How can I advertise my smoke store online?

Topic summary

A smoke shop owner (ineedapipe.com) is unable to advertise on Google and Microsoft due to content restrictions on smoking-related products and seeks alternative advertising platforms.

Recommended Solutions:

  • Influencer Marketing: Work directly with social media influencers to reach target audiences organically. This approach offers better cost control than traditional pay-per-click ads and allows verification of audience demographics through analytics.

  • Shopify Collabs: A platform feature that connects merchants directly with content creators and influencers, potentially streamlining the partnership process.

  • Mantis Ad Network: A specialized advertising network (mantisadnetwork.com) that accepts smoke-related products and has shown positive results for similar businesses.

Open Question: One participant asks whether Shopify Collabs influencers are vetted by Shopify, noting concerns about scam outreach after opening their shop. This remains unanswered in the discussion.

Summarized with AI on October 30. AI used: claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929.

So are the shopify collabs influencers vetted by Shopify? I opened my shop and got flooded with emails saying they could help my sells but they were all scams