The cannabis digital marketing strategy you apply to your dispensary can make or break your business. And believe us, it makes all the difference when you have a team specialized in the subject.

If you want to enter the digital marketing world with a cannabis dispensary, you should know that you have mere seconds to capture a person’s interest, but it is possible. And doing it right has tremendous rewards.

Digital advertising is one of the most effective ways to promote your cannabis business because people are already searching for cannabis online, and you want to show up in those searches. So, what do you need to know about how to market your cannabis dispensary?

In simple terms, SEO – search engine optimization – is the process of improving the quality and quantity of traffic to a website or web page from search engines. SEO focuses on unpaid traffic.

So, when your site ranks well organically on Google, it will inevitably get noticed by more people, which translates into potential customers 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.

You have to be where your potential customers are: online and searching for information on mobile and desktop.

Google is the dominant search engine, and appearing on the first page of Google will get more people to your site organically. Which eventually – with a good product and page – translates into customers.

But, to be successful in getting leads month after month requires a holistic SEO strategy implemented over the long term and leveraging various tactics, such as some of the ones we show you below.

Local SEO refers to another different aspect of digital marketing. While content is the key to getting your site to rank in Google organically, getting your cannabis dispensary website listed in Google’s Local Pack requires a different marketing approach.

Google shows the top three local results, known as a local pack. Local packs show three sites with their review rating, address, phone number, hours, links to each website, and driving directions link.

Local SEO involves using specific keywords to help you reach a local audience, i.e., in a specific location on a map. Appearing on this map has its trick, and it’s related to different points:

• Geographic signals
• Citations
• Proximity to the center of the city where the cannabis business is located
• Domain authority of your website

Citations are other websites, aka virtual directories or review sites, that list your cannabis dispensary with the same name, address, and phone number – NAP.

For example, suppose you’re trying to reach potential customers who live in or around the Boston area. In that case, you could use local keywords and phrases like “cannabis dispensary in Boston” or “Boston dispensary” and try to rank for them.

It’s very important that your dispensary data is consistent across as many pages as possible, as Google uses NAP consistency across dozens of websites as a sign of trust that you are who you say you are.

One option to strengthen Local SEO is to optimize your Google My Business profile for your dispensary’s location. Google My Business is a free tool for owners to manage the location and details of their cannabis dispensaries on Google maps.

Maintaining a Google My Business profile is imperative to cannabis marketing success. Follow these simple recommendations to get started:

• Confirm that your business name, address, phone number, and website URL are correct.
• Use the same address format throughout.
• Include hours of operation and special hours.

• • Choose the right business category.
  • Write an optimized description (this will also help you with Google Maps).

• Mention if your cannabis dispensary is recreational, medical, or both.

As mentioned, online directories are also a very useful way to get customers. But you must be careful that your information is always up to date and correct.

Can you use Google Maps to help market your dispensary? Yes, you can. Used correctly and strategically, Google Maps can play an important role in your dispensary’s digital marketing strategy.

When we talk about Google Maps, it’s not only essential to keep in mind the specific location where your dispensary is located, but also to include the names of nearby towns or cities that your dispensary serves or a geographic radius – in miles or kilometers – from your physical location.

The description of your cannabis dispensary is also critical. Think of this as the cover letter for your dispensary and products.

Getting comments and reviews on Google’s platform also helps search engines to rank you correctly, as well as gives more confidence to future buyers interested in your dispensary.

To achieve this, you can ask directly – and in a friendly way – the customers of your dispensary. Offer promotions for those who leave reviews, take advantage of email marketing to remind customers to leave their ratings, and much more. It’s a matter of creativity.

Having an online menu on your dispensary’s website is key to facilitating ordering and generating more confidence in potential customers. This is the main way to showcase the products you offer.

Consumers are more likely to buy if there is a good image associated with the product. Also, if you have good images of your products, you can use them not only on the product itself but they will be useful on special offers, blog posts, social media, and email marketing.

There are many technical aspects of a website that are also important and that search engines take into account when ranking it. In general, the entire website should be designed with SEO in mind and be user-friendly.

Technical aspects of your dispensary’s website that can boost your search engine rankings include:

• On-page markup
• Load time
• Site Security
• Server performance and site speed
• Site maps
• Internal link building

Quality Content

Content is what will ultimately attract or scare away potential consumers. The content must be of quality, that is, it must be original, geared towards the target audience and their needs, and it must be creative.

Quality content can be in the form of the following:

• Text
• Blogs
• News
• Images
• Infographics
• Videos
• Podcasts
• Playlists

All content must be clear and generate a connection with users. Your target audience is looking for answers to their questions. If you don’t have content that answers those questions, you have little hope of capturing that traffic organically.

Keyword Research And Optimization

In the world of cannabis SEO, keywords are words and phrases that people usually type when searching for something specific on the internet, specifically related to cannabis or dispensaries.

For dispensaries, it’s essential to think about your niche or target audience and identify what keywords or phrases link your dispensary to them. This is crucial to know what words to use on the website to generate traffic to it.

Social Media Marketing

Social media marketing is a popular strategy to expand your dispensary’s reach and drive more traffic to your brand’s website.

To do social media marketing, you must keep in mind the principles of SEO in general. This includes:

• Creating valuable content
• Posting regularly, quality content
• Generating connections with users
• Using keywords.

The key thing is to capture people’s attention and get them interested in your dispensary. You can also share your website content on your social networks to provide more value and spark even more interest.

Email Marketing

Email marketing is a highly effective tool. Email marketing can be your ally at every stage of the customer relationship:

• Attraction
• Lead nurturing
• Prospecting
• Conversion
• Loyalty generation

It’s also considered one of the most profitable channels within online marketing, but it’s necessary to have a clear and concise content strategy that provides value.

It is perfect for reaching potential customers directly and increases the probability that they will actually see your content and make a sale. For this, you must take into account when to send emails, how often, and with what information.

Email marketing offers the opportunity to speak directly to your audience, creating a connection that gives a feeling of distinction and preference to the recipient. This is very important to generate that bond between the consumer and your cannabis dispensary. You always want to be their first choice, don’t you?

Remember that your customers don’t always have in mind the full range of products you have, and an email can be the ideal tool to remind them of the cannabis products you offer.

As another advantage, sending emails as part of cannabis marketing prevents the customer from forgetting your brand, so when the customer is willing to buy a product or service similar to the one you offer, your dispensary will be the first choice.

Keep in mind that for email marketing to be more successful, your database must be updated and must be a list of contacts that have previously agreed to receive emails.

Perfectly managing the cannabis marketing of a dispensary is an art. But it is possible, and the results are fantastic when the objectives are achieved.

Factors such as SEO, social media, emails, and approaching potential customers make all the difference in making a dispensary stand out from the sea of options in the cannabis market.

It is very important to have a team of experts that can accompany the process and help you get those expected results.