Become a Marijuana Mogul: 10 Expert Tips for Marketing Your CBD Business
By 2027, spending on legal cannabis products is expected to hit $57 billion.
As more states legalize cannabis use, the growth of the industry is set to explode. But what does that mean for owners of a CBD business?
More competition.
With the right marketing strategy, you can curtail the competition. Whether you’re just getting into the CBD business or you’re struggling to keep up, these 10 tips can help elevate your business above the rest.
Keep reading to find out how to help your CBD business experience all the growth that’s expected in the coming years.
Have a Vision
The cannabis industry is a fast-growing industry. You need to know who you’re going to serve, how you’re going to serve them better than anybody else, and how you’re going to be successful and turn a profit.
Include the following when mapping your vision:
- Where you’re getting financing (i.e. loans, investors, etc.)
- What your products are
- What services you offer (if any)
- What’s your marketing strategy and how are you going to implement it
- How are you going to measure success and failures?
- How are you going to improve upon failures?
- What are your sales forecasts?
Know the Legal Limitations of CBD Business Marketing
When it comes to your marketing strategy, you need to be aware of the legal limitations imposed by the government and government agencies like the FDA. The FDA regularly issues warning letters to companies that market CBD.
There are very few CBD products that are approved by the FDA for therapeutic treatments. If you’re promoting something as a diagnostic, cure, treatment, or prevention that’s not on that list, you’re going to get in trouble.
To cover your bases, acknowledge which products do not have FDA approval somewhere on your website.
Know Your Product Inside-Out
Make sure you know everything there is to know about CBD. And educate your staff, too. This demonstrates your commitment to, and passion for, what you’re selling.
Know the therapeutic, physical and psychological benefits of all your products. Know the difference between THC and CBD as well as all the scientific terms (cannabinoid, endocannabinoid, and so on).
Remember that a CBD business isn’t just serving recreational users. The benefits of non-psychoactive CBD products are important.
Forget Online Advertising
CBD is still illegal under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act. Online advertisers don’t want to get caught up in a legal battle with the federal government.
Your ads will likely get rejected from Google AdWords. Facebook and Instagram probably are probably going to take your ads down.
Smaller advertising online streams may allow you to advertise. But they’re less visible and they’re not a long-term solution to marketing your product.
More importantly, online advertising isn’t sustainable. Once you stop paying for ads, you’ll stop seeing the traffic on your website and in your store.
SEO Optimize Your Website
Instead of paid ads to drive traffic, use SEO on your website.
SEO means you’re optimizing your website to rank on Google. The higher you rank; the more people click on your website. The more people click, the more authority you have, and the higher you rank.
More traffic on your website means higher chances of the product being bought or the store being visited. It also builds trust and credibility with your clientele
It’s inexpensive to implement, too. Always ensure you’re putting out high-quality content. Making your site mobile-friendly helps too.
Make Your Website Mobile-Friendly
More people use mobile to find what they need than ever before. In fact, 55% of the time spent on online retail occurs on a mobile device.
Make your website responsive or adaptive (two ways of making them mobile-friendly). Mobile-friendly websites are given preference on Google. This can increase the number of people who walk into your store when they search “CBD near me” or when they’re looking for products to purchase online.
Engage Social Media
The average person spends 116 minutes a day on social media. That’s a lot of opportunities for you to promote your CBD business
The biggest part of social media you need to understand is engagement. How do you get your audience to engage with your posts and spread the word about your brand?
Know who your target audience is and post for them. Don’t make everything a sales pitch for CBD. Instead, post information that’s useful and helpful for your audience.
Provide Great Customer Service
Your customers are the best means of spreading the word about how great your product is. CBD can change people’s lives. You just need them to talk about how that happened.
A good way to get the word out is to solicit reviews. There’s nothing wrong with asking for a review from a satisfied client, and it goes a long way. 88% of people trust reviews as much as a personal recommendation.
Once you’ve got good reviews, engage with them! Reply to satisfied clients with your thanks. Propose solutions for the ones who weren’t so satisfied.
Text Message Marketing
In a way, this method capitalizes on how much people use their mobile device for retail. It offers a direct line to your customers to tell them about promotions and new products.
It’s also more discreet for your client than accessing a website while they’re among company that doesn’t approve.
All you need to do is have a sign-up list on your website or on your counter to start building your call list
Target Baby Boomers
Like we said, CBD isn’t all about the recreational users. There’s a large portion of potential clients out there that don’t want to experience any mind-altering effects from their medical CBD.
These are typically older adult in the baby boomer generation. How do you get a hold of them?
This generation is less likely to engage with social media in the way that’s helpful to you. So, go the traditional route. Post ads and information in newspapers, brochures, and other printed sources.
Baby boomers are an aging demographic that can benefit from the pain relief advantages of CBD.
Get Marketing
Marketing your CBD business depends a lot on your target audience and the product your selling. But one thing’s for sure: all businesses can benefit from more traffic on their website.
If you need help optimizing your website, contact us for more information our SEO services.
