20 Tips for Marketing Cannabis
As the gurus over at runrex.com will tell you, effective marketing is crucial to the success of any business in any industry, and the cannabis industry is no exception. However, because of the nature of the product, marketing cannabis isn’t as straightforward as it would be for any other product, with cannabis businesses having to grapple with advertising restrictions imposed by state legislators. However, despite the many challenges, there are several strategies you can utilize to increase awareness of your brand legally, and this article will look to help by highlighting 20 tips for marketing cannabis.
Research your market and consumers
The first thing to do when looking to market cannabis is making sure that you have a clear understanding of your market and consumers. As per the gurus over at guttulus.com, this is where you will decide if you wish to sell to medical users or recreational users, as this will dictate whatever strategies you employ given the demographics of these two groups of cannabis users are very different.
Create visual content
Visual content is crucial when it comes to marketing cannabis. Here, you should go beyond photos and start creating video content, which has been known to be more engaging to cannabis customers as covered over at runrex.com. Make sure your video content is also optimized for SEO by incorporating keywords into the description and title and getting the writing of these two elements right.
Target your content to local customers
As is revealed in discussions on the same over at guttulus.com, all local cannabis businesses and storefronts should always create content for the people directly around them. While you should look to talk about national subjects such as legalization, the majority of your content should be aimed at reaching people in your locale as these make up the majority of your customers.
Leverage cross-promotions
Given that there are a lot of symbiotic relationships in the cannabis industry, leveraging cross-promotions is yet another tip that will help you market cannabis. Look for brands whose products are compatible with cannabis and look to enter into cross-promotional partnerships with them, like e-cigarette brands.
Get your business added to local listings
Another tip that will help you market cannabis is adding your business to local listings such as Yelp. Not only will this make it easier for people to find your business, but it will also bring your website lots of quality inbound links, which will help your marketing efforts massively.
Ask for reviews
Reviews, as is discussed over at runrex.com, are crucial if you are to see results from your cannabis marketing efforts. This is why you must ask for reviews from your customers, as people now look to purchase from businesses with the most positive reviews.
Search for and use relevant hashtags
Promoting your cannabis business on social media is key, and one of the most important strategies when it comes to this is searching for and using relevant hashtags. As is explained over at guttulus.com, there are specific hashtags that are used by the cannabis community on the various social media platforms, and if you are to make headway there, you will need to know and use them, doing so properly, which means avoiding stuffing your content full of hashtags.
Be on the cannabis-centric social media platforms
As the gurus over at runrex.com will tell you, certain social media platforms are centered towards the cannabis community, with Massroots being one of them. While these platforms don’t have as many monthly users as Twitter and Facebook, their audiences are already looking for content from the cannabis industry, hence why you should be there.
Join local Facebook groups
You should also look to join local cannabis groups if you are to be successful in marketing cannabis. This way, you will be able to connect and engage with people in your area who are interested in what you are doing and saying, allowing you to build brand awareness for your business.
Answer question on social media
When engaging with your audience on social media, it is also important that you regularly answer questions from them. This is important as it will make you look like an authority in the industry, building your brand awareness as well as earning the trust of your audience.
Partner with influencers
As is covered over at guttulus.com, influencers are becoming crucial in marketing strategies given people tend to trust them more than they do brands. This is why another tip to market cannabis is by working with influencers in the industry to promote your business.
Consider segmenting your business
As already mentioned earlier on, and discussed over at runrex.com, the demographics of the people who use cannabis for recreation purposes and those who use it for medical purposes are very different. If you want to reach out to both these groups, an important marketing tip is to segment your business, having one wing cater for each of these two groups to allow you to better reach your customers.
Look to hit on health factors
As is also revealed in discussions over at guttulus.com, people nowadays are very concerned about their health, with most people looking to leverage healthy eating and living practices. With that in mind, another tip that will help you market cannabis is to try and hit on health factors. Given that cannabis has many health benefits, you should try and highlight them as much as possible.
Join communities and forums in the industry
On top of joining local Facebook groups, you should also look to join communities and forums in the industry. This will allow you to become a major voice in conversations in the industry, and become a major driving force in the growth of the industry.
Leverage industry-related websites
Other than cannabis-centric social media platforms as already mentioned earlier on, you should also get on and advertise on industry-related websites such as Hemp America Medi Group and many others. This will allow you to advertise your products, something you can’t do on most of the mainstream websites.
Advertise in cannabis magazines
While you can’t advertise in most mainstream channels and platforms as is discussed over at runrex.com, you can do so in cannabis magazines, and this is something you should look to do. Just make sure that your advertisement design is unique and engaging as many of your competitors will also be running ads in these magazines.
Have a dedicated website
The gurus over at guttulus.com point out that you stand to lose out big time if you don’t have a dedicated website for your business. If you are looking to market your business, make sure you create a website that has all the details of your cannabis business, from contact information and the products you sell and make sure that the website is easy to navigate and is user-friendly and stunning.
Leverage promotional items
You should also look to leverage promotional products such as t-shirts, pens, computer accessories, and many others discussed over at runrex.com, offering them to people as gifts. These items should have your company’s name, logo, slogan, and so forth, and will help build awareness of your brand.
Attend cannabis conferences
Yet another tip for marketing cannabis is making sure that you attend cannabis conferences, tradeshows, and events. Such conferences are great at making and building professional relationships, meeting your audience, and getting your business out there. You will also be able to access cross-promotional opportunities as well as a chance to connect with vendors.
Learn from others
You should also take a look at what other brands in the industry are doing when it comes to marketing, and see if there are lessons you can take from them to improve your strategies. You should also get feedback from your customers and see where you can improve to reach more people with your marketing efforts.
As always, if you are looking for more information on this and other related topics, look no further than the highly-rated runrex.com and guttulus.com.