Cannabis Works Better with Education

by | BLOG, Dispensary Marketing, Waiting Room Content

Educating consumers and patients isn’t just key to selling cannabis products and ensuring a safe, positive experience- it’s also crucial to keep them coming back and turning them into loyal patrons.

As a cannabis dispensary or brand, you don’t have an all-access pass to traditional marketing opportunities. The dreaded social media account shut-down and lack of mainstream advertising are real struggles for cannabis marketers.

This is where engaging educational content can fill that void. It doesn’t violate social media terms and it can reach your audience where they already are – in the dispensary.

Cannabis consumers are out there searching for reliable information and when you give that to them, it builds trust and loyalty to your brand.

An Educated Customer is a Loyal Customer

You want to make sure you’re creating a memorable and positive experience from the second your customers discover you, to the moment they walk in the dispensary and interact with your brand and staff, then to any follow-up opportunities to keep them coming back.

1. Build Awareness

First impressions matter, so provide valuable educational information before they enter your doors. Establishing your brand as a reliable source of cannabis information is a great way to attract customers. This is done with strategic educational content marketing on social media and the web. An SEO wizard is highly recommended to set you apart from the noise. This is also key to attracting new patients and customers who may be timid to ask questions or aren’t sure what products to try. Providing them with reliable science-based information before they walk in the door can help them make these decisions and also cut down time with the budtender.

 

2. Ensure Excellent Experience

Once you’ve got customers coming in the door, the entire retail experience should be about your brand. In most cases, you’ve got a waiting room and a captive audience. Here is another great opportunity to engage them with educational information as well as broadcast your promos and products. Ideally, the waiting room screen is your own custom content network.

 

The staff / customer interaction is an incredibly important marketing tool as well. How well is your staff trained on cannabis and the products? Budtenders are the frontline sales people in a dispensary and if they’re not training properly, your customers are going to notice. Their knowledge and education can also directly affect your bottom line.

3. Give them a reason to come back

Regular engagement with your current customers is an excellent way to keep them coming back – and encourage them to refer their friends to your brand. In a recent survey, 43% of women indicated that recommendations are one of the first things that draws them to a new brand. Think about the exponential marketing power you’ve got at your fingertips. By continuing to provide them engaging cannabis content, you become their trusted resource. Once trust is built, you’ve got the opportunity to introduce them to new products and cannabis experiences which can ultimately drive sales and increase customer loyalty.

 

Videos that introduce customers to new cannabis experiences can be used to up-sell products.

Want to learn more about educational content strategy for your cannabis brand?

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including copying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author.

Copyright © 2019-2022 ONWARD CONTENT