By Crystal Willson • January 20, 2021 
When you own a business with such strict regulatory considerations as cannabis, there are way too many limitations coming in the way of effectively marketing it. To start with, even though medical marijuana has become legal in 33 US states and recreational use is legal in 11 states, it is still federally illegal. Secondly, several marketing platforms have strictly banned cannabis.
As a cannabis business owner, you might say that it is unfair but to no avail. The only thing you can do is make the best of this situation using the digital marketing strategies outlined below.
1. Create Your Facebook Groups
Social media is still mostly unfriendly to the cannabis businesses, even though they are perfectly legal entities. The good news is that Facebook has recently lifted its ban on marijuana-related groups and pages. So, you can use this opportunity to your advantage to get more people to know about your products.
A great way of using these groups is to post the links to your blogs, announce discounts, new product launches, and more. Make sure to keep interacting with your target customers through this platform to pique their interest in what you have to offer.
2. Good Old SEO to the Rescue
All other online businesses have proven the effectiveness of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) strategies, and the same thing applies to weed edibles and other cannabis derivatives. And, the SEO strategies for cannabis businesses are also the same as all other industries, even though specific companies are focusing on the SEO-based needs of this particular industry.
So, you can start by searching relevant keywords on the right platforms, update your Google My Business page, and, lastly, keep updating your site with new content regularly. It will help you in getting a better rank.
3. Hire Influencers to Spread the Word
Most industries have started using influencers in their marketing strategy, and cannabis businesses are not far behind. You can start searching for the right influencers who can help craft campaigns that keep the current issues in mind. You need such people that your target audience can trust to give them the correct information.
Some of the essential elements of a top influencer focus on creating original content, organically grow their audience and have high social reach and engagement levels. Some companies can help you get in touch with such social media celebrities.
4. Focus on the Local Directories
Dispensaries have been popping up in every state where marijuana became legal in some form. This offers excellent opportunities for interested buyers who can pick and choose the dispensary they want to trust.
At the same time, this offers an excellent prospect for you, as there is one more way available now for you to put your brand in front of the local customers. Get your business listed on Google My Business and other local directories to make your dispensary easy to find for all. Apart from filling up all the details, make sure also to include pictures.
5. Leverage Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing is the procedure of earning a good commission by promoting other people’s or companies’ products. And, cannabis businesses have been using this strategy for quite a while now.
You can list out the necessary details for your affiliate program on your website to hire marketers to work on a commission basis. Companies also can actively promote the affiliate programs through influencers, buying space on popular sites visited by the target audience, or by joining other such affiliate networks.
6. Blogging to Inform the Users
Amazing blogs with details holding relevance, meaning, and use to your target customers is a crucial part of a content marketing plan. Your blog content can fuel all your digital marketing initiatives. It helps build trust in what you have to offer and makes it easier for people to find your website when promoting posts through email marketing, social media sharing, etc. Besides, Google also gets more entry points to find and index your web pages to list them out in the search engine results.
7. Tap into the Potential of Apps
You can never tap the immense potential of the world of digital marketing without considering mobile apps. Several popular apps are already doing the rounds in the cannabis world, and yours can be the next best thing out there.
You can use your app to help users find and purchase your products easily. To market your brand better, you can use reminders, push notifications, discount promos, and more throughout your app to keep your audience interested. Another way of leveraging apps is to purchase ads on other popular applications.
Summing Up
Those were the seven steps you can take to grow your cannabis business digitally! Cannabis has been in high demand over the last few years, and its usage has increased a lot.
Thus, more states worldwide are opening up to the possibilities offered by cannabis, and you can expect more digital marketing avenues to open up in the future. But for now, you can make the most of these seven effective digital marketing methods for growing your cannabis business.
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