What if a few changes let you sell marijuana online like never before?
It’s what every business owner dreams of. And it doesn’t have to stay just a dream. Small changes to your online marketing process can result in major benefits to your bottom line.
Keep reading to discover more about this process and exactly how you should be marketing marijuana online.
Why Focus on the Online Marketing Process?
Some business owners are wary of focusing on online advertising. This may be due to marijuana remaining illegal at the federal level and the restrictions on cannabis-related advertising.
However, the simple truth is that more than three billion users are connecting to the internet. There is a vast online market for your product, but you have to first know how to reach them.
Keep reading to discover the secrets and the challenges of marketing marijuana online!
Throw Out the Old Ways
Chances are that when you were growing up, much of the advertising came through television and radio marketing. This technology allowed you to bring your commercials to life and reach customers wherever they were.
However, FCC regulations strictly prohibit advertising the sale or use of marijuana. Basically, you can run ads in states that have legalized marijuana, but there’s always the threat of federal punishment. After all, it’s still illegal in the eyes of the federal government.
All of this combines to make venues such as Facebook and Instagram the best places to advertise cannabis. Read on to discover the best ways you can make this happen as part of your online marketing process!
Find a Sympathetic Platform
Advertising anything having to do with marijuana is a legally and morally gray area for many people. That’s why it’s important to find a platform that welcomes your product with open arms.
Interestingly, SiriusTraffic is one of those companies. They specialize in helping your marketing stretch all the way across the world and are especially interested in the cannabis industry.
Obviously, only you can decide if SiriusTraffic is right for your business or not. But the fact that they openly encourage cannabis-related advertising means that you’re much likelier to start out on the right foot with them.
In short: you’ve got the tools and they’ve got the talent when it comes to helping your online marijuana business to really “grow” (and no grow lamps required).
Social Media Marketing
As mentioned earlier, social media marketing is one of the best ways to advertising a marijuana-related business. And social media offer several unique advantages to you, though you must sometimes navigate weird restrictions.
The first advantage is cost. You can create a pretty robust social media presence for much, much cheaper than you likely think it costs.
Another advantage is versatility. It only takes a little bit of tweaking to modify your content for different social media platforms. This allows you to reach the largest number of users with the least amount of energy and expenditure.
The final advantage of social media is that it makes users feel like they have a relationship with your company. Most of your customers will skew young, and younger demographics want a business that they feel truly understands them.
However, to market cannabis with social media, there is one main trick you must master.
Brand Engagement
The key to your customers’ hearts is to offer a large amount of engagement with your brand. There are several creative ways to integrate that engagement with your social media platforms.
First, make sure you have giveaways and online contests for your users. This helps build excitement and engagement for your brand while encouraging users to share the news and contests with their friends.
The second key to engagement is offering relative content. Modern customers are savvy to traditional advertising methods and are turned off if your social media content is just one big ad.
Instead, offer practical info that your particular demographic might want to hear about. This ranges from info about changing marijuana laws to guides on how to find and clean the paraphernalia they want to buy.
Soon, your customers will see you as a thought leader within this industry. They’ll rely on your authoritative content, which builds the trust required for them to regularly buy your products.
Search Engine Optimization
When it comes to online marketing, the old tricks are sometimes the best tricks. And it doesn’t get much older or much better than using rock-solid SEO!
There are many different kinds of cannabis-related businesses. That is why it is crucial to use SEO that adequately reflects what makes your product so unique in the market.
For instance, Mail Order Marijuana (MOM) in Canada focuses on bringing a high-quality product directly to the consumers’ doors. You’ll notice how carefully they’ve employed “mail order marijuana” as specific SEO for a specific kind of customer.
Getting really good at SEO takes time, but it’s ultimately the most important part of your online marketing process. If no customers can find your site, then your site is doomed to fail!
Tag Team With Offline
Obviously, most of this guide has focused on your online marketing process for your cannabis business. However, it’s important that your online strategy works hand in hand with your offline strategy.
For instance, you can advertise yourself in highly-specialized print publications such as High Times Magazine. This is a great way of reaching your very specific demographic.
You can also find anyone from local politicians to big-time celebrities who might be willing to endorse your product. It’s more difficult to make this happen, but such brand ambassadors help to sell your product, both offline and online!
The Bottom Line
If you’re reading this, then you want to improve the online marketing process for your cannabis business. And this starts with improving your SEO.
Fortunately, you don’t have to do this alone. At WebConfs, we specialize in providing the tools and ideas you need to take your business to the next level.
To see how we can transform your business, check out our SEO tutorial today!