Culture eats strategy for breakfast. It doesn’t matter how great your plans to introduce a new cannabis or CBD product to the market are if your culture weakens execution. Culture is how things get done around a company. Great leaders focus on the culture their leadership helps create as much as they focus on business […]
cannabis marketing
Will California’s Section 5032 Disrupt the Cannabis Market?
By Ian Stewart On December 7, 2018, California’s three cannabis licensing authorities submitted final versions of the state cannabis regulations scheduled to be approved by January 16, 2019. California’s Bureau of Cannabis Control (Bureau) submitted a final version of Section 5032 of the regulations that substantially limits commercial cannabis activity between licensed and unlicensed entities. […]
Will Dispensaries Take the Lead in 2019?
Last week’s MJBizCon show’s attendance numbers prove it; there has never been more interest in the cannabis market than there is at this moment. And with new states and markets coming online soon, in various permutations of legality, a cannabis-hostile U.S. Attorney General ousted, and increased favorable press coverage around all things CBD, it’s clear […]
The Ultimate Guide to Marketing Your CBD Start Up Without a Big Budget
Let’s face it, as much as we all wish it was so, starting out really isn’t as easy as becoming an overnight sensation, especially with such a new industry. That simply doesn’t happen. When it comes to getting your name out there, startup marketing is a huge deal. But what can you do when you […]
Some Graphic Design Tips for Non-Designers in the Cannabis Industry
Given the power of visual content (it’s more memorable and more engaging than text-based content), many cannabis marketers have turned to DIY graphic design software or contracted with graphic artists. With more traditionally text-focused people entering the world of visuals, it’s time for a brief refresher on the essential principles of design. It’s time for a reminder […]
Who Do They Think You Are? Building Your Cannabis Brand
Without giving it more than a second, answer this question: What is your favorite brand? For many of you, a few recognizable names are coming to the fore: Apple, Amazon, Tesla, Patagonia. Whatever company that you thought of, chances are images of the company also populated your thoughts—almost assuredly their logos and their products. But […]
Cannabis + Influencer Marketing is it a Fit?
What is Influencer Marketing? Influencer marketing is the process by which brands leverage well-known figures who have influence over their target markets to promote their brands. This doesn’t mean you need to be able to afford to pay Lil Wayne to promote your concentrate line. In fact, many of the most successful influencer marketers are not extremely […]
How To Name A Cannabis Company
Believe it or not, I get this question a lot. The cannabis industry is getting more and more crowded, therefore, naming your product is super critical. Will people buy your product based on its name? Probably not. But can a bad product name turn your prospects off? Yep. And can a good product name contribute to […]
SEO… Keyword Strategies for Cannabis Companies (part 2)
Well, I’m a week late on Part 2, but here it is. I’m excited to continue on this keyword journey with you… Creating a keyword spreadsheet So, we started our initial view, of all the keywords that could be used to find our cannabis website. But what we want to do, is start downloading all those keywords into […]
SEO… Keyword Strategies for Cannabis Companies (part 1)
Welcome to keyword strategy in-depth with probably about 3 parts, this being part one. Keyword research is the fundamental building block, for all cannabis business’ online marketing efforts. It goes beyond optimizing your website, to enabling a better connection when marketing to your audience, as you are using their language. We’ll begin by finding sources […]
WHAT MAKES YOUR CANNABIS COMPANY DIFFERENT? CHANCES ARE YOU MIGHT STAMMER OR NEED TO COLLECT YOUR THOUGHTS BEFORE YOU ANSWER THIS…
Which is EXACTLY why I wrote this article. That’s right, this topic is super important to me (and your business!) I cannot wait to give you my top tips to ensure that your cannabis brand is heard, seen and successful. FIND YOUR THING: Recently I passed a cafe that had the sign “Best Chai in […]
5 Ways to Add Personality to Your Cannabis Brand
We’re learning more each day about the power of human connection within this new cannabis industry. People are far more likely to trust a cannabis business that has a personality behind it. While businesses may have been able to get away with only sharing their products in the past, I think consumers are getting better […]
How to Sell to the Cannabis Community via Instagram
People don’t buy what you do – they buy why you do it. Instagram’s powerful storytelling components give you the ability to make customers loyal before a purchase has been made. If you can tell a powerful story in fewer than 87 characters (the caption limit), along with a photo that matches and elevates the storytelling […]
Solving Search Engine Optimization Issues for the Cannabis Industry
Search engine optimization (SEO) is such an important part of cannabis marketing, and important part of growing your cannabis business today, that you better at least know enough to know how to buy it. SEO has really changed a lot in the last five years because of how Google has been able to innovate how […]
How to Get Leads and Customers at Cannabis Events
Cannabis events are a great way to meet people and develop long-term relationships. Events are also a great way to increase awareness of your business. Our secret missions are to find opportunities, which is why so many people go to things. It’s also about speeding up the KLT (know, like, and trust) factor. You’ve got […]
Lessons Learned in Cannabis Marketing
With cannabis marketing, I like having a very clear goal. It’s challenging. I think your goal should have some time frame and it should be kind of scary – not impossible but realistically impossible. For me, the unknown of life is the most interesting part. If you’re doing things that are super-known, there’s not really […]
Facebook Ads Algorithm Explained for Cannabis Companies – Part 2 of 2
All right, so let’s say you’re doing a Michigan Method (a multivariate Facebook testing strategy for scaling ad campaigns) or some similar style. You have a ton of ad-sets targeting the same people and they’re all on low budgets. If you have 50 ad-sets and you’re getting 50 conversions a day from those ad-sets, we […]
Facebook Ads Algorithm Explained for Cannabis Companies – Part I of 2
Let me answer this first: yes, there are ways to get Facebook ads approved for your cannabis company. You just must be creative. I’m going to talk a bit about machine learning. We hear all the time about how smart the Facebook algorithm is. I think just kicking it off, I’m going to explain exactly […]
