Cannabis marketing agencies often find themselves intertwined between red tape and green buds, as marketing in the niche is strictly regulated across global jurisdictions, including the digital landscape. Under these circumstances, thinking outside the box becomes an absolute necessity!
Lately, we came across a cannabis business struggling to acquire new users, and due to this, its financial growth has come to a standstill! What it immediately needed was to revamp its marketing strategy in a completely different way, and we thought of the perfect way to do so.
We channeled the power of social media to expand our outreach among target users. Our primary source of guidance was a proven 7-step social media marketing plan that we had previously devised, tried, and tested among similar clients successfully. In this case study, you’ll know how!
The 7 Most Effective Social Media