US$166 Billion: the revenue business reports predict cannabis will produce by 2025. Indeed, you would agree that the best time one should invest in this niche was yesterday. Otherwise, the marijuana industry might be too crowded, missing a life-changing opportunity. Apart from intense competition, there are many problems to tackle on this risky but highly-rewarding path. But don’t worry. In this article, you’ll learn how to solve the biggest one—dispensary marketing. You’ll know how to market and optimize your medical marijuana business the right way and dominate the market.
Read on to find out more!
The Problem with Cannabis Marketing
Many states have legalized cannabis sales. But a significant percentage of countries still consider weed illegal at the federal level.
For example, the FCC restricts companies from implementing their marijuana marketing strategies through traditional media such as radio, tv, or in some cases, billboards.
Some authorities have relaxed some of the regulations due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
And there might be new opportunities for you in selling or marketing your products. You would therefore be wise to investigate the new laws surrounding this product and what’s allowed so that you can make some progress with your business.
How to Market Your Cannabis Business
Many cannabis dispensary social media campaigns fail because they don’t adhere to Twitter’s, Google’s, or Facebook dispensaries’ advertising guidelines. And either their account gets banned, or they lose the freedom to access some features.
Consequently, they waste time and resources on failing dispensary marketing strategies.
Be different. There’s a better way to market your products and get the most return on investment. And no, you don’t have to spend thousands of dollars on influencers. You’ll depend on yourself, growing your business through sustainable and enriching practices.
And here’s how. First…
Define Your Audience
Selling to everyone means you’ll end up selling to no one. Without knowing your customers, you won’t know where to meet them, how to persuade them, and how much to price your products. To illustrate, you’ll be swinging a sharp sword in the dark, losing terribly.
But there’s a proven way to succeed with your marijuana marketing strategies.
Categorize your audience into one or more of these 4 groups and create targeted content, posting it on the platforms they frequent. Sell your products to baby boomers, affluents, acceptors, or frequent shoppers.
This approach also helps you with your cannabis content marketing strategy. You’ll be answering the questions or doubts that torment your target audience. And when you execute this plan long enough, you’ll differentiate yourself from the competition and create a sub-niche you dominate.
For example…
Give discounts to frequent shoppers and acceptors. Post educational content for the baby boomers suffering from pain and looking for a solution from cbd products while linking your products for easy access. And sell stress relief or self-care products to the affluent.
Don’t worry about not making a sale at first. The audience needs to trust you, viewing you as an authority through the quality of the content you produce. Hence, it’s crucial to be indirect with your sales pitch, consistent with content production, and patient to profit from the momentum.
Create a Quality User Experience
The quality of your appearance matters to customers. A good website theme, layout, and font create a good reputation, and visitors will remember you. It’s, therefore, essential to match the tastes and preferences of the demographic you want to serve. Inspire confidence!
For example, make your website fun, trendy, and interactive for a young audience. Or post sports pictures or doodles if you’re selling to athletes. The point is: Express your creativity using the prospect research you’ve done. Test ideas. But don’t impose your interests on the visitors.
A simple and classy user experience works best for most websites. Also, make navigation easy and don’t hide important information like your working hours, geographical area, contacts, products, delivery information, return policies, and frequently asked questions (FAQs).
Fast websites also earn fat checks.
You have 15 seconds to hook your visitor’s attention and convert them to a sale, a reader, or a lead. Therefore, compress the media you post and create a minimalistic look on the pages. Also, create persuasive headlines, meta descriptions, and easy-to-read content.
Canabis marketing experts also recommend the following cannabis marketing tips:
- Ensure your website is safe and crawlable.
- Add persuasive Call to Action (CTA) buttons.
- Work on your schema markup and indexation.
- Include a unique website logo and colors for your cannabis marketing plan.
Use the Power of Brand Stories
Brand stories sell best. Look at Apple, Nike, or Airbnb. They sell because of the same story they’ve told over the decades. And so can you.
