What’s your approach to corporate social responsibility (CSR)? Surely you have one, right?

If not, it’s time you did. It’s essential to your cannabis marketing efforts.

Cannabis CSR is especially important right now during this COVID crisis. (No, it’s not over – even if your favorite restaurant has opened again.)

We’ll take a look at different CSR efforts and why they matter even more right now.

What Exactly Is CSR?

In a nutshell, CSR is the humane and, frankly, common-sense idea that businesses should act responsibly toward customers and employees, conduct ethical operations, and serve as a positive force in the community. Imagine that.

To fine tune the concept further, cannabis companies, government agencies, and lawyers from around the world came together to settle on four principles to guide CSR in the cannabis industry:

  • responsibility
  • collaboration
  • transparency
  • continuous improvement

They touched upon ethical business practices, promoting responsible product use, and minimizing greenhouse gas emission. You know. Pretty much everything that money-hungry corporate entities don’t value.

What Your Cannabis CSR Efforts Might Look Like

CSR covers a lot of different areas, so you need to give some serious thought to the principles you deem most important. There are many facets to your business. Which will enable your company to perform well financially while still operating in a socially and environmentally responsible framework? You should also ask your employees what is most important to them.

It is of particular importance that businesses that are able to give back during the pandemic do just that. This could entail providing hazard pay to those who make deliveries or even offering free delivery. The best way to improve CSR is to keep it people-centered and mission-focused.

Your CSR policy doesn’t need to be a big and sweeping reform. You may start by focusing on employee wellness or providing something for the community, for example. Start small. Then measure and evaluate the success and impact of your strategies; increasing support when viable.

It’s best to focus on the areas you know you can positively impact. Furthermore, it’s perfectly fine to reveal and promote any charitable work and/or responsible business practices in which you partake. Consumers want that information and will shop based on it. Just don’t be obnoxious about it.

When done effectively, CSR doesn’t have to cost a lot and could actually save you money in the long-run.

Giving Back to the Community Is Key

When U.S. leaders agreed that cannabis should be regarded as essential during the pandemic, it was a red-letter day. Can you imagine this happening ten years ago? Or five years ago?

A lot of marijuana and CBD-based businesses didn’t take this for granted. They saw it as an opportunity to continue helping out the communities where they operate. Some poked around their greenhouses for protective gear, others made hand sanitizer.

There were even those who were ready to outfit their facility should there be a need to house COVID patients if the hospitals hit capacity.

And it wasn’t just lip service. These companies placed a premium on CSR long before the word corona was associated with anything but beer. So if you have not yet done the same with your cannabis business, now is the time.

Don’t let it get away.

Are You Getting the Most from Your Marketing?

The stresses and challenges that have resulted from the current pandemic provide the ideal chance to demonstrate your cannabis CSR efforts.

So if your current marketing and public relations strategies aren’t getting you the attention and the press you deserve for those efforts, contact us today.

And you’ll be one big step closer in standing in the spotlight while assisting your community to thrive right now.

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