By 2025, the cannabis industry in the United States is expected to be worth over $30 billion. Experts predict expansion into new markets as more states are legalizing cannabis. Despite this exponential growth, businesses need to find new ways to market their products. Discover the best ways to outshine your competition online in 2022.
Advanced technologies allow dispensaries to reach a massive audience. Still, promoting and marketing a business is a complex and time-consuming endeavor. What’s more, as cannabis is still illegal at a federal level, the majority of advertising channels are inaccessible. Unlock novel marketing opportunities with all the help of mjseo.agency/ and in-depth research. Here are ten steps to success.
1. Defining the Target Audience
The first step in promoting any business is defining its buyer persona. Unless you understand the goals, preferences, and behavior of these consumers, how can you persuade them to buy anything? For example, dispensaries focused on medical use target patients who need their products for treatment. To cater to them, they highlight the medicinal properties and benefits of their products.
2. Researching Competitors
Research the strongest company in your local area and their marketing methods. How are they ranking in organic search? What keywords are they using? Which marketing channels are involved?
To stand out from the crowd, you need to offer something unique. Conduct in-depth competitive analysis to find your biggest strength. Evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of other providers, their strategies, and marketing performance.
3. Building a Powerful Website
Develop a fast and user-friendly website that looks good on any screen. Most consumers search online from their smartphones and tablets, which makes mobile optimization absolutely crucial. Everything from the general aesthetic to the placement of CTAs (“buy today”, “click here”, etc.) affects the user experience. It influences how long a visitor stays on the site and whether they buy anything.
Today, most people abandon websites that take more than 3 seconds to load. They also expect valuable and in-depth information about the products and services on offer. Your website needs a clean layout, smooth navigation, and a clear contact section.
4. Polishing Service Pages
You cannot convert visitors into leads with badly written service pages. If the information is poor or non-existent, this is a major turn-off. Users who are interested in your services are likely to visit these pages first. Make sure the headline is clear and concise, while the content is engaging, well-structured, and well-researched.
5. Researching Keywords
Identify the words that users enter to find cannabis products in your area online. Keyword research is a major component of SEO, which lets you get to the top of Google rankings. Relevant keywords that generate traffic will help you become more visible than competitors. The higher on the SERPs (search engine ranking pages) you are, the more users visit your website and place orders.
Focusing on the monthly search volume (MSV) is not enough. The keywords must be popular, relevant, and authoritative. The most popular ones are also the most difficult to rank for, but you can still succeed with the right strategy.
6. Creating a Content Marketing Plan
Any content you create, including visual, textual, and downloadable material, must tie in with the general strategy. Consider your target audience, the problems you can help them solve, and unique characteristics that will help your business stand out. Identify the types of content suitable for your customer base. Based on your audience analysis, you should know what channels they use most often, so you can publish content there (e.g., in a blog).
7. Checking Online Citations
Make sure your contact details in online directories are accurate. These include the name of your business, its address, phone number, URL, hours of operation, etc. This data may be gathered from such sources as Yelp, Google My Business, or Merchant Circle. If this information is incorrect, your prospects and customers will feel confused. This hurts credibility and profits, as the users may turn to your rivals.
8. Publishing Content
Based on your content marketing plan, you can start producing articles and other content. This plan should be flexible and encompass different platforms and websites, so you can reach a wider audience. For example, you can engage prospects and customers through posts on blogs and social media platforms.
9. Sharing Across Social Media
Your company does not have to engage all popular platforms, as each social media network is tailored to a specific audience. It is perfectly acceptable to focus on just two or three channels, such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram. Make sure your pages there are optimized, which means that they include enough available content (text, videos, and photos), a bio, and a correct link to the site. Then, share your content across these networks to keep the audience engaged.
10. Optimizing Google My Business Account
Finally, set up your GMB account. It is an affordable and effective tool for cannabis businesses of all sizes. A user searching for a local dispensary can see your company in the listings on Google Search and Google Maps. An optimized account is crucial for local SEO. Make sure all the information, including contact details and business hours, is correct.