Don’t fret. This story doesn’t have to be grand. Tell any story. The story you think is boring to you. Humble beginnings or why you started your business—the problem you wanted to solve for one person make the best stories.
You don’t know how many people will relate to your tale, invest their time, energy, or money in your company, and become loyal customers. And you would regret not taking a chance.
Brand stories and a good CBD website design team create new profitable opportunities.
Combine the two art forms to form new products you can sell to your customer base, thus strengthening your bond and increasing your brand’s popularity. You would also profit from one of the most coveted dispensary marketing ideas—word of mouth.
Also, reinforce your dispensary marketing message with a corresponding logo which you can then post on strategic places on your website, business cards, or dispensary front. You want your customers to recognize you from afar and associate good feelings with your brand.
Create viral effects. For example, you can give free items with each product sale. The gifts you give don’t have to be big or expensive. Lighters work well, also decorations or key chains. You’ll be fostering long-term relationships with existing customers while prospecting new ones.
Selling or giving away free merchandise also helps reduce people’s stigma on cannabis. And over a long period, this creates more business opportunities for you. People who want to try out the products will consider you first.
Enhance your cannabis marketing plan by being part of the legalization movement.
Use Cannabis Ad Networks
Social media platforms are not the only place to market your products. Some websites allow you to post CBD ads for your business without encountering trouble with restrictive media laws. Undoubtedly, you’ll have to pay for the services, but you’ll benefit from a new audience.
Those online networks include Google My Business, Leafly, Traffic roots, Weedmaps, RevOffers, etc. Give your dispensary marketing strategies a boost.
Choose your partner wisely because you don’t want to associate your dispensary marketing plan with a questionable company. For instance, you can analyze reviews for performance metrics, cost, and services provided.
CBD marketing strategists also recommend you collaborate with companies related to your business. This way, you can create products that customers love and benefit from. And you can then promote each other. An excellent example is writing guest posts for each other’s websites.
Connect with the Right People
Influencers, journalists, and celebrities have one thing you don’t have: audience trust and loyalty. These people have earned their top status through their work or entertainment. And you can tap into this power. Reach out and make a reasonable offer.
However, think about this decision carefully. An influencer’s values, audience type, age, and location matter.
Relevancy also matters. For example, you can’t use professional athletes to endorse THC-infused products because they would get banned from their sport.
Invest in Cannabis SEO Experts
CBD marketing reports say that content optimization with seo boosts a website’s conversion rate by over 6 times. Yes, you read that statement right. And the best part is that this strategy is more cost-effective, saving you 62% lesser than if you used paid advertisements (PPCs).
Picture how fast you would scale your business.
These dispensary marketing ideas pay, but no one said they’ll be easy. You’ll have to write good content, research the top-performing CBD keywords, and post your content frequently so that Google’s algorithm can favor you. Think of cannabis seo as a long-term investment.
Seo cannabis marketing strategies help you build your authority, boost brand awareness and cultivate relationships with current customers and prospects. And posting blogs, sending weekly newsletters, and giving away free e-books are some methods that work.
Hook your visitors by knowing their awareness stage and creating content that persuades them further into the sale. Lead with value, and you’ll have a strong base of operations. Always give more than you take.
Other SEO strategies involve creating relevant internal, external, and backlinks. Ensure that all those links are high-quality and from trustworthy websites. You don’t want Google to ban you for linking to a second-rate domain.
Professionals also recommend using a mix of long-tail and short-tail keywords relevant to your niche. Relevancy matters in helping the search engine display your website to the right people. People who already want to buy cannabis products.
The traffic you’ll get is warm, high-quality, and organic, meaning conversion will be easier than the cold approach.
Mention the keywords in the appropriate number while ensuring the content doesn’t make any medical claims. Also, provide the same quality of the products you market. Trust is vital.
