Cannabis stores offer a wide variety of products that can cater to the needs of any cannabis consumer. Whether you are looking for flower, a large selection of concentrates, or edibles, cannabis stores like Canna Cabana have something to offer everyone.
Opening a cannabis store can be a lucrative business venture, but if you don’t do your homework, you could make some costly marketing mistakes. In this blog post, we’ll discuss 6 of the most common marketing blunders made by cannabis store owners, and how to avoid them.
By ensuring that you have a well-thought-out marketing plan in place, you can avoid losing money and customers. So, whether you’re just starting out in the cannabis industry, or you’re looking to expand your existing business, make sure to read on!
Targeting the Wrong Audience
One of the biggest mistakes that you could make when marketing your cannabis business is targeting the wrong audience, and worse yet, not being able to target any audience. Knowing who your audience is, is incredibly important when it comes to branding.
You won’t know what type of content to produce, you won’t know the message you are trying to send, and you won’t know the products the audience wants. It’s essential to find out who your audience is as soon as possible.
Being the Same as Everyone Else
The next mistake that you can make as a cannabis business is being the same as everyone else, or marketing in the same way as everyone else. While it’s one thing to look to other brands to find out how they are marketing their business, it’s another to blatantly copy what they are doing.
When it comes to branding any business, you need to make sure that you are being authentic. Authenticity has been shown to be the one thing that increases the trust of your customers.
Don’t Overpromote
The next thing that you should make sure that you aren’t doing is overpromoting your business or product. This doesn’t mean marketing too much, it means overpromising what your product can deliver.
For example, if your cannabis strain helps people to relax, don’t market it as a treatment for anxiety. Not only does this cause issues down the road when cannabis research actually shows what strains of THC or CBD concentrations help with anxiety, you are actually committing a crime, which is false advertising.
Not Paying Attention to Regulations
One of the most important mistakes to avoid when marketing your cannabis business is to make sure that you are paying attention to the regulations. There are many regulations when it comes to marketing cannabis, since it is still considered to be a controlled substance under federal law.
For example, there are regulations when advertising using billboards, there are also regulations when advertising on social media. Make sure to read through all of them to ensure that your business isn’t temporarily or permanently closed.
Not Knowing What the Audience Wants
As mentioned above, a big mistake when it comes to marketing your cannabis business is not knowing your audience, and more importantly, not knowing what your audience wants. For example, if you are targeting the local market, it’s imperative to know the local demand.
Related to this, you might want to start with the local market rather than the international market, since the international market has fierce competition that might be difficult for you to initially crack.
Not Having a Clean Website
An important aspect of marketing any business these days is having a functioning website, and more than this, making sure that it is clean and efficient. Did you know that more than 50% of mobile users will leave a website that doesn’t load in around 3 seconds?
Make sure that your site is uncluttered, the images are optimized, the search function works, and it’s easy to navigate. Otherwise you might run the risk of ruining your SEO score, and therefore your profits.
Not Using Social Media
Finally, one of the biggest mistakes that you could make when marketing your cannabis business is to not use social media. Social media can be the biggest tool you have in order to get your business noticed, and your brand established.
To put it into perspective, over 3 billion people use social media, which means that if you are not using it to market, you are throwing away one of the best opportunities to reach your audience.
Also published on Medium.
