Words to Avoid (And Ways to Replace Them)
Meta has certain words flagged and using them in your content can trigger their moderation systems, limiting your reach or visibilities. While there are no guarantees, many brands use alternative wording to get around the system. These alternative words have become popular through social media as a way to keep the conversation flowing.
- Dabbing → Beekeeping
- Smoking → Gardening
- Vaping → Chasing Clouds
- Dry Herb → Flower
- Concentrates → Oil
The goal isn't to completely remove cannabis references from your content, but rather to avoid overloading captions, hashtags, and comments with terms that could attract unwanted attention.
Show Personality Over Product
Due to the restrictive nature of meta, instagram offers a great opportunity to show off the personality of your store, over being super product focused. Focus on building a community, rather than constantly selling. Give your audience a reason to connect with your brand beyond the products on the shelf.
Ideas for content:
- Behind-the-scenes content
- Team introductions
- Educational content
- Lifestyle photography
When creating content it’s important to remember that you are promoting instead of selling. Being careful around the language you use can really help determine how Meta views your page.
Here are some common “selling” phrases to reword:
- "Buy now" → “Learn more”
- "Order today" → “Discover the collection”
- "Lowest prices" → “See what’s new”
Focus on showcasing your brand and products rather than making direct sales pitches.
Use Instagram's Alt Text Feature
Alt text is designed to help visually impaired users understand image content, but it can also provide Instagram with additional context about your post. This text is less restrictive than the hashtags so you can use better and more accurate keywords.
When uploading content, add descriptive alt text that describes the image after posting. Instagram will read these and boost the post to the feeds of accounts who will be interested in your content. Focus on a range of elements in the photo, this helps improve accessibility while giving Instagram more information about your content.
Keep Your Bio Clean
Meta keeps a strong eye on any profiles selling items directly through instagram. It’s recommended to avoid adding phone numbers, email addresses, or other direct contact methods in your bio as these can be seen as a way for customers to purchase through your account.
Instead, stick to a direct website link or a linktree so that followers have to leave the app in order to purchase.
Create a Backup Account
Losing access to your business account can be heartbreaking after painstaking work to build your community, especially if social media drives a significant portion of your traffic and customer interactions.
Brands and influencers in the industry will often create a back up account that can sit idle until it’s needed, then it can become a vital point of contact for you and your customers. Think of it as an insurance policy for your online presence.
Consider creating a secondary account that:
- Follows your primary audience
- Shares occasional content
- Provides updates if your main account becomes unavailable
If you want to go a step further and give yourself more protection, you can collaborate with both accounts for every post, that way your backup account still keeps the full feed.
Adjust Your Audience Settings
Meta released a tool where you can age restrict your content and page, making it more difficult for minors stumbling onto you. Making sure your account's age restrictions are configured appropriately for your region and audience can help you avoid any issues with Meta.
You can enable age restrictions by going to Settings > Business > Minimum Age (or through your Meta Accounts Center, depending on your account setup). Set the minimum age to match the legal requirement in the countries you operate in.
Review your settings regularly to ensure that you are still restricting content and if you are unsure, head over to your Account Status under Settings to see if any posts have been removed or any issues have been flagged.
What To Do If Content Gets Flagged
Even accounts that follow the rules can occasionally have content restricted.
If a post gets flagged:
- Review the notification carefully.
- Remove or edit the content if necessary.
- Avoid immediately reposting the exact same content.
- Submit an appeal if you believe the decision was made in error.
- Monitor your Account Status section to check for restrictions.
Above all don’t panic, rapidly posting replacement content or spamming followers can sometimes create more issues than the original post.
No one outside Meta truly knows every detail of how the algorithm works, and the rules are constantly evolving. The best approach is to focus on creating authentic content, building a community, and staying informed about platform updates.