Connect that dispensary marketing strategy with…
Social Media Marketing
Social media engagement stimulates your seo strategy and ignites more traffic to your website. However, that fact isn’t a license to post anything on the platforms. Remember that there are rules to posting content with prohibited substances. Losing your account could be tragic.
So, how can you resolve that problem? You create educational posts in the form of videos, photos, reels, etc. Take care not to sell any products or display consumption.
Instead, stimulate the curiosity of your readers—prompting them to click on your site, where they read the full article, and you can then sell to them through your copy. And by posting this valuable content, you increase the chances of prospects buying from your brand by 131%.
How awesome is that?
Social media cannabis marketing strategies don’t need brand-new content. Re-use the content you create for your blog. Put it in exciting pictures. And write persuasive copy in the caption. Add relevant hashtags (up to 30) and enjoy free cannabis dispensary marketing.
You have no excuse.
Follow Up on New Customers
Selling one item to a customer creates the chance to sell more products. In medical marijuana marketing terms, people call that phenomenon: upselling. Following up with a lead or client through e-mail after they buy from your company can lead to more profits. Don’t miss out.
Alternatively, you can use push notifications. Give special discounts, free delivery, or offers on bundled products; you can include a time limit, and you’ll make more sales. This feature also allows you to tease new products or remind customers to revisit you.
Personalize the notifications or e-mails by using people’s first names so that you can seem human.
Use Billboards
Billboards are an easy and fast way to increase your dispensary’s visibility. Create intriguing visuals accompanying your ad copy. But remember the rules of this pot marketing strategy.
For example, don’t display the product or its use, post it 1000 feet away from schools, and refrain from making medical claims.
Foster and Reward Customer Loyalty
Do you want repeat customers? Of course, you do. No one would refuse to profit from customers without spending an advertising budget.
Promote customer loyalty using referral programs and loyalty programs. It’s hard for people to resist saving money on discounts or getting free products. You get to show your customers that you appreciate them, reducing the chances of your competitor stealing them.
Of course, these people have to earn the products you’re giving away so that they can value you.
So, for example, in the loyalty program, you can add points to a customer’s account each time they buy an item. They can then redeem those points for one of the products in your store.
Another way includes giving away free or discounted products for each person a customer brings to your dispensary.
That strategy then leads us to the following medical marijuana marketing strategy…
Post Customer Reviews
Reviews are social proof for your business. People will convince themselves to buy from you based on other people’s experiences. And that’s why making quality products, creating the best content, and providing interactive customer service work wonders.
However, there are some factors you can’t control. You might have the best product and provide a good user experience but still get negative reviews. Take note of that customer, handle them professionally, and display your empathy and care through a good reply.
Harness the power of storytelling to convince people of the quality of your products. Case studies provide that effect. Create survey questions collecting information on how you helped one of your customers. Then create a compelling story.
Create an App
Apps help you stand out because most people shop online using mobile phones. Similarly, you can create this platform for your business, making it easier for customers to order products. Apps also give you the freedom to test cannabis dispensary marketing push notifications.
Convince prospects to install the app by offering exclusive discounts. Or you can provide free delivery after a customer orders from your app. Make the app easy to use, fast, and smooth, and clearly display prices and product descriptions.
Create and Go to Cannabis Events
The phrase that says that first impressions matter is not a cliche.
And nothing substitutes real human connection. You want to implement both of these features for your business. Why? Because many customers say that they are more likely to buy from a dispensary after attending an expo.
Create compelling spectacles so people can talk about your company and boost your exposure to new clients. Have fun themes surrounding the event, or teach people things. Anything different and noteworthy will work for your dispensary marketing strategy.
Conclusion
There you have it: how to promote medical marijuana. A dispensary marketing plan involves many regulations you should adhere to so you don’t lose your business. And the best plans work to ignite and skyrocket your sales from an organic and loyal audience.
Strategies for marijuana marketing include cannabis seo, creating apps, and social media marketing. You can also organize weed marketing strategy events, invest in a quality customer experience, and utilize ad networks.
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