Having a brand that tells a story and stands out from the rest is the perfect recipe for connecting with customers in a genuine way and building loyalty.

As such, the success of your brand depends on it flowing well through your actual location as well as all of your marketing efforts. So where do you begin?

Identify the Values of Your Brand

When it comes to creating a brand, it’s easy to focus on the design elements such as color and symbols. And these are important, to be sure. But what’s the story behind your brand? What are the values you want associated with it?

Even if you’re certain you’ve got this part nailed, it’s a good idea to get your company’s leaders and employees together to brainstorm. Not only does this allow everyone to have a say in the company, but you may be surprised to find that others have a different view of or take on the story and values. Incorporate these into your branding.

It’s important to remember that a strong brand strategy with a solid set of values will also attract investors who see the sheer potential in it. And along with drawing loyal customers, it will also draw in cannabis tourists looking for a unique experience that strays from the mainstream.

Marketing Your Brand

Two critical components of your brand’s long-term success are where and the how it’s advertised.

Opening your dispensary and waiting for folks to flow in isn’t going to cut it. You need a marketing strategy. Most companies are utilizing data and analytics to target specific demographics for their advertising. This goes a long way toward finding local audiences who would be most likely to make a purchase.

Additionally, grabbing likes and followers from your social media pages is going to generate interest. Just be sure that your brand comes across each platform in a cohesive way. In other words, if your Facebook and Instagram accounts look like two different dispensaries, that’s a problem.

Finally, keep in mind that while social media reaches a lot of people, there are countless other ways to advertise your company. Cannabis marketing agencies are worth their weight in gold in these cases. These experts not only know how to share your story and build connections, but they have an intimate understanding of the rules that apply to advertising a federally prohibited product.

What Does Your Physical Space Say?

Ask yourself this: Does your physical space reflect your branding efforts? It should.

Even a storied brand chock full of values can falter if the actual dispensary does nothing to further it. For example, your brand is warm and welcoming but your dispensary looks like a sterile medical facility. Or maybe your logo is bright and colorful, but the outside of your building is a dull grey. In both cases, there’s a disconnect that you definitely don’t want.

Cannabis Branding Is Everything

As a dispensary owner, you probably already understand that cannabis branding is everything. Without it, you wouldn’t have much of a business.

So if you feel that your branding efforts could be stronger and that your cannabis marketing strategies are lacking, contact us today. We have the expertise and the know-how to get you recognized in this highly saturated market.

We thrive on it.

The post Cannabis Branding Is Everything appeared first on GROW Cannabis Marketing.

If you’ve established a business in this thriving industry, that’s good news.

But on the flip side, as the industry gets increasingly crowded, you don’t want to get lost in the hustle and bustle of all the competition.

That’s why your success is dependent, to some extent, on solid cannabis branding.

Which leads to the next question:

How Do You Create Successful Cannabis Branding?

Whether you’re a startup or already established, you can’t afford to overlook your marketing strategy.

In an industry as crowded as CBD, your company needs to stand out in some way if you’re going to be noticed.

Marketing and public relations professionals know the value of acquisition research. Information gleaned from this can assist companies in creating something people really want, but that is also unique to them.

And that’s key.

CBD Company Thinks Outside the Box

For example, the founders of a now successful CBD company spent a year researching the CBD market and testing a variety of products with more than 5,000 customers.

What they found in their market research was that people wanted hemp-based CBD tinctures. Easy enough, right?

Well, further research showed that just selling CBD tinctures wasn’t going to be enough. Because the bigger underlying problem was that consumers were unsure of the proper dosage.

Since we all dwell in our own unique bodies, what is effective for one person may not touch another. So if Bob tells Sue that the dosage of the CBD tincture is doing wonders for him, but she doesn’t have the same success, what is the likelihood she’s going to buy it again?

Zip.

It might be that Sue needs a higher dosage. But is she going to rush out and buy another bottle, knowing that it may not work? Seems unlikely.

The Need to Innovate

So the founders got innovative. They looked outside the cannabis industry for some inspiration. Their first ah-ha moment came from an online prescription eyeglass and sunglass retail store which is known for offering at-home trials.

Potential customers are sent five different farms to try on at home so they can be sure they’re getting the style they want.

Could they do the same thing with CBD? Yep.

Further inspired by breweries, they decided to offer CBD tincture flights. For just $20, customers get three small vials that each deliver a different dosage. The flight comes with full instructions and advises customers to start low and go slow.

The Results Were Nearly Immediate

Having originally believed that the most potent dosage would constitute a mere 2-5% of sales, it turns to that it’s actually closer to 20%.

But what they found was even more interesting is that their customer service department was experiencing a high rate of calls. Not because consumers had complaints, but rather they were seeking information about CBD before trying it.

So when the company sent a flight to these folks, they also sent personalized texts when the flight arrived. This added focus on the customer’s experience was also a brilliant way to keep the conversation going.

It’s a little thing they like to call “conversational commerce.” And that little thing made a huge difference for them.

After all, it’s not just a matter of keeping your existing customers, but there should always be a focus on creating new ones as well.

Where Does Your Branding Stand?

Clearly, successful cannabis branding starts with innovation, creativity and a willingness to stretch your boundaries.

Enlist the services of a professional cannabis marketing company to inspire you.

Contact us today. We’ll help you determine your specific needs and challenges so that you can rise above.

The post Creating Successful Cannabis Branding appeared first on GROW Cannabis Marketing.

We’re coming right out of the gate on this one and assuming you’ve taken the time to brand yourself. Because, well, you can’t very well scale your cannabis brand if you don’t have a brand in the first place. That’s as basic as it gets.

So, working from the assumption that you’ve taken this crucial step, we’ll take a gander at what you need to do next.

And we’ll start by taking a gander at the tech industry.

Scaling Your Cannabis Brand – Tech Style

Nope. We’re not going to go all tech-heavy on you.

While technology does play a role in scaling your biz, we’re more interested in what cues successful cannabis businesses are taking from the tech industry.

Nineteenth century writer and philosopher George Santayana once said, ”Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” With that in mind, remember the dot.com bubble?

Then you probably remember the dot.com crash that happened shortly thereafter when that bubble burst.

Very similar to those early tech startups, cannabis brands are up against the same demands to scale at lightning fast speeds while selling what is still a relatively unfamiliar product.

Here are the tried-and-true scaling techniques they’ve learned:

1. Know the Sweet Spot You Want to Fill

This isn’t meant to sound pornographic. (And if it does, some of that’s on you.)

But you have to figure out your niche. In other words, which demand is not being met by consumers in your area? And how can you meet it?

Find out what people want. It could be something specific like a line of high quality chocolate edibles. Or maybe it’s something more broad like offering a price point that will appeal to an underserved customer base.

But how do you know what’s already out there and what isn’t? Pore over all relevant social media platforms. Get your paws on as many cannabis publications as you can. And by all means, go to every industry event possible.

Doing this is bound to give you some ideas on where there are holes in the market. It’s also going to help you tremendously with Rule #2.

2. Do What It Takes to Acquire Initial Customers

Network, baby.

Industry events like conferences, trade shows and other meet-ups provide fertile ground for you to make a name for yourself. They’re an easy way to not only grow your list of potential customers, but you’ll also make connections with others in the industry with whom you could partner eventually.

Social media serves in the same way. So plug yourself into all of the platforms folks in the cannabis industry are using. Comment and contribute. Mindfully.

Meanwhile, as you’re poking around in numerous publications, start building relationships with the editors of said publications. Offer to provide them with exclusive proprietary content that would be of use to your potential niche market customers. If you play it right, multiple publications will pick up this content – which could provide brand exposure for many months even after it’s published.

And of course (and here’s the tech part), stay on top of what the cannabis industry is using as their standard tool for managing sales. Engaging with the same platforms your prospects utilize on a daily basis will go a long way toward reducing friction between your operations while creating a more seamless working relationship.

3. Build a Strong Team

When you get right down to it, having a successful cannabis business depends largely on your team. And picking the right mix requires a strategy.

You may be tempted to bring on your friend Vinny because “he knows the biz, bro.” And that might be a good idea – depending on just exactly what it is about the biz that Vinny knows.

There is a tendency to believe that having a staff loaded with industry experts is the best strategy. This belief is misguided. Sure, you need some experts. But you also need sales-savvy folks who know how to close initial deals. This is especially important at the beginning.

Plus, it’s going to be critical that the members you’re bringing onto your team understand the challenges of working a startup. There needs to be a willingness to solve problems and the flexibility to work with processes that will change and evolve as the company scales.

And regardless of the area of expertise, your ideal candidate should be a motivated self-starter with a knack for innovation and the ability to create his or her own efficient work flow. So if Vinny fits the bill, make him part of the team already, will ya?

Ready to Launch?

Scaling your cannabis brand depends on finding your niche, getting customers and pulling together a motivated team that’s willing to weather the storms. Because there will probably be at least a few.

If you’re looking to get the word out about your up-and-coming cannabis business, contact us to help you with your public relations strategy. We’ll go the extra mile to ensure you have a name the industry recognizes.

The post The 3 Basic Rules of Scaling Your Cannabis Brand appeared first on GROW Cannabis Marketing.