:
So there's
amy:
You might...
Susan Burns:
a different, it's not the same category. It's no longer a schedule one, but now we have another regulatory body that's jumping
amy:
Yes.
Susan Burns:
into the mix here
amy:
Because
Susan Burns:
and impacts
amy:
this is the United
Susan Burns:
what people
amy:
States
Susan Burns:
are doing.
amy:
of America and we need as many as much bureaucracy as we can get, especially when it comes to having cannabis.
Susan Burns:
Of course, why would it be any other way? So Amy, when you say you do clean up, what does that mean?
amy:
So a lot of times people come to me when they've gotten an account shutdown or their shadow banned and what that means is you are posting but you are not getting any likes or comments or not showing up in the algorithm because if you screw up under Zuckerberg's eyes your account will be shadow banned meaning your stuff shows up but not in the algorithm you'll see it. So a lot of that has to do with using inappropriate hashtags. Um, never use any hashtag with Kana in it. Um, it's just understanding keywords and the law, but there's a lot of things about social media people don't understand. Again, it's about branding. So you don't really need a hashtag on Instagram. If your text in the description of that photo gives the information out, has hashtags are for search. But all cannabis hashtags are shadow banned on Facebook and Instagram, so there's no point in using them. So I go back and I clean that stuff out of older posts for clients to hopefully get rid of that shadow ban.
Susan Burns:
Also, once you're shadow bandits forever.
amy:
It takes
Susan Burns:
For
amy:
a
Susan Burns:
all
amy:
while
Susan Burns:
your posts.
amy:
to work out. It can take a month or two. But you have to really work hard to post a lot. You have to make sure that everything you post you own, because that's the first rule on Instagram. You can only post what you own. Can't just jack something off of Google and say it's yours. So yeah, there's a lot of layers to what people can do that's incorrect because they hired their millennial nephew to do their social media.
Susan Burns:
Nice. It works until it doesn't, right?
amy:
Yep, exactly.
Susan Burns:
So, and do you also create social media campaigns for businesses that aren't in trouble?
amy:
Yes that's the majority of my work. The clean up is a panic. I get the email, oh my god her Instagram got shut down. What do I do? The majority of my work is to create strategies and build relationships for my clients online with their target audiences.
Susan Burns:
Okay, so your business, you started as a social media branding business and then you morphed into cannabis by demand, it sounds like, is that right?
amy:
Yeah, I've always done social media and then about 2011-2012 is when I started getting cannabis clients and then just decided to stick with cannabis. Oh
Susan Burns:
I'm going to break here, Amy. Your voice is cutting in and out. You're fading in and out. So I don't know if
amy:
no.
Susan Burns:
it's the headphones or what
amy:
It's
Susan Burns:
it
amy:
probably
Susan Burns:
is.
amy:
my stupid internet.
Susan Burns:
Oh, okay. All right. Well, we'll just leave it. They'll do their best with that. It's okay. I'm going to pause again and then we'll start. So how about, what are your biggest challenges in your business and how do you deal with those? How do you address those?
amy:
Well, I think the biggest challenge is for small business owners to really understand what social media is. It's not just posting a photo with some words and then putting it out across every network at the same time to hopefully get people to buy your product. So I take a lot of time to educate people on what social media really is. And it's about drawing people in, creating culture. And we have a brand new industry. People do it in so many different ways. I see so many great campaigns out there and I see a lot that just fall flat, but it's. really about trying to figure out a way to give your customers an inside look at what goes on behind the scenes of getting your brand out there basically.
Susan Burns:
And so you find educating clients to be a challenge in your business.
amy:
It can be. Like I said, I've lost opportunities to, and I'm finger quoting for the listeners, the millennial nephew. people thinking that young people understand social media for companies that are worth multi-million dollars simply because they grew up with a phone in their hand. And that's not the way it is. Social media is a lot, a lot of work. And it starts with knowing who your targets are. And a lot of small businesses don't know who that is. If I ask them, and you probably get this in your line of business as well, when I say who's your target audience, Um, everybody who wants to smoke pot. No, that's not your target audience. Who who what do the people look like? So sometimes I have to take them back to the basics of branding, which I don't do, but I know enough about it to help people understand that they might need to hire a professional for that.
Susan Burns:
you go. And how about Amy your biggest joy so far?
amy:
My biggest joys right now, I have a client in Illinois and they have recently changed their laws as far as edibles go. Pretty basic. You could, I think, really only have tinctures and gummies before. And I got this inquiry at the beginning of the year. She's a woman. Her business partner is a veteran. And they came out with an edibles line of cookies. Now, we have had cookies here in Arizona. In Arizona, there's never been anything you cannot make out of pot that we have sold. We have sold some really sketchy stuff here, simply because the law didn't prohibit anything.
Susan Burns:
What's the sketchiest?
amy:
We had infused toothpicks
Susan Burns:
Okay.
amy:
that You could let dry out and then as soon as you put it in your mouth, supposedly, it would, the THC would activate again. Um, we had before...
Susan Burns:
So live I activated THC, I like it.
amy:
Yeah, they're not around anymore. We've had breath sprays, we've had breath strips, none of these are around anymore and I attribute it to poor social media. Um, but yeah,
Susan Burns:
Maybe
amy:
it's
Susan Burns:
something to do with the product too.
amy:
that as well. But as you know, every state is different. So working in Illinois right now, cause my, all my clients are not, none of my clients are in my own state, um, is really cool because I get to see, first of all, the customers are excited about this product because they've never been able to get a cookie before something that seems so basic to me is bringing so much joy to people. And in turn, a woman and veteran owned business is going to be successful because of that. And the whole team is excited. It's just a really great group to be with. And just seeing the changes in the law where now they can get cookies, which again, you don't think that's a big deal. But when you're limited to so little, as far as edibles.
