Are you starting a new cannabis business in 2020? Here are some things to think about, to stretch your marketing dollar. Like most new business owners your budget might be limited. It’s important to get the best bang for your buck.
In the past many business owners used traditional methods such as print, radio, TV, and mass mailing. Do those items still work? Well not like they used to. That’s why it’s so important for you to make the best choice so that you can get clients.
It’s super important for you to have a website, that’s the fist step of marketing 101! If you don’t when people and yes 90% of our population uses google as a method for finding information. Things to think about specific to our Cannabis industry. Here are the most important things to have on your website!
Clean front page, that allows your visitors to find things easily. We love using buttons and showing images (not too many, slows down the site) An amazing marketing tag line that excites them to visit you. Video helps so much, something like” Hi, Welcome to Thibault CBD, we feel that cannabis can aid you in many health areas, but the products that it produces, fuel, building material, power, and plastics could really have an amazing affect on our environment. We love our clients, please give us a call.” You don’t have to be a model, actually it’s better if it’s someone the client might come in contact with. If you’re retail, having a map on the home page is super helpful. Make sure to have quick buttons for contacting too.
About page is very important, some people what to learn about you, your business, and goals for them. Especially people who are a little learey of our wonderful plant friend. Sadly, the news and media in the past has given us a bad name. This is a great page to dress up with some happy smiling founder image!
Our team, or our founder, depending on how you’re setup it’s a great idea to have this page. Clients want to learn about you and the people who support you. If you have any pets in the shop or things that are fun for you to do. We’re not in a super stuffy industry so have some fun. Use our Our Team page for inspiration. Most of us are small family business, and you know what that sells! People like to feel comfortable, like my friends at American Shaman in Essex VT. You go into the shop, they have super comfy chairs and a sofa. Maryann is so amazing, she has the cutest puppy! Having the puppy or in our case the cats and birds on the site could make it fun. Now if you’re a lawyer or accountant that might be a different message. It really depends on your area. We consult our clients on the way to go about it depending on your market!
Client reviews are huge too, now I’m a huge fan of getting them off the site to put the on the site! We are still starting up our brand, at this time we have 5 clients. So we don’t have as much feedback as we would like. But this time next year we will have more and will ask our clients to share positive feedback in places like Google, Facebook, and Yelp. If you can get YouTube video testimonials that would be great too!
Okay this one is huge, and most people aren’t even aware of it. Put a photo of your business on your contact page if you’re retail. Some of us get lost easily, and it’s super frustrating!
Make sure to claim your business in Google, Bing, Yelp, Yahoo, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Leafly. These are places that people can find you online and will help with traffic. I wouldn’t advise using Yelp for advertising if you’re on a tight budget, you might want to consider doing google ads. As stated above, 90% of people use google to find you!
Make sure to keep your social channels active by positing frequently in them. You can get a free hub-spot account, they will let you make 30 posts per month for free. We love social because they all have apps, and you could do it on your phone or tablet too!
Now, at this moment Facebook is being an ass and not letting business that sell cannabis advertise. Once the government makes it 100% legal (we’re close), this is a great tool. It’s so in expensive, and helps so much with Branding. In the meantime you could use your social channels to network with clients, business partners, friends, and family. They want you to be successful, so ask them to share your page, share your message, and help you connect!
Google ads, so we’re more into organic growth from a business perspective. But you could invest in google ads to drive traffic to your site. I would work with a professional, as googles goal is to make money much like your goal is!
Networking at fairs, festivals, and host events at your retail shop. These are very inexpensive ways to connect with various people. It’s not super expensive, and if you’re friendly you can really make some new friends and have a great time
Emailing is a great way to connect, but we’re finding it more and more challenging because of spammers. Make a customer email list, email them 1 time per month with helpful information. Ask for referrals, invite them to your events. You can put events on facebook and ask to have it suggested!
Are you looking for a reasonable way to connect with clients. Fill out this form, we would love to connect with you and discuss your goals!
Illinois Legislative Passes Legal Cannabis
