The cannabis industry is booming and its growth potential and upside are higher than a kite.
But, the success of the industry also means greater competition for cannabis brands, producers, and dispensaries. So, how do you grow your brand, drive sales, and turn a profit?
Well, the good news is that setting yourself apart from the competition is relatively easy! One of the best ways to do that is to develop and employ a solid content marketing strategy!
To help you develop your marijuana marketing campaign to support your CBD brand or marijuana products, we’ve put together these guiding tips:
How to Drive eCommerce Cannabis Sales with Content Marketing
Increase Organic Traffic
One of the best ways to increase eCommerce sales for your cannabis business is to increase organic traffic. And one of the best ways to increase organic traffic is through content production.
By using relevant key phrases in your page copy and in your blog posts (more on blogs later!), you can improve your search engine rankings and increase the likelihood that your target customer base finds your cannabis website.
Focus on primary keywords, like “cannabis,” “marijuana,” “CBD,” “CBD oil,” “hemp,” whatever makes the most sense for your product or brand. This may seem like an obvious tip but you’d be surprised at how frequently web pages fail to optimize their pages and ranking opportunities.
When creating blogs, video, or photo content, do not forget to include long-tail keywords. Consider things like “best cannabis strains,” “buy cannabis online” or “organic CBD oil” to further improve search results.
Another way to generate organic traffic is through regular posting. Frequent blogging, 2-4 times a week, will keep the content fresh, satisfy the search engine algorithms, and keep visitors returning to the page for more, and new, information.
Remember, without people finding your page, it will be hard to build solid eCommerce sales numbers!
Use a Lead Magnet
In case you don’t know, a lead magnet is an incentive offered to potential customers in exchange for their email address or contact information.
The lead magnet needs to be something of value to the cannabis user. Typically, effective lead magnets are helpful ebooks or some other sort of downloadable content. Perhaps you produce some sort of video guide to cultivation (where legal status allows, of course) or an ebook detailing the “Top X Ways Cannabis Can Reduce Anxiety.”
The lead magnet does not need to be directly tied to your product. As many cannabis companies know, the buyers in your target audience turn to marijuana products or CBD oil to relieve anxiety. By offering them general tips for anxiety, you are establishing a connection and starting to build trust.
The primary goal of this content is to gather important contact information. With an email audience, you can leverage a power email marketing campaign and nurture them through the buyer journey and your sales funnel.
A lead magnet can also increase sales. If the subject is deep enough and hits the right notes with the audience, it will establish you as an authority and may encourage people to seek out your marijuana product as the solution to their problem or need.
Speaking of which:
Create an Email Campaign
Email marketing campaigns remain an effective part of any marketing strategy. In 2019, 293.6 billion emails were sent and received each day and that number is expected to grow to 347.3 billion by 2022. With the number of daily email users expected to reach 4.3 billion by 2023, neglecting to implement email marketing will cut you off from massive lead potentials.
Create an email newsletter to stay in contact with customers, website visitors and other leads. Keep them informed of your cannabis company’s products and promotions, and provide them with interesting and relevant blog news.
Email marketing allows you to speak directly to a group of people that are warm to your cannabis brand. A well-developed and thought-out email strategy will help you to control the narrative by sharing your brand’s story and persona with people in your own words.
Segment your mailing list and create specific landing pages for each segment. After all, your product may appeal to different audiences and for varying reasons. If you can provide these audience segments with what they are looking for, you’ll see great clickthrough rates (CTRs) and improved sales conversions.
Educate the Consumer
Because cannabis is a restricted industry, one of the most important avenues to explore is consumer education.
Cannabis products exist in a legal grey area in the United States. It is legal for recreational use, medicinal use, or both in many states but it remains a Schedule I illegal substance at the federal level. This means national paid marketing campaigns are impossible and local SEO or state-specific marketing are the only options. Even in Canada, where recreational use is allowed nationwide, there are tight restrictions on the marketing and promotion of cannabis products and brands.
What’s more, you are not allowed to make unfounded health claims about cannabis or CBD. The research is widespread and ongoing. Each day it seems a new study returns some sort of positive indication but until there are more longitudinal studies or concrete evidence backed up by the medical community and accepted by the overseeing governmental bodies, health-related statements are out of bounds.
With all of these obstacles in place, providing fact-based, educational, and engaging content is the way to grow your audience and increase your eCommerce cannabis sales.
For example, create a series of posts about each of the primary known cannabinoids (i.e., THC, CBD, CBC, CBN, CBG, THCA, etc) and their behavior in the body. Talk about terpenes and what they mean for the flavor profile.
As legalization spreads through North America, there will be more and more people that are new to cannabis and are curious about giving it a try. By providing valuable content for new and experienced users, you can grow your brand awareness and authority and potentially increase sales.
Writing blog content that speaks to the concerns people may have can improve your organic search results and increase traffic to your page. Think about your audience persona and their specific concerns. Consider topics like:
- Can I get on a plane with CBD oil?
- Will CBD make me fail a drug test?
- How long does it take cannabis to leave the body?
- Will CBD oil make me high?
If you can provide the answers to these questions, you will become a trusted resource and a trusted purchase point.
Reach Out to Cannabis-Friendly Platforms
Due to the complicated legal status of cannabis, most social media platforms restrict cannabis marketing. Facebook is quite strict whereas Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn provide a little more leeway.
But, if you are looking to stay out of hot water and don’t want your various social media profiles banned, concentrate your efforts on cannabis-friendly social media platforms.
Consider guest posts or paid advertisements on cannabis websites like Leafly, High Times, and Weedmaps. There are lots of digital marijuana resources out there that can help you draw some attention.
Another interesting avenue to explore is advertising on podcasts. Podcasts are an increasingly popular platform, and marijuana culture and lifestyle podcasts may help you to reach a wider audience.
Consider Influencer Marketing
Reaching out to influencers is one way to promote your product on social media without running into advertising restrictions.
Find popular people in the cannabis space and ask them to review your product. Instagram and YouTube are remarkably effective platforms for this type of marketing.
Spend some time exploring your options. Follow influencer profiles and consider not just what they are posting, but who their primary audience is.
For example, if you’re selling a full spectrum CBD product to promote calmness and relaxation, or your target is the busy mother or overworked professional, you aren’t necessarily going to want to reach out to someone who adopts and appeals to the typical ‘stoner’ persona.
This, of course, is not a hard and fast rule but you will be more effective in your efforts if you focus on who it is you want to see your product. Find an influencer who speaks to the audience segment that your brand is looking to target.
Growing a cannabis brand or business takes focus and dedication. We get it.
To provide the best quality product, you need to spend time and resources in that direction. This means that you may not have the time to figure out what to blog, when to post, or how to reach your target audience. Outsourcing content creation and content marketing strategy can allow you to focus on your business while driving sales and increasing brand authority.
The cannabis community is rapidly growing and the competition is fierce. Do not let your brand come up short by neglecting your content creation and strategy. Reach out to us today to learn more about what we can do to support both your brand growth and your eCommerce sales!
