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Do You Need Marketing for a Cannabis Business?
Despite nearly 75% of companies seeing increased sales from content marketing, cannabis business owners often overlook it since advertising regulations can be so restricting.
This mistake could be holding your cannabis business back.
Effective cannabis brand marketing can set your business apart from the competition. Despite the challenges posed by advertising regulations, innovative and compliant marketing strategies can drive significant growth and visibility for your business.
Don’t let the complexities of cannabis marketing intimidate you. Investing in a strong marketing strategy can yield substantial returns and position your business for long-term success.
Here are the keys to success for cannabis brand marketing.
Marketing in the Cannabis Industry
There are three crucial considerations that every cannabis business owner needs to make when it comes to marketing their business.
1. Are my efforts thought out and is my brand effective?
2. Am I leveraging all of the digital marketing platforms available?
3. How can I increase customer loyalty?
The answers to each of these questions should form the foundation of your cannabis marketing strategies. By addressing each, your business will gain a clearer direction, stronger brand presence, and enhanced customer engagement, leading to sustainable growth and success.
Creating a Cannabis Marketing Plan with Personas
Start your marketing plan by creating customer personas. Personas are a profile of a group of common customers that frequently engage with your business. These personas should be based on research of your target market and the audience you want to attract.
When it comes to marketing for dispensaries, your customer persona should always involve your businesses’ local demographics. You should consider age, unique characteristics about where you’re located, and anything else that’s a common characteristic of your customer or their specific needs.
For example, you may find that the majority of your clientele are millennials. After identifying this, it’s time to do some research about millennials’ cannabis-use trends and spend some time understanding their other distinguishing characteristics.
If you’re developing a ‘millennial customer persona,’ you should note that: Millennials are significant cannabis users, with 39% consuming it multiple times a day, mostly for recreational purposes. Many millennials are also interested in social justice and activism, pop-culture, and various other hobbies. These are all traits that could help you form a persona.
Keep in mind that you can create more than one persona to incorporate into your cannabis marketing plan, but creating too many could dilute your brand’s focus.
Once you’ve created a few customer personas, you can develop a brand identity that matches them. In other words, your business’ branding and dispensary marketing ideas should appeal to your target customer personas.
To do this, you can tailor some of the aesthetic features of your brand to fit the interests of your personas. Things such as color palette, typeface, logo, content creation, advertising, community engagement, and the overall message your business is conveying, should appeal to your target market in one way or another.
Cannabis Business Digital Marketing
As a cannabis business owner, you’re restricted from using a lot of tools that are available in other industries. Because of this, you’ll need to take advantage of every digital marketing tool that’s available and compliant.
Leveraging online platforms like social media and your website will drastically improve brand awareness and expand your customer base. Each of these outlets are widely used marketing tools proven to have a positive impact on your business when used correctly.
Cannabis Business Social Network
Social media is one of the most widely used marketing tools in the cannabis industry for a couple of reasons.
Aside from paid advertisements, cannabis businesses typically have few restrictions surrounding what they post. Generally speaking, most states will have regulations that prevent cannabis businesses from making health claims or promoting cannabis consumption as being beneficial. There are also always provisions against marketing in a way that is attractive to minors or glamorizes cannabis use.
When it comes to cannabis business social network marketing, you should always double-check your state’s regulations if you’re unsure about whether your content is compliant. Because of these challenges, many cannabis businesses turn to a cannabis marketing agency for support.
But as long as you prioritize compliance, you can express your brand and reach your target market by posting creative content that draws attention to your business and sparks engagement.
Research indicates that the ideal social media cannabis marketing strategies follow the 80/20 rule. This means that at least 80% of your content should offer value, while no more than 20% should be promotional. Whenever possible, incorporate promotional content subtly by adding it at the end of your value-driven posts or presenting it as informative content.
Be sure to monitor your posts and engage with your audience. This could involve answering questions, liking comments, reposting and sharing content from customers or others in the industry, and more!
Cannabis Business Website Necessities
You’ll also want to make sure your website is linked on all of your social media channels. Your website acts as a central hub that all of your current and potential customers will refer to before engaging your business. Because of this, you’ll need to make sure your website is top notch when it comes to features, and compliance.
Your website should have e-commerce functionality so you can make sales around the clock. If you’re a dispensary owner, you can link your POS system to your website for easy recordkeeping of your inventory and sales.
Be sure to incorporate SEO and work with web developers from a cannabis marketing agency to ensure your website is visible and popular on search engines like Google. You’ll also need to make sure your site is functional on mobile, since over 60% of people access websites from their smartphones and tablets.
Inspiring Customer Loyalty
Customer Loyalty is all about leaving a positive impact and building a strong relationship with your customers. Doing so will inspire repeat-purchases and raise your business above the competition.
There are a number of different ways to generate customer loyalty as a cannabis business owner. But the most valuable method is through good customer service and consistent community engagement.
Your customer service should be top-notch, so you’ll want to hire passionate staff and maintain a positive attitude while interacting with your online audience. As simple as it sounds, promptly assisting customers and answering their questions is one of the easiest, and most effective ways to build customer loyalty.
Outside of the dispensary, you should engage the community by hosting and attending events, running compliant fundraisers, and resharing relevant content from members of your community. Doing so will boost your reputation and ensure customers remain interested in your business.
Loyalty programs are another great way to keep customers coming back. These programs reward loyal customers who frequently make purchases with incentives such as discounts, special offers, or exclusive access to new products.
Keep in mind that each state has unique regulations governing the use of loyalty programs. As a general rule of thumb, you should avoid using a loyalty program that relies on the purchase of cannabis products. For example, you typically can’t have ‘buy one get one free’ deals or a system where customers generate points with every purchase.
However, there are numerous other kinds of loyalty programs that are just as effective, and compliant in most states. For example, you could have a loyalty program that gives members discounts on various items. Your loyalty program could also send members discount codes, alert them of new products, and give early notice of upcoming sales.
Using customer loyalty programs is one of the best cannabis marketing strategies for retaining interest in your business, and rewarding your customers for choosing your business instead of competitors.
Working With a Cannabis Marketing Company
Regardless of where your business is located, effective marketing in the cannabis industry can be challenging. As a result, many cannabis businesses turn to a cannabis marketing agency to fill in the gaps and guarantee results. CannDelta provides industry-leading marketing services for cannabis businesses worldwide. Reach out today to elevate your brand and achieve your goals with confidence.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I Market a Dispensary?
Marketing for dispensaries can be done in a number of ways. Make sure you use social media since it allows you to share constant updates and content with your target audience. Your cannabis business social network should reflect your brand image and provide valuable content that your audience will appreciate. Avoid flooding your cannabis business’ social media with constant sales content. You should also be sure to have an up-to-date website, participate and run community events, and utilize loyalty programs.
Can I Market Cannabis on Social Media?
You can market cannabis on social media if your state’s regulations allow it. Most states allow unpaid cannabis brand marketing on social media, but paid advertisement is usually restricted. Be sure to follow all provisions and general guidelines to avoid running into compliance issues and legal trouble. A couple general rules of thumb include:
-Avoid making health claims
-Do not promote cannabis consumption
-Avoid creating content aimed at increasing consumer purchases
There are potentially various other cannabis social media marketing guidelines. Consult a professional cannabis marketing company or consulting firm to ensure your marketing efforts are compliant.
How do I Advertise CBD?
Marketing CBD products and brands is different from marketing typical cannabis products and brands. This is because there are different rules and regulations that apply to CBD and hemp products. With that being said, you should still likely avoid making bold and untested/proven health claims about your CBD brand or product. Be sure to familiarize yourself with your state’s laws surrounding CBD marketing.
How Profitable is the Cannabis Market?
Overall, the cannabis market is profitable with a market volume expected to reach $49 billion by 2029 in accordance with Statista projections. However, each state’s profitability heavily relies on legalization, the licensing process, regulatory barriers, ease of compliant marketing, and many other variables.
