Three Ways to Grow Your CBD, Marijuana, and Hemp Company

The Canna industry is always a hot topic in politics. With some of the highest search volumes for ‘cannabis’ during the 2016 election season, the topic of cannabis regulations is constantly being discussed and debated. As more states legalize marijuana in different capacities the opportunities for companies to market themselves are also growing. Unfortunately, even though CBD has been legal nationwide, it does still fall into a restricted marketing category.

In the last 24 months, CBD has become more popular and readily available across the country. As the available product line increases to help with issues such as sleep, athletic recovery, anxiety, skincare, and even for your pets, it has become even more attractive for retailers to carry on their shelves. But CBD has become much more than just a product; it’s now a movement that requires additional care when developing your marketing strategy!

Know Your Target Audience for Each Product

You should start by researching who your market is, why they are looking for your product, and what is going to make them choose you over your competition. There are many ways to do this, and we have handy buyer persona guides for you to follow along, but the most important thing to know is where you can find them and what offer type they will respond to.

Considering what a person’s needs are will help you determine the messaging to be used in your marketing campaign. For example, if you’re selling CBD oil for dogs with arthritis pain, then you will want to add dog owners and people who have searched for dog arthritis relief to your targeting. You will also want to A/B test creative to find out if a picture of your product or of a dog works at generating more interest and click-thru activities to your website or eCommerce site.

Three Effective Ways to Market Your CBD Products

1. Email: Whether you have a database of past clients or are utilizing in-market shopper data, the key to effective email marketing is repetition. Email marketing is still one of the most cost-effective ways that brands can use to get their message out but you will need to maintain a regular cadence of email contact
2. Digital Advertising: You may not be able to buy advertising on big-name platforms like Google or Facebook but you are able to target consumers across 97% of the internet and on apps through the use of the programmatic display. Being able to target customers based on where they have shopped, what they are searching for, and their interests allow you to find people and serve them your offers while they are comparing products from review sites.
3. Direct Mail: When people go to their mailbox and find a piece of direct mail that catches their eye, talks about their pain points, and has a great offer, they will go to your website and social media pages to do their research and figure out how to purchase your product. Direct mail offers an interesting opportunity over other marketing mediums because you are able to put so much more information into your mail campaign.

To succeed in this industry, it is important to choose an ideal target audience and create content that resonates with them. The key takeaway here is that marketing strategies don’t need to be complicated—they just need to be effective!

Jayme Hill is Chief Operating Officer for Diamond Media Solutions.