7 Marijuana Marketing Trends To Implement For Your Next Online Campaign

marijuana marketing

Kermit The Frog may have famously stated that it isn’t easy being green, but green seems to be many people’s favorite color these days.

Why green?

It’s the color of both marijuana and money, something people across every spectrum seem to adore.

With more states legalizing marijuana, there’s never been a better time to get into the industry with a site of your own.

Whether you’re a grower, run a dispensary, or just want to start a blog detailing the most popular plant for centuries, it’s clear that green is good, as the marijuana industry is absolutely booming, taking in $9 billion in sales last year.

So how can you stand apart from the crowd? Here are seven tips for marijuana marketing to draw more eyes to your content.

1) Establish Your Audience

Before you begin to change the world with your wonderful marijuana marketing strategies, you’ll first need to determine your website’s intended audience.

Every site, regardless of scope and size, needs to establish its audience in order to succeed.

Having a clear idea of who your website is for makes it a lot easier to set the right tone for your copy and content.

So, who would you like to visit your website? Long-time smokers? Newbies? Craft marijuana enthusiasts?

You can target more than one type of audience, but trying to go after everyone is a surefire way to overextend your site.

2) Address Legalization

Perhaps the best way to get eyes on your site is to utilize one of the foundations of journalism: timeliness.

So far, 29 states have legalized marijuana in some capacity. It’s a hot-button issue, thanks in part to acting Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ efforts to repeal legalization.

But this hotbed of controversy is actually a great way to generate content for your site.

Routinely update your website with information on current and future efforts to legalize pot.

You can even create a map of the United States and color it according to whether marijuana has been legalized, hasn’t, or a decision is still being made.

Efforts to legalize marijuana aren’t going to stop anytime soon, so you should have content for years to come.

3) Don’t Pander to Your Audience

Pay close attention, because this is an important tip for anyone dealing with a niche or taboo audience.

There are plenty of stereotypes about those that smoke marijuana, many of them simply untrue. You can do your part to combat outdated stereotypes by avoiding cliches.

From honor roll students to CEOs, millions of people use marijuana or CBD oils. In fact, 55 million people reported using marijuana on a regular basis.

Don’t pander to your audience and talk down to them. Stop painting pictures of a lazy college kid smoking weed in his dorm and skipping class.

If you treat your audience with the respect they deserve, they’ll do the same for you. Your site can have a relaxed, fun-loving attitude, just not at its audience’s expense.

4) Facilitate Conversations With Your Audience

Web content used to be a lot more one-sided. But now, thanks to blogs, vlogs, and social media, it’s easier than ever to connect with your favorite creator.

This is maybe one of the biggest advantages of marijuana marketing in today’s digital world.

You can do your part to establish a great rapport with your audience by facilitating conversations and encouraging feedback.

Talking “at” your audience is an approach, but shareable content tends to perform far better than a monologue.

5) Don’t Count on Google Adwords

Google Adwords is one of the biggest digital marketing tools out there. It gives businesses a way to easily set up PPC (pay-per-click) marketing campaigns and measure their results.

Unfortunately, some industries still aren’t in Google’s good graces, including marijuana.

Don’t count on a PPC campaign, as Google may not even list your site. You’re welcome to try, but you’ll want to keep these few tips in mind if you do.

Don’t mention marijuana in your listing. That includes any word associated with it, including pot, weed, CBD, and the like.

Google is only allowed to market hemp products, so if your site focuses on hemp, play it up in your listing.

Whether or not your site gets listed is ultimately up to the discretion of the review team over at Adwords. It would appear that Adwords’ policy isn’t entirely clear to the team when it comes to marijuana marketing, so your site has a 50/50 shot.

6) Content is King

The crux of any modern day marketing is intelligent, well-crafted content.

And since you can’t rely on the help of Adwords, organic measures like posting content is your best bet at raising your Search Engine Results Pages (or SERPs).

If you’ve never created content for a website before, there are a few easy rules to follow.

Each piece of content created should be relevant to your audience. Imagine going to a finance site and getting information on a sports score. It may be interesting, but it doesn’t fit the site’s aim.

Content needs to be short and skimmable. This is accomplished mainly through headers, bullet points, and smaller paragraphs.

It’s a good idea to mix up your content on a regular basis. Don’t be afraid to experiment with video, Snapchat, and live streaming.

7) Include Links Throughout Content

While content may be king, it can be hard to convince your audience that you know what you’re talking about.

Including links to relevant products and information can quickly establish your website as an authority, boosting your visibility.

If you mention a specific business or product, link to it. For instance, “this CBD oil” isn’t as helpful as “this CBD oil, Charlotte’s Web” or something along those lines.

You can even set up an affiliate marketing deal with the business to earn some extra cash.

Marijuana Marketing Made Easy

It’s clear that marijuana is only going to become more popular as more states legalize it.

Now is the time to incorporate these tips into your marijuana marketing strategy.

And don’t forget to use our helpful SEO tools to learn more great ways to improve your site’s visibility!