3 Pro Marketing & Advertising Tips for Cannabis Advertisers

The cannabis industry is growing rapidly, with states across the country rolling out new regulations every single week. Illinois is not shying away from the massive economic opportunity available in this vertical, but evolving legislation and geographic nuances make cannabis advertising daunting for even the most seasoned media planners.

Dispensaries are often small, local businesses with limited marketing budgets looking to drive foot traffic and, ultimately, sales. They’re like any other brick-and-mortar, but with more red tape and longer lines. The Cannabis Cup is coming to Illinois next month. A lot of dispensaries want to advertise but do not know where or how to start. Luckily, there are ways to get ahead before even starting a campaign. Cover all your bases with my top three tips for cannabis marketers:

1. Email marketing is one of the most effective marketing channels for cannabis organizations as it allows them to communicate their message without restrictions (outside of opt-in, of course). If an organization can incentivize customers to opt into their email list, either during an in-store purchase or with a CTA on their website by offering some type of deal or discount to subscribers this can be an excellent way to build leads and push marketing to existing or prospective customers. It’s also one of the few places where you can promote deals.

2. Retarget. Retargeting is following people after they leave your website and showing them your display or video ad, across all devices. Retargeting is one of the foundations of digital marketing. When people come to your website, you want the opportunity to stay in front of them. They found you for a reason. Let’s say you have a potential customer that comes to your website but they don’t convert. We can drop a tracking cookie on that user so when they leave your site, and visit other sites, we now have the ability to show your ad. This is important because 98% of people don’t convert the first time they come to your website. Placing your ad in front of them keeps you top of mind.

3. Advertise on Native Ad Networks. You cannot use two of the biggest ad networks (Google AdWords and Facebook) for cannabis marketing. However, you can work with Shaw Media as there are numerous opportunities to display your cannabis ads to your target market by using programmatic ad buying. With programmatic advertising, we use software to place bids, display ads, and optimize their performance on relevant websites.

These are just a few of my tips to help you grow. If you are interested in learning how I can help you advertise contact me at ekevish@shawmedia.com