The COVID-19 pandemic has made virtually all aspects of business that much more difficult. Even though your dispensary may be considered an essential business that’s allowed to remain open in your state, business has likely dropped or at least changed. With stay-at-home orders in place and people shopping online in order to stay safe, your dispensary is probably pretty empty. This can make your typical in-store promos pretty useless.
You have great cannabis and CBD products that you’re excited about showcasing, but how exactly can you do that when your customers aren’t in store? Fortunately, there are many things you can do to highlight your favorite products during a pandemic. Here are some strategies to try.
1. Start an Ecommerce Store
If your state allows, consider selling your products online by adding ecommerce functionality to your existing website. This is a particularly excellent option for CBD dispensaries, but it may be an option for cannabis brands, too.
Cannabis-friendly software solutions like Appspensary and 365 Cannabis offer ecommerce capabilities to help you create a search-engine friendly menu, an online checkout process, a customer loyalty program, and pickup or delivery options.
Ecommerce can help keep your customers and employees safe, while also ensuring that you can continue to sell your products uninterrupted during the pandemic.
2. Detail the Benefits of Your Products
What’s the difference between Acapulco Gold and Granddaddy Purple? You might know the difference, your budtenders might know the difference, but do your customers? Especially the beginners?
It’s a lot easier to explain the benefits of the different cannabis and CBD products you offer when a customer is right in front of you asking questions, but it’s a lot harder to do that online. That’s why you should put extra effort into making the benefits of each strain/product clear.
In each product’s description on your website and online promos, make sure to explain its benefits. Is it a particularly good strain for people suffering from insomnia, depression, or anxiety? Will it make the user feel euphoric, sleepy, or creative? Is it better for beginners or long-term users?
Keep in mind that simply mentioning the THC/CBD ratio and strain might not be enough information for less experienced users, so the more information you can provide, the better the chance they’ll buy!
3. Post Specials
If your state allows, you can entice consumers to head over to your dispensary (or website) by posting special deals and discounts on certain products. Rotate these deals regularly. You can post specials on your website’s home page, but you can get more creative, too, in order to expand your reach. Share your specials on social media, via email, or with a text campaign.
4. Create Product Videos
Let’s face it: You can take all the photos of your buds that you’d like, but at the end of the day they all pretty much look exactly alike. These photos aren’t going to help your products stand out from one another (or your competitors).
So, instead, create product videos and post them on each product’s page, as well as on social media and any time you post specials. These videos can be more effective at promoting the unique aspects and benefits of the products.
5. Share Staff Picks
One of the most common questions budtenders get at dispensaries is “What’s your favorite strain?”
“What do you recommend?” is also a very popular question.
These interactions are a perfect opportunity to showcase the right products that your customers will love. Unfortunately, these interactions are lost if customers aren’t physically in your store.
The good news is that you can recreate this common scenario by featuring local budtenders on your website and on social media. Have them share their favorite products and recommendations for common medical conditions. People believe people more than they believe ads, so staff picks are a great way to bring authenticity to your brand while helping you sell more of your top products.
6. Tap into Consumers’ Senses
Buying cannabis products online is tough since you can’t rely on many of your senses. In a dispensary, consumers can not only see but also often touch and smell the products, which may sway their buying decisions.
While we’re in the midst of a pandemic, you can still try to tap into your consumers’ other senses by giving them vivid descriptions of your products that will make them feel like they’re smelling the bud themselves.
Just think of how wine connoisseurs describe the different aromas and tastes of various wines, and use the same tactic for your cannabis products.
7. Share Food and Drink Recipes
Get consumers’ creative wheels turning by giving them great ways to use your products. Cannabis oils aren’t all that exciting on their own, but they can be transformed into delicious treats and drinks or turned into soothing CBD skincare lotions!
Share recipes for foods, drinks, and other recipes that your consumers can easily create using your products. It’ll help the products come to life.
8. Partner with Your Manufacturers
Your manufacturers have a stake in your business success, so they might be willing to help you showcase their products. Consider partnering with the bong, pipe, and vape brands you sell to create how-to videos. Your options are limitless: You can show users how to properly care for accessories or how to pack a bowl the right way. You can also review different products from the same manufacturer to help people make buying decisions.
With a partnership like this, everyone wins.
9. Partner with a Cannabis-Friendly Marketing Agency
You have a lot on your plate, and digital marketing might not be your strong suit. Partnering with a cannabis-friendly marketing agency like Mary Jane Marketer is the easiest way to differentiate your cannabis brand online and start showcasing your products, so you can keep selling during the pandemic. Book a consultation today.