THC Internet Marketing is a boutique digital marketing agency specializing in proven systems to dispensaries that convert web traffic into foot traffic.

How To Market Your Dispensary

Let’s face it: there are plenty of people that are interested in getting into the marijuana business. There are plenty who believe that the market is in its first steps, appreciate the profit margins, or simply believe that they have the right ideas and strategies to make their business plan work. Many who enter the marijuana business choose to open a marijuana dispensary.

Even though you may have opened a dispensary, this doesn’t mean that you will suddenly be bringing in a tremendous amount of dollars. How much research did you do? Where is your dispensary located? What is your logo like? There are so many aspects to a successful business that some entrepreneurs might not think about, and you will have to utilize this information to learn exactly how to market your dispensary.

When you walk into your dispensary, does someone greet you? While you might not need someone to greet you, is it clear where exactly to “go”? It might be frustrating to walk into a dispensary, only to have no clear signage or directions about where to go to find the products that you need.

There are all sorts of ways of content marketing out there, and the right methods can lead to real profit.

Turning Marijuana Mainstream

It is certainly hard to deny that there is an incredible demand for marijuana all around the world. There are scientists that are attempting to research it, and there are also areas of the world that are treating marijuana as a recreational drug. It has certainly led to a substantial amount of revenue, and Colorado has already raked in billions of dollars as a result.

However, there is a tremendous amount of marketing involved these days with respect to dispensaries and marijuana-related companies. It doesn’t matter if you are making edibles, CBD gummies, or other THC or CBD-related products; there are already so many brands for the consumer to choose. This is why it might be smart to invest in spending some money with a cannabis marketing platform to be sure that your demographic is aware that your company and brand exists.

Many individuals who aren’t too familiar with marijuana might be surprised to find that there are world cups related to cannabis, and that there are many consumers out there that are focused on paying top dollar for the best marijuana possible. Many companies who were not looking at the cannabis sector have thought twice after realizing that Big Tobacco is actually investing large amounts of money into the space. One specific example is the fact that Altria paid 1.8 billion for a 45% stake in Cronos, a marijuana company.

That trend certainly seems to have shifted since then, as Obama admitted that he did inhale in 2006. The FBI even famously struggled to find hackers to work with because of their rules against the drug in recent years, as well. The FBI has claimed to have a rule where they do not hire anyone who has consumed marijuana in the past three years.

There are many marijuana companies that are looking to cash in on legalization, and are resorting to everything from hiring influencers to working with a cannabis marketing platform to make sure that they are as successful as possible. There is still an incredible amount of potential in the sector given the fact that many states might legalize marijuana in the near future, as well.

The strategy should also be specifically tweaked to suit the exact products being sold along with any other service that might be offered by the company. Dispensaries selling cannabis should first identify their target audience. Assessing the target audience shall help in defining the scope of outreach. Exposure is the key for any type of online marketing. This exposure is not guaranteed. Any marketer can come up with contents for a business and publish them online. Most marketers will be able to get the contents published across mediums, not just on blogs and relevant third party sites. Producing and publishing the content is not sufficient for exposure. One has to ensure that the target audience comes across the content. Only then will the official website generate redirected traffic. This traction is possible when marketers come up with a specific strategy for a particular dispensary after studying how its target audience operates online.

Research and analytics are the two bedrocks of an effective marketing strategy for cannabis dispensaries. The target audience does frequent certain sites. These popular sites should be identified. One must try and capitalize on the outreach and influence of such sites. These could be blogs, forums or information websites. The entire target audience may not take the same route to search for cannabis. Some people simply use search engines. Some people look for links from reliable profiles they follow or interact with on blogs. There are virtual communities where the target audience shares their experiences. These avenues must be explored and understood to devise an effective marketing technique. Such a technique is one of the tactics in the larger strategy.

Discounts, promotional offers, freebies or samples and other kinds of lucrative propositions for the target audience can always generate traction. But the purpose of any online marketing strategy is not solely to generate traffic or influence sales among the people who already know about the company and what it has to offer. The purpose includes introducing the brand to new customers. That is what leads to a net gain.

Dispensary Marketing Ideas

There is a lot of money to be made in the marijuana sector. The demand is huge, and there are all sorts of different types of marijuana that recreational smokers want to smoke. The beauty of the marijuana industry is that millions of adults all around the world already smoke marijuana. In fact, many of them are excited to purchase legal marijuana, and they might be traveling from an area of the world where it isn’t legal. However, it does take a lot for a marijuana dispensary to stand out.

That’s why you should be ready with dispensary marketing ideas to make sure that your business can stand out. One important thing to keep in mind is that you must invest in your business. It sends a terrible message to your customers if you cannot even keep up with repairs, signage, or general maintenance. What does the interior of your dispensary look like, and is it easy to navigate? Does your dispensary seem welcoming when you walk in?

You should brainstorm about some ideas with your business partners when it comes to marketing ideas. If you don’t have business partners, you might want to consider consulting with a marketing firm of some kind. One great way to find out which way to go in terms of marketing is to give your customers surveys. Your loyal customers can be honest about feedback and what needs to change, and can determine whether they would rather see some marketing ideas implemented digitally and/or locally.

You may decide to partner up with a charity of some kind as one of your dispensary marketing ideas, and that can work well since marijuana does have medicinal use. There are also sales that you can have that you can advertise. It’s easy to see how a large sign declaring that all of your products are 20% off can definitely help with some overall local exposure.

How is your website? You should invest in a website that is modern and sleek. You don’t want to have your customers thinking that your company is outdated at all. Does the website provide the right information? For example, you might have a lot of information on your website without stating what hours you are open. A potential customer might stop by your dispensary after their work shift only to find that your business is closed.

Dispensary Advertising

It isn’t easy to open a business. There are many people that might wish that they owned their own business, but probably couldn’t handle the fact that it requires a tremendous amount of time and energy. There are countless workers that have to work a certain amount of hours per week, but an entrepreneur should constantly be thinking about ways that more consumers can know about their business and potentially purchase goods and/or services from that business.

Marijuana is certainly a trendy sector. However, this does not mean that everyone that is opening a dispensary is getting rich. There is a lot that factors into whether a dispensary will be successful or not. Who is involved? Do they have credibility within the marijuana sector, and are they well-connected? Did they choose the right location? Lastly, there are many cases where dispensary advertising is an issue. The dispensary might be open, the employees might be knowledgeable, but there just aren’t enough customers that know about the business for it to survive.

One advantage to offering sales and coupons is that you give the customer some incentive to choose your business. In fact, they may even switch dispensaries because the coupon makes your dispensary more affordable, and this might lead to more customers going out of the way to find your business.

Of course, your dispensary should also make sure to stay active on social media. We all know that social media can play a big role in helping businesses, and engaging with customers can certainly help to increase customer loyalty.