So, You Want To Make It Big in Cannabusiness?
Whether you’re jumping into the cannabis industry or you’ve been there since the first states legalized cannabis, you know that competition is getting tough in this market sector. A couple of years ago, cannabis expertise was enough to succeed, but today, smart, experienced entrepreneurs are flocking to the industry.
Knowing the basic principles of business, and staying up to date on your marketing strategy, has become just as important in the cannabis field like any other, and those who are already subject matter experts can compete more effectively with seasoned business owners simply by getting up to speed on how to generate leads and convert them to customers.
This sounds harder than it is, and we’re here to help. Let’s talk about lead generation for YOUR cannabis business.
Lead Generation And You
Traditional advertising is expensive. It costs time and money to generate leads and convert them to customers. Most small business owners just don’t have the resources to build big campaigns in print, TV, radio, or even paid internet ads. Fortunately, there’s more than one way to generate a solid lead.
What if we could make the leads come to you? What if Google naturally brought you traffic through searches without paid search placement? That’s a game-changer right there. Let’s go over a couple of ways to generate solid leads, without spending an arm and a leg.
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Content Marketing: Blog Your Way To Internet Fame
You don’t have to pay for or seek out leads if they’re already knocking on your door. One way to make your expertise with cannabis pay off is to become known as an expert on cannabis. When people come to you for information, you’ve won half the battle in getting them to come to you for products. Whether you’re selling the world’s greatest vaporizers or your special blend CBD pain-relief tinctures, people will be interested in what you have to sell if you’ve built value in your expertise.
Now, many people are simply curious about cannabis as it becomes more legal in more places. However, many of them might become customers once they learn about the benefits of cannabis. The nice thing about building a reputation for being the go-to information source for your field? They’re all coming to you, and the people who are interested will filter through and buy.
Blogging, videos, how-to guides…the key here is producing content that is informative, accurate, and drives traffic. And unlike a Facebook ad or paid search, content is forever, so as you produce more content, your leads only grow.
Now, you can still run ads to build your blog audience, but with a little work, you can do this cheaper by carefully using Search Engine Optimization (SEO) techniques. Make sure you’re using the right keywords. It’s all well and good to be #1 on the search page for ‘best CBD pain relief,’ but there are a ton of pages competing for the front page there. Think outside the box and get specific. There’s a lot less competition for ‘best CBD pain relief migraine’ or ‘best CBD pain relief cream.’ Try playing around with Google’s Keyword Planner tool to get some ideas.
The best news? A blog really helps you focus in on all these niche search terms, as even if your page is selling a variety of CBD products, writing blog posts about all sorts of use cases helps you reach the top for specific searches for that use case.
One thing to be cautious of: you’re truly trying to inform your audience, so even though you want them to become customers, don’t go for the hard sell. However, end your post with a call to action. Give them a reason to stay engaged, even if you simply ask for their email so you can send more sales-oriented e-mails later.
Keep in mind this isn’t a quick process; it takes time to build a reputation, but there’s no better time to start than now.
If You Build It, They Will Come: Your Website
Whether you’re selling vaporizers or dry herbs, anti-seizure CBD tinctures or full-spectrum THC (where legal,) many potential leads aren’t going to walk into your physical storefront, but your digital storefront to do a lot more things than a simple physical building, You’ve got to be easy for existing customers to navigate and purchase products, be informative and welcoming for leads (new customers,) build brand awareness, link to your blog and social media, and have great search engine functionality under the hood in addition to looking great to the human eye.
Oh, and it’s got to do all of this with an interface that looks equally good on a 20” monitor or a 5” smartphone.
Consider this: many websites want to get as much product on-screen as possible, in the hopes you’ll see something that catches your eye. However, if someone gets overwhelmed, they’re closing the window. Consider a sleek, uncluttered design. Instead of writing dense, stuffed product descriptions, use short and punchy sentences or even bullet points.
Don’t try and shove too much on the front page. You can showcase a rotating array of your best products, and/ or customer testimonials that let your previous leads convince new leads to become customers.
You really want to make sure the site loads quickly, to capture impatient leads that might otherwise click to the next search result. You also want to make sure it’s easy to find contact info for your company on any given page.
Lead generation is challenging for businesses in every industry, but by paying attention to your digital real estate, you can give yourself a leg up. The best way to make a big name in the growing cannabis business is to think of it, first, as a business. Learn the marketing techniques that work well for any business and you’ll soon get higher than your competition can dream of.