As the cannabis industry anticipates federal legalization, strict rules hold brands back from entering the national marketplace. For now, it is illegal to ship marijuana plant material or products across state lines, and paid advertising is strictly off-limits on Google and social media platforms.
Unfortunately, you need to pay to play to reach your intended audience and have marketing success on social media. i.e., middle-aged women in Northern California who are runners.
So, does this mean you should eliminate social media from your marketing strategy since you can’t control who sees your posts? Not. Be the first to become a household name by using social media to pre-launch your brand in preparation for legalization. It’s an opportunity to get your business off to a head start and beat your competition to the market share.
Studies show that a consumer must interact with a brand numerous times before it registers in their mind and decides to purchase.
Start With Step One
Each social media platform attracts a specific demographic. When developing a social media strategy, you must first think deeply about your customer base, which platform they favor, and what type of content will resonate with them.
Let’s break it down:
The revitalization of the cannabis industry has brought new technology and health science with it, and entrepreneurs and consumers want to know all about it. Luckily for the entrepreneur, this offers tons of educational material to use for social media content.
Three ways to use Facebook as a pre-launch tool:
- Facebook Groups is an excellent place to moderate a discussion for professional networking or use as an educational platform to teach.
- People love behind-the-scenes videos to peek into a world they know little of and learn about it. Cultivators, edibles manufacturers, and extraction labs have an opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge and processes visually.
- Maybe you could solicit public opinion on a new product in development by taking a poll to get feedback on packaging design, flavors, or colors.
- 77% are women users, 61% are male users.
- 46% are over 65 years old and regard Facebook as their favorite social media platform.
- Facebook is favored by those who live in rural areas.
- 43% are believed to have an interest in African American and Hispanic cultures.
Instagram is a visual platform where people expect beautifully curated posts. You have a mere second to stop people from scrolling and check out your feed!
Three ways to use Instagram for a pre-launch:
- It’s an excellent way for a dispensary to visually display the products they sell and use the captions section to give details of the product.
- Brand-driven storytelling is a meaningful way to create loyalty and connect with followers. It shapes the image of your brand and how people view it. For example, a family-owned farm can use the Instagram Stories feature to share life on a cannabis farm and their craft cultivars.
- Show off beautiful product packaging or tantalizing buds with lifestyle shots.
If you need excellent content, hire an experienced marketing agency like Studio 420.
- 9 in 10 users follow a business account.
- Almost half of Instagram users also use TikTok.
- 18-24 years old: 67%, 25-34 years old: 60%, 35-44 years old: 49%, 45-54 years old: 43%, 55+ years old: 31%.
- Only 8% of adults over 65 use Instagram.
- 43% women vs. 31% male users.
- The majority of users live in urban areas (46%), followed by suburban (35%) and rural (21%).
- Top interests are travel (45%), music (44%), and food and drink (43%).
LinkedIn is a professional networking platform to demonstrate your expertise and stand out as a thought leader. It’s a place to foster relationships for possible partnerships, meet investors, find vendors or wholesale buyers looking to do business with you.
Three ways to use LinkedIn as a pre-launch strategy:
- Forging partnerships: Maybe you have a consumer product, and you want to partner with a vertically integrated company to grow, manufacture, and sell your product line in their dispensary—a perfect strategy to expand your brand from state to state.
- Professional networking groups are popular on LinkedIn and are one way to get everyone into one room. Start a group or engage with others to get noticed.
- LinkedIn rules specifically state you cannot use paid ads to sell products to users, but you can advertise to B2B businesses interested in the cannabis industry.
YouTube is known for its how-to and educational videos. According to HubSpot, 59% of executives prefer to watch a video. And a study from Forrester Research reveals video is 50 times more likely to achieve organic page ranks in Google than plain text results.
Three ways to use YouTube for a brand pre-launch:
- Is it time to take people on their marijuana journey through seminars and educational videos to showcase the expertise and leadership of your team?
- Show behind the scenes the cultivation process, edibles manufacturing, or cannabis extraction.
- Unboxing is wildly popular on YouTube. Dispensary owners can unbox products to demonstrate how they are used and highlight a specific brand’s features.
Twitter (X) is mainly used to share short snippets of information, catch up on the news, entertainment or follow brands and companies. A Twitter presence is an opportunity to engage with other professionals in the industry by posting, commenting, and sharing posts.
Three ways to use Twitter for a pre-launch:
- Follow people you want to get to know in the industry, set notifications, so you are alerted when they post. Start commenting and sharing their content to get the conversation going.
- Share articles, milestones, or news about your company.
- Do some competitive research to gain insight into the marketplace. It will allow you to pivot if needed before you launch.
Twitter demographic:
- 70% are male, 30% are female.
- 42% have a college degree, 25% do not.
- 28% of the Twitter audience is 25-49 years old.
- 65% Democrat-leaning, 33% Republican-leaning.
- 17% of Americans get their news from Twitter.
- Health and Wellness are among the top 10 industries present on Twitter.
TikTok is a little tricky because its primary users are 16 – 34 years old, and you should avoid those under 21. If executed carefully, TikTok can be an effective platform to drive brand awareness and persuade an audience to check out your business.
Three ways to use TikTok for a pre-launch into other states:
- It takes a particular personality and style to get traction on TikTok. It might be worth enlisting an influencer to create content for your brand.
- Popular TikTok videos demonstrate how products work, and show us how yours works.
- Another popular TikTok is an experiential video. Give viewers a farm experience or a trip to your dispensary (demonstrate what it will be like when you expand your shop to their state).
ClubHouse is an audio-only platform that disappears when the “Room” ends. Someone with a service to offer, like lawyers, accountants, marketers, or designers, has the opportunity to meet potential clients.
- Host a Room to meet and share your expertise in your professional field.
- Join a room to meet and engage with potential clients.
- Host a panel discussion to show leadership in your area of expertise.
These are all ways to use social media to meet and engage with future customers in other states as a business pre-launch to federal legalization.
Developing a social media strategy and executing it takes in-depth thought about a brand, its target audience, goals, and positioning in the marketplace. Hiring an experienced marketing agency like Studio 420 will help you avoid pitfalls in a highly regulated industry and succeed in reaching your intended audience.
An experienced marketing agency will know when to post, what to post, what not to post, which hashtags to use, and create content that will engage with the people you want to reach.
Contact Studio 420 for further information on developing a multi-channel marketing strategy.
Article by Pam Chmiel.
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Studio 420 is a cannabis and psychedelics creative agency specializing in branding, UX/UI design, web development, ecommerce, and digital marketing solutions. We offer a variety of services to ELEVATE your online web presence.
Contact our Denver, Colorado office for a no-obligation, project cost analysis at 303-653-9855.