If you’re a cannabis business owner in the United States, you’re no stranger to how difficult it can be to market a product that’s still considered federally illegal.
You may spend so much time keeping up with the myriad rules and regulations that dictate how you can and can’t market cannabis that you don’t have the bandwidth for which strategies work best.
Don’t worry. We’ve got four top cannabis marketing strategies for you consider in 2023. So without further ado…
-
Understand Your Customer
If you don’t know your customer, you don’t have a business. It’s that simple. And though it may sound old school, one of the best ways to know your customer is via a customer survey. This strategy gives you insights on consumption preferences, paths to purchase, and sources of awareness.
And it’s pretty simple. You just collect contact info from someone who has recently made a purchase and reach out to them after a short time with a survey. You can ask them if they were satisfied with the product, whether they’d buy it again, and if they have any feedback they’d like to share. You may even offer an incentive for filling out the survey.
One you’re armed with this information, you can adjust your marketing strategy to reduce pain points and highlight areas where you shine. Making these changes based on your customers’ feedback is bound to pull in more repeat business.
-
Emphasize Your Credibility
With such a deluge of rules and regulations for marketing cannabis, it can be tempting to dabble with false advertising. You wouldn’t be the first cannabis business owner to do so. And unfortunately not the last. But if you dodge local regulations and lie to customers, you’re only hurting yourself.
There are still a lot of folks skittish about going down the cannabis trail. If you resort to shifty marketing tactics, you’re only going to further sully the industry.
Instead, aim to be a source of great credibility in your marketing. Be transparent about what’s in your cannabis and put an emphasis on third-party testing to ease the most resistant and reserved of consumers.
Not only will you gain trust from potential customers, but you’ll avoid the fallout from violating the FDA’s very strict guidelines for marketing cannabis. You don’t want to go there.
-
Consider Cross Promotions
Even if you live in states like California or Colorado, cannabis products are still relatively new to the legal marketplace. So one of the more innovative ways to bring attention to your product is through cross promotions.
For example, you could develop a marketing campaign that brings together fitness and cannabis to showcase the benefits of using cannabis while exercising. Or perhaps you promote cannabis as it pairs with food or drinks as part of an overall cooking package.
You could also promote specific cannabis products together as a package deal. You could offer a unified package of sleep-inducing products such as CBN mints, CBD chocolates, and THC from indica marijuana gummies.
The possibilities are endless.
-
Don’t Forget the Basics
It’s easy in this world of distraction to believe the only way to market your product is through over-the-top and/or eye-catching tactics. And yes, some of the new ways to market your product ARE effective.
But good old-fashioned strategies like SEO and email marketing still pack an advertising punch. So keep your email marketing consistent. Maintain a running collection of email addresses and perform periodic eBlasts. In addition, be sure that your website is optimized for SEO. Also, if you don’t have a blog, get one. Providing consistent well-written content with focus keywords will boost SEO too.
Get On Board with Cannabis Marketing Strategies for 2023
Once you’ve established the above cannabis marketing strategies for 2023, you’ll have a solid foundation on which to build your advertising campaigns.
And if you’re looking for additional and effective strategies from there, don’t hesitate to contact us.
We’re cannabis marketing and public relations specialists with close to a decade of experience. We’ll hook you up.