It’s not uncommon to see Millennials throwing a cannabis wedding or adding drops of CBD oil to their soft drinks lounging out by the pool. 

That’s because major cannabis companies have developed foolproof cannabis marketing strategies to maximize engagement and showcase their brand in a positive spotlight. Of course, they have the luxury of high-end partnerships and larger budgets to deploy lots of different techniques to find out what works, but there are a few simple things you can do to enhance your own cannabis marketing efforts and elevate your brand.

Here are some of the best strategies to put into action:

Develop Customer Personas

Keep in mind that your customers aren’t just college dropouts looking to get high. 

In fact, the largest demographics that purchase cannabis and related products can be broken up into Millenials, Generation X, Baby Boomers, and the Silent Generation. 

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This gives you an idea of how diverse the age ranges are, but you can take it a step further by breaking down each group into…

• Their education level
• Their hobbies
• Medical conditions
• Type of job
• Specific use for cannabis
• What products they prefer
• Income level
• Ethnicity and culture
  

The more specific you can get with your personas, the better you can tailor cannabis marketing strategies like email segmentation and automation, social posts, paid ads; the sky’s the limit!

Diversify Your Cannabis Content Strategy

With your audience in mind, your next move is to diversify your content strategy to reach the greatest amount of people. 

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For example, you can’t just write blog posts for your website in hopes that everyone will read it. With the average human attention span lasting just over 8 seconds, that only thing to keep people fully engaged is multiple types of content shared across a variety of platforms. This means that once you write an amazing, informative blog post about the biggest CBD brands, you should quickly spin that content into…

• An infographic that you can share on various social media platforms with trackable links to your website
• Instagram stories inviting people to “Swipe Up” or click a link to read more
• Create a single graphic and caption to easily share a bite-sized version on Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook
• Run a Facebook ad for the post to boost engagement 
• Reformat the blog for LinkedIn to attract industry leaders and professionals who will site your work and share with their community
  

Don’t just create one piece of content and let it wither away on your blog. Instead, give it some life and keep it relevant on multiple channels until you’re ready to switch it out with something new. Also, don’t forget that you can always revisit an old post and revamp it with a fresh image or updated copy. 

Leverage Influencer Marketing for Your Cannabis Brand

Last on your agenda for improving your cannabis brand’s reach is leveraging influencer marketing. 

Over the last 5 years, research shows that influencer marketing has grown to a $7.5 billion industry. Not to mention, 65% of influencer marketing budgets are set to increase throughout the year, which means tons of brands are noticing the impact of the space and want to capitalize on it. 

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For your brand, even if you can set aside somewhere between $1,000 and $10,000 a year (19% of marketers do this), you can at least reach out to micro-influencers to share your products and services with their community to gain some traction on various social platforms. With that in mind, here’s a quick rundown of what channels are the most important for influencer marketing strategies:

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Obviously, Instagram is a great place to start connecting with influencers you think would be a good fit for your cannabis brand. Also, it’s worth mentioning that many of the top influencers you see on one channel will have a strong following on all the others (if they’re a real marketing pro). 

To get started, put together a compelling brief that outlines what your relationship will be, what you expect them to do, and what they’ll get in return. For the best results, make sure that you establish a long-term partnership over the course of 6 months to a year. If you have the money to spend, formulating a long-term strategy will lead to a better ROI, as well as ensure a high quality of promotion from the influencer. 

Quite often, if you pay for a one-off post for a flat fee, the influencer might not prioritize your cannabis product, which ends up costing you money in the end. 

Refine Your Cannabis Strategy with Hawke Media

Now that you know what cannabis marketing strategies to deploy, you can start developing a solid plan to get results. 

However, if you feel like the task is too overwhelming, Hawke Media can refine a plan for you! With marketing pros at your disposal, you have professional resources and insights that can guarantee brand success. As long as you have a modest budget to commit to elevating your cannabis brand, Hawke Media can take you to new heights. 

To request a free consultation, fill out the form below.