There is much more to the cannabis user right now than 5 to 6 years ago. Selling products to them needs careful consideration, and having a deep understanding of them is helpful for cannabis businesses.
Each consumer has a different purpose for using cannabis. If some take cannabis for recreational purposes, some others take it for medicinal purposes and many others are first-time consumers. Whether the customers come back to the cannabis dispensary to buy cannabis will depend on the type of the consumer. Here are the cannabis buyer groups that will surely dominate the cannabis market in the future:
Medicinal Cannabis Consumers
This type of cannabis consumers will increase, considering the fact that more and more countries are legalizing marijuana for medical purposes. It includes patients who are suffering from a disease that is very painful like cancer, arthritis, etc. They seek relief from their unbearable pains through quality cannabis consumption. They consume cannabis more as prescribed by the health professionals than for recreational purposes.
Stoners
This type of cannabis consumers consists of people who use marijuana for recreational purposes. They are known as the ‘backbone of cannabis industry’ as the stoners are considered as the consistent customers for the cannabis market.
People in this particular group are teenagers in middle or high school who are bored with their lives and have a lot of time to kill. The challenges that they face in their adolescent life adds to the list of reasons why they consume cannabis. That’s why the stoners end up bearing stigma that surrounds cannabis users and the stigma that they are dirty. Nevertheless, they are the devotees of cannabis products. Stoners are also the ones who bring in the ‘newbies’ to the cannabis market.
People with Creative Mind
Many people consume cannabis to unlock unique ideas hidden deep inside them. The highs they experience by cannabis consumption helps them overcome their creativity block and come up with the new ideas. Sativa strains are popular among these people. Many artists have reported that they get unique ideas after cannabis consumption.
Connoisseurs
This group includes people who are passionate about cannabis. Connoisseurs generally don’t stick to one particular type or brand. These cannabis buyers always try different types. Many of them don’t mind to put in all they have to try strains they haven’t tried yet. Connoisseurs know all the ins and outs of the cannabis.
Parents
Being a cannabis consuming parent is becoming less and less stigmatic with the rise in cannabis awareness and use of cannabis consumption. Though they are always in active state, the rise in the popularity of medical marijuana, they are coming out of their hiding.
Millennials
This type of group includes cannabis consumers who born between 1980’s and early 2000’s. They have seen a revolution in the way of cannabis consumption – right from smoking weed to vapes. The rise in technology and impact of social networks have played a significant role in the shaping of the Millennials. They have lived through the different stages of cannabis evolution right from the phase of smoking to the age of edibles and concentrates. They have been constantly adapting themselves to the advance technology. Millennials are most likely to be influenced by social media advertisements than any other groups.
Newbies
There are enthusiastic people who always want to try new things and look forward to try cannabis just to experience what it feels like. These cannabis consumers may begin to try by themselves or may be influenced by the other groups. They are more likely to become regular customers of the cannabis, thus contributing to the growth of the cannabis market.
With the increasing legalization of marijuana, there is an increasing revival of the cannabis these days. Just like any other business, the cannabis industry has to consider marketing techniques. And the businesses should plan strategies in such a way that they reach the target audeince and influence the cannabis buyers. To determine this, you need to consider different types of cannabis users.
Many businesses in different industries rely on digital marketing to increase brand awareness and target potential clients. Unfortunately, cannabis businesses face many marketing restrictions that may take a while to resolve based on the federal rules. However, that does not leave cannabis businesses hopeless. There are still many legal and productive ways for cannabis businesses to promote their businesses online. Here are some of the best digital marketing solutions for cannabis businesses:
Effective Social Media Marketing
While cannabis brands cannot use paid advertisements on social media platforms, they can still take benefit of organic social media advertising. It is essential to choose the social media platforms that will help reach your target market, meaning you will likely want to pay attention to your social media accounts. Try to build an organic reach by posting consistently. Make use of location tagging and hashtags that include some popular, trending, branded, and niche hashtags. Share content that’s visually appealing, interesting, and informative for your target audience.
Quality User-Generated Content
Your social media marketing strategy should include user-generated content, images, pictures, and text created by those who use your products. Recent studies show that people prefer user-generated content on social platforms specifically. They enjoy user-generated content because they find it helpful to see the business’s products from a peers’ perspective. People consider user-generated content more reliable and authentic than branded content.
Influencer Marketing
Influencers are another important part of social media marketing that can be very helpful for cannabis businesses. Make sure that any potential influencers comply with the regulations surrounding cannabis marketing, meaning they are of legal age and in a state that allows it. Concentrate on the relevance of the influencer rather than the size. The best influencers for your business are ones who already engage with your target market and match your unique brand image.
There are different ways to get professional influencers. You can search for and reach out to relevant influencers, proposing a collaboration. Search through hashtags and see if any potential candidates already interact with your content. Also, you can share posts that you are looking for influencers. Share on your social media platform asking anyone interested to contact you, add a page for influencers to apply on your cannabis website, and promote the information in your dispensary as well.
Search Engine Optimization
The higher your page ranks for relevant search results, the more potential customers you can reach. SEO is a proven method of techniques for optimizing your website that can help you rank high in the SERPs and gain organic traffic.
Unless you have experienced SEO professional in your team, you may need to outsource your SEO services. SEO marketing is important for ranking well in Google’s organic search. You will need to optimize your website for cannabis-related keywords as well as location keywords. Whether you perform SEO yourself or hire a professional, it should include: relevant keyword research, competitor analysis, content creation, meta tags, product images, website architecture and mobile optimization.
Content Marketing
Content writing is a part of SEO and can help your website rank higher in the SERPs, but it is also its strategy. Create unique content to provide value to your present and potential customers. You should have a blog on your website with content, but you can also repurpose the content for social media posts, email newsletters, and more. Your content strategy should include other mediums, like engaging video creation.
Content marketing is about posting engaging and useful content that your target audience will like and share on their own. Through effective content marketing strategy, you will improve brand awareness and industry authority, so that those customers who read your informative content will be more likely to purchase from you. While you can mention your products or feature them in your content, the purpose of your content should provide value to your customers, not to simply promote your cannabis products.
Video Content Creation
Video is an attractive form of your content marketing that can be useful for cannabis businesses. Video marketing is highly effective because it grabs the attention of people more than text or images. Markets see such an effective ROI from video content that 99% of them will continue to use it next year. Also, 95% consider to increase or maintain their current spending on video marketing.
While it will take time and resources to create high-quality videos, it will be worth it for your cannabis business. You can add video into your overall digital marketing strategy in different ways. Share it via social media stories or posts. Make engaging YouTube videos and embed them into your cannabis website content or share them on different social media platforms.
Businesses in the cannabis industry certainly face many challenges when it comes to traditional marketing. There are many strict rules and restrictions on cannabis marketing, but cannabis businesses can still legally promote themselves using the strategies above. Practicing effective SEO strategies will ensure that you are seen as a trusted leader in the cannabis industry and will enable online visitors to find your website based on what they are searching online.
Hiring cannabis marketing professionals to help is the perfect way to ensure your money and time are well spent. Additionally, you need not worried about breaking the dispensary advertising rules.
Final thoughts
For cannabis businesses, marketing their cannabis brands can be difficult. You want to choose the most effective marketing strategies and implement a marketing strategy that will build solid brand awareness and drive traffic. At Power Funnels, we use powerful SEO tactics to meet your unique challenges. Optimize your cannabis marketing techniques with us and update yourself with what’s trending in the cannabis industry. Our highly trained professionals can help grow your cannabis brand, improve sales, and set your cannabis brand apart from the competition. Contact us today to know more about our cannabis marketing techniques.
