Colorado is at the forefront of a new and booming industry in the U.S. The Washington Post reported recently that in 2014, the state saw $700 million generated through retail marijuana sales, nearly half of which came through the recreational market. The state projects that sales will skyrocket to $1 billion, generating $94 million in tax revenues, by 2016. Entrepreneurs who have taken the leap into the unpredictable and quickly evolving business of legal marijuana are uniquely positioned to capitalize on the trend toward increasing legalization and the opportunity it brings to fill a long-suppressed consumer appetite. Now, when the industry is in its infancy, is prime time to establish your Colorado cannabusiness as a leader and a trusted brand.
To establish your company as an industry leader, you need to be able to communicate your value and expertise to your target audience. One of the best ways to do this is through a comprehensive digital marketing strategy. Digital marketing encompasses your website, SEO practices, social media activities, blog, eBooks, email marketing, and any other ways you reach out to potential customers online. In a recent article in its Cannabis Business Marketing Series, Leafly recommended several digital strategies for marketing marijuana businesses.
One of these strategies is to create compelling content that satisfies the public’s growing curiosity about marijuana. The proliferation of legalization movements, increasing insight into medicinal benefits, and a vast array of new products all create a thirst for the most current knowledge about these subjects. You can educate and become a trusted advisor to your audience by sharing your specialized knowledge through your website, your blog, your social media posts, and downloadable eBooks.
Following SEO best practices is vital to getting your website and its outstanding content found through search engines. Most people never scroll past the first page of Google results, so it’s important to do all you can to rank as highly as possible. Leafly cautions that SEO strategy can become quite complex, so while it is beneficial for every business owner to understand and address the basics, outside agencies can be useful for implementing higher-level SEO tactics.
Building an email list is a critical element of your digital marketing strategy. It allows you to connect more directly with your leads and current customers and share information tailored specifically to them. You can keep your contacts up to date on events, specials, and any other news you’d like to share. One great way to build your email list is to present valuable downloadable offers, such as eBooks or coupons, that visitors can access after filling out a brief contact form.
Like any business owner, you will want to know what kind of return you are getting for your investment in digital marketing. In order to understand and maximize the return on your digital marketing investment, you will need to be able to track and analyze your website traffic, social media engagement, lead generation, and other metrics. This is another area in which a marketing professional can be of great service. Understanding just how well each piece of your marketing approach is working gives you the power to hone your strategy into an increasingly effective revenue-driving tool.
Blue Frog Marketing has locations in Denver and Des Moines and welcomes the opportunity to serve the needs of Colorado’s legal cannabis industry. Contact us to find out how we can help you to distinguish your business as a leader and a trusted authority in this rapidly growing field.