3 Things You Have To Do To Connect With Cannabis Consumers in 2018
3 Ways You Can Connect with Cannabis Consumers from CannabisNet on Vimeo.
Cannabis consumers are quite like consumers of other products. They require quality, information and excellent service. What do marijuana consumers want and how can you meet their need?
Cannabis store owners and entrepreneurs need to understand the market and their customers well in order to seamlessly connect with them. It is interesting to note that retailstores account for 90% ofstores expenditure. This also means that 70% spending by consumers happens in locations that are close to work or home locations by between 15 and 20 miles. Local consumers are estimated to spend more than $4.8 trillion of their earnings in stores.
These statistical facts communicate a fundamental fact to cannabis store owners; they cannot ignore the local markets. Marketing cannabis to an already existing community requires outstanding strategies. You require advanced tactical prowess and advanced understanding of the various benefits of cannabis to the marijuana lovers. Local marketing of the cannabis store around the neighborhood is an incredible starting point. Bearing in mind that online marketing is restrictive it would be a great idea to exploit local marketing as a perfect alternative.
This cannabis guide is specifically tailored to identify three unique strategies that cannabis stores and dispensaries can exploit in order to connect better with cannabis consumers.
- Understanding an interacting with the local community
The simplest way of connecting and knowing the people living in a community around your cannabis store is getting involved with the community. With the new era of marijuana legalization there is an increase in the number of people willing to try out marijuana products. If you are unable to take advantage of the market by putting strategies in place, you will likely lose out a lot.
To help you interact better with the community you might want to survey your environment and find out what people love to do. You also might want to know and interact with influential figures in your community. Highlighted below are some of the things a cannabis store marketer needs to do in order to interact better with the community.
- Consider sponsoring local sporting activities, clubs and teams
- Purchase the local space for ads
- Host events in your cannabis store
- Promote your business through chamber of commerce at your location
- Send customized mail promotions and announcements
- Offer a free cannabis guide to every visitor
- Pitch benefits of marijuana while executing any of the aforementioned strategies
You can also interact directly with the community through platforms such as social media, Google reviews, yelp etc. You should make an effort to know review sites preferred by your targeted customers. Encourage your regular customers to write their experience at the cannabis store in the online review platforms. When your ratings are good you have a good chance at attracting more interest from other community members. This will help you improve the online search results.
For visiting customers you might want to give them offer promotions and discounts upon check-in. By doing this will incentivize your customers and therefore motivate them to return multiple times to your cannabis store.
Cannabis business may not have picked at the moment but with marijuana legalization in a good number of States the black market is likely to suffer. People will show preference for cannabis products that have approval for quality. In a few months’ time cannabis stores that will have aligned themselves with the demands of a growing industry are likely to leap big. It all depends with how the business positions itself in the community.
- Online marketing
Businesses today have taken advantage of the growing internet connectivity and the dominance of digital marketing. Ecommerce is promising to be the future in business. The marijuana business has had to deal with very many constraints and restrictions from the federal government. Most social media platforms and search engines are unfriendly towards marijuana business. Cannabis stores must innovate creative ways of getting around the restrictions. Highlighted below is the cannabis guide for succeeding in digital cannabis marketing.
- Keyword Ranking for local consumers
Organic search engine optimization is an important criterion for succeeding in the local digital marketing process. The weed business must incorporate the common keywords used in the community during their online search of marijuana products on offer.
The cannabis storedigital management team must have a good understanding of the manner in which the online pages on search engines function. When local customers do an online search for weed dispensaries and products around them a number of local websites show up. In order to enhance the visibility of your cannabis store you must use local SEO strategies.
- A study of social media platforms
Social media has become very effective in marketing. One advantage with social media is that most potential cannabis customers are likely to be active in one of the renowned social networks. Cannabis stores have to explore social media platforms to increase the visibility of their cannabis business. Social media platforms allow for instant feedback, chatting etc. you will be able to receive feedback from many potential customers. For the purpose of succeeding you must have balance between promoting the business and being informative.
Social media platforms allow for personalized interaction. It is a perfect opportunity to win more local customers over. The online cannabis guide for your local dispensary can be made available for social media users. This will be an informational guide for potential customers willing to learn more about the products and benefits of each.
- Optimizing for mobile phone platforms
A good number of people online access online information through their mobile phones. It is therefore important to ensure that the local platform for your cannabis store has mobile phone optimization features. Make sure online content has all the necessary features such as proper text size, compatible images with proper display and a conspicuously visible call-to-action.
- Find and connect with locally influential figures
Most successful businesses like Nike, Adidas and Coca Cola have ridden on the influence famous people have for their marketing. It is important to borrow from such a strategy for local purposes. Influential people commenting on your cannabis store will have an impact of pulling an audience that values and believes their opinion. Listening and taking into account the opinion of experts and opinion leaders will help you expand the brand visibility of your marijuana business.
The initial opinion communicated to the local community concerning the cannabis store is likely to stick with them for a long time. Upon expanding exposure to social platforms your target audience is likely to trust the business more.
Marketing strategies are very central to the success of any business. A comprehensive cannabis guide that elaborates the products on offer and the benefits for each will likely attract more customers. It is also important to have a knowledgeable and friendly workforce. Their interaction with customers and sharing of fundamental information with them will is likely to leave a positive opinion to customers.
To connect with cannabis consumers you must meet their need, both physical and emotional. This requires expert marketing, quality products and a skilled workforce. These are the fundamental prerequisites for the success of your cannabis business.
Author Bio: James is a professional blogger covering latest news and other topics related to marijuana. Currently he is working for Cannabis Dispensary Los Angeles, a reliable source of marijuana news and updates. James has extensively written about medical marijuana and related products.
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