Susan Burns:
Nice. And Amy Donahue, I want to know this podcast is called the Bodacious Women in Cannabis. So I would like to know it. And I'm sure our listeners would like to know what is your unique brand of bodaciousness or what makes you uniquely bodacious? And one answer that it's not permitted is passion.
amy:
Um, no, I would say...
Susan Burns:
Everybody's been, everybody that I interview says, I'm passionate about this industry. And yes, we all are. So that's not bodacious.
amy:
I would say I'm fearless. I mean, to be single and all my bills have to be paid by my clients. It was very fearful to get into this industry because I didn't have a lot of... I didn't have a bank account for a few years. I mean, all of that stuff... went into getting into the industry, but I am tenacious. I am fearless. I'm shameless as well. So yeah, did that answer it? Was that good? I mean, I could. Whatever you want to do, you can do whatever you want to do.
Susan Burns:
It's whatever you think. I just decided yesterday because I talked to somebody and they were saying, I am passionate. And I'm like, well, I think everybody I've talked to so far has said they were passionate. So I'm banning that as an answer. It's no longer unique.
amy:
I'm glad you are because it is good to get people to think outside that box because Duh you have passion. I mean why else would you be in an illegal industry? You have to be
Susan Burns:
It's
amy:
passionate
Susan Burns:
tough industry.
amy:
for it
Susan Burns:
Yes, everybody's passionate. You have to be exactly right.
amy:
Yep
Susan Burns:
So yeah, so we'll have to get some branding on that. I'm bodacious.
amy:
I think you should. I think it's a great word when that came through in my email from you. I was like, yes, I am going to have so much fun doing this.
Susan Burns:
And what other, what other, speaking of bodacious women in cannabis, what other, what other things have you seen or, you know, when you come across women owned businesses and what they're doing that you think, dang, that is awesome bodacious
amy:
I would
Susan Burns:
or
amy:
say
Susan Burns:
just plain
amy:
because
Susan Burns:
old bodacious.
amy:
I do have a side gig, which I don't think we talked about in the emails, but if you're familiar with Dr. Sue Cicely, she has had a national cannabis research license from the DEA for 12 years studying cannabis, especially for veterans. And she recently got an LSD and psilocybin license. And I'm one of the volunteers in her lab for growing, as well as creative. I take pictures of the mushrooms. And we also have the nootropic, the functional, lion's mane, maitake, reishi. We also grow those, but her, she just got a $5 million grant from the state of Arizona to be able to study psilocybin for PTSD for veterans and first responders.
Susan Burns:
Nice, so that'll be interesting to follow.
amy:
Yeah, I'm really excited about that. My father
Susan Burns:
Mm-hmm.
amy:
was a fireman, so just knowing what they see when they're on the job every day, yeah, they need to microdose. I mean, they're seeing trauma every single day. So just knowing that there's going to be more studies out there because we all know the good that plant medicine does for people. But unfortunately, we have to have the evidence to back it up to be able to get, you know, federal
Susan Burns:
Yes, and the cynical view would say there's another reason behind that.
amy:
It's always the government. Ha ha
Susan Burns:
button and pharmaceuticals.
amy:
ha. Pharmaceuticals, tobacco, alcohol, I mean the alcohol industry, their lobbyists are the reason that we're still on schedule one for cannabis. They've been lobbying for decades for that.
Susan Burns:
Oh, I didn't know that. Well, that's interesting. So where can people find you? And why should, I mean, in what instances should somebody look for Amy Donahue and get hybridsocial.com is your URL for your website. But when would someone contact you? The panic, yes, help, get me out of here. That's one instance. But when else would a business use you? Use you.
amy:
I say this to every potential client. If your investors who gave you 25 million dollars were to see your social media right now, would they be happy with what they put money behind? Most of the time the answer is no. I want people to look great online, not just for their investors, but for the industry, the more professional... that your campaigns are on social media, the better you look, the better your investors look. But the better we all look, this is a community that we're still building. And we can't build an industry if everybody just thinks it's a free for all.
Susan Burns:
So your target market is the multi-million dollar cannabis businesses.
amy:
I would not say, I would say no. I have two startup clients and then I have a fully integrated, brand, multiple brands out of Michigan that I work with. I like working with the startups, but budget wise, I can only take on one or two startups at a time because I have to make money and pay my bills.
Susan Burns:
Well, we all do. Yes, that is true. So, all right. So get hybridsocial.com and then how about your social media? Where'd we find you on social?
amy:
I would say the best would be LinkedIn or Twitter. I do not really use Facebook or Instagram very much personally anymore. It's what I do for a living. So I don't want to be on there at the end of the day. It's not fun for me anymore. When you've been doing it for 18 years, there's nothing fun about it. So my handle on Twitter is just one word, all spelled out, the fabulous one. I'm on LinkedIn. You can find me, Amy Donahue. or you know message through my website to find me but yeah I mean I like brainstorming with business owners as well to see what get their juices flowing maybe get them to understand social media a little bit better so that's another thing I like doing
Susan Burns:
Great. Okay, everybody. Hybrid social founder creator, Amy Donahue, a bodacious woman in cannabis. Thank you, Amy. It's a pleasure.