A Guide To Do Cannabis Marketing. How to Push your GrowShop, Head Shop or CBD Shop.

Written by

Xiong Attwool

Data Strategist at Simply Green

Amsterdam

13/05/2022

The CBD industry is experiencing an uptick in demand and consumption. A study estimates the Europe cannabis market is expected to reach $36 million by 2027. With a strong consumer demand, from medical to recreational adult use, the CBD market could grow a 29.6% within the same period.

As the industry shifts to a meteoric climb, CBD retailers are battling for pole position. All shops want to capture the attention of their public as quickly and efficiently as possible. For new players that are trying to penetrate the CBD market, it’s time to revamp marketing strategies. But this needs to be done right to beat or match the competition and stay out of trouble with the regulatory bodies.

That said, here are the DOs and DON’Ts of cannabis marketing for retailers.

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The DOs of Cannabis Marketing

Marketing can be pretty daunting and complicated when it comes to the Cannabis industry. Here is what you need to do to penetrate the marketplace and reach the proper consumers.

1. Have a Solid Marketing Plan

Any CBD shop that is looking forward to cementing its presence in the market should have a solid end-to-end marketing plan geared towards promoting repeat purchases. In that case, your plan should encompass how you intend to reach the target audiences, engage them, and eventually retain loyal customers for a relatively long period.

It will help if you explore all marketing channels that map your brand message to the right target audience. While most optimum strategies work for a majority of CBD shops, don’t blindly follow what your competitor is doing. Instead, find a unique and original touchpoint in your business and focus on that.

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2. Familiarize with the Legal Landscape

The CBD sector is one of the most regulated industries in the world. The laws applicable to marketing and sales are dynamic, particularly when it comes to brand/product connections with consumers on social media. A slight change in these laws means that your marketing strategies on social media need to change too. The last thing that you want to do is infringe these regulations, as your business can shut down indefinitely.

To ensure that you don’t fall behind in these regulations, it will help if you subscribe to cannabis legal newsletters. You also need to follow the politics of your region closely because most states pass these laws through elections and referendums. Alternatively, get a compliance officer to optimize your cannabis marketing strategies such that they are within the applicable laws.

3. Get Quality Leads

Any marketing strategy goal, industry notwithstanding, is to capture and maintain quality leads. Although there are various strategies for capturing leads, some ways work better than others when it comes to funneling leads to buying customers.

For instance, content marketing has better conversion rates up to six times higher as opposed to other strategies. Moreover, it costs 62% less than traditional advertising. These statistics suggest that you shouldn’t downplay content marketing. Ways of reaching and targeting your customers through content marketing include blogging, social media posting, and video posting.

The DON’Ts of Cannabis Marketing

Now that you already know what is acceptable and should be done in cannabis marketing, here is what you should avoid at all costs.

1. Don’t Lie About Your Products

Although this seems quite obvious, some unscrupulous players go to the extent of lying about the quality or potential benefits of their products to win more customers. While this might give you irrelevant traffic, the strategy will eventually crumble because it doesn’t add any value to the target audience. Moreover, hiding behind pseudoscience only hurts your brand and image. Whatever you do to win customers, never lie!

2. Don’t Wander into Restricted Marketing Channels

Technically, CBD products remain regulated substances in most countries of Europe. For this reason, not all marketing channels will be ready to convey your cannabis brand message. For instance, Facebook prohibits marketing CBD products on its platform. Users might also be blocked from searching and browsing cannabis-related content. In that case, always consider your marketing channel options tactically before rolling out campaigns. But you can always create organic content on those platforms, here the key point is how to catch the attention of the people and how to be shared.

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3. Don’t Follow the Crowd Blindly

As noted earlier, one strategy succeeding in one company doesn’t necessarily mean that it will be effective in yours. As the competition tightens up in the industry, it will help if you redefine your products and cannabis marketing strategies to stand out from the fray. For instance, what makes your products ideal for amateurs? How different is your customer service? The everyday consumer wants to know this and much more.

You Can Still Get Ahead of the Game

The cannabis sector is still a budding industry. Despite various challenges complicating cannabis marketing, such as regulatory compliance, channel restriction, and stigma, you can still circumvent the obstacles and get your product to loyal consumers. Have this guide in mind every time you design a marketing strategy and the rest shall fall in place.

Do you want to learn more about cannabis marketing? Have a look at our blog about the best tools to boost your marketing strategy.