As the cannabis industry continues to grow, more and more entrepreneurs are looking to get into the dispensary business. It can be a lucrative endeavor, but it's important to remember that success doesn't happen overnight. There is a lot of competition in this industry, so you'll need to be creative and strategic when planning and executing dispensary marketing.
In this blog post, we will discuss how to market your dispensary and generate more customers.
Buyer Personas: Pin Down Your Target Audience
The first step in dispensary marketing is to identify your target audience. Are you looking to attract local patients or tourists? What age group do you want to appeal to? Is it important your audience have a sense of humor? Once you know who you're marketing to, it will be easier to create dispensary branding that resonates with them.
Most big dispensaries create a couple of personas that match their ideal customer. The personas are a representation of the two major types of customers that visit the dispensary.
For example, one persona might be "The Businessman." He's a middle-aged professional who is looking for high-quality cannabis to help him relax after a long day at work. Another persona could be "The Adventurer," who is younger and looking for new and exciting strains to try.
Any dispensary marketing efforts you try should be aimed toward one or more of your buyer personas.
Understand Your Competitors and Industry
Once you have an idea of the people you are going to be marketing to, you'll want to decide exactly how you'll get in front of their eyes. A good way to start learning how to market your dispensary is by looking at your competition and seeing what they're doing right or wrong.
Do they have a strong social media presence? Are they active in the community? Do they offer discounts or loyalty programs? Do they treat their staff well? What do they excel atl? What could they do better? Make notes about your competitors and include their websites in your SEO research.
Be Active On Social Media
It doesn’t matter how many other dispensary marketing strategies you try, social media should be one of them. Social media is one of the most powerful tools you have at your disposal and it should be used to its full potential.
If you don't have a ton of bandwidth to share on all the platforms then pick one or two that you know your target audience uses and focus on that. Try to become active daily and respond to all comments and messages in a timely manner.
You should also be sharing valuable content that your target audience will find interesting. This could be anything from blog posts to infographics to images. Just make sure it's relevant and engaging.
Start Implementing SEO
If you want your dispensary marketing to make a splash online, plan to invest in SEO. SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization, and it's the process of optimizing your website to rank higher in search engine results. If you can get your site to rank on the first page of Google for relevant keywords then you'll be getting a ton of high-quality traffic that is looking for exactly what you're offering.
The best way to start implementing SEO is by doing keyword research. This will help you find the right keywords to target that your audience is searching for.
Once you have a list of keywords, you'll want to start implementing them into your website. This includes your title tags, meta descriptions, header tags, and body content. SEO takes time to get results, but its worth it to get exactly the customers you want at your dispensary.
Customize Your Supplies
All the knowledge on how to market your dispensary won’t be any good if your customers can’t recognize your dispensary— or your product— when compared to everyone else’s.
One of the best ways to do this is to customize your cannabis cones for your brand. Custom cones mean your name, and anything else related to your branding that you include on your cone design, is going to be visible whenever your customers are enjoying a good smoke. There’s no better way to advertise than through a satisfied customer.
Custom cones and pre rolls also mean that you’re getting the word out about your product year-round, even if you don’t have a special event going on. After all, you need to market year-round, not just while everyone is celebrating 420.
Get Help with Dispensary Marketing and Branding
By learning how to market your dispensary, you can have a chance to rise above the others in a crowded market. While you could try going it alone, why stress about every aspect of your branding? The Cones Factory specializes in custom cones for dispensaries, and we’ll make the experience easy, cost-effective, and convenient for you. We know how to keep your pre roll packaging compliant, and we offer lots of customization options for pre roll cones and tubes. Don’t stress about one of the most fun and creative parts of marketing your dispensary. Contact us to get started today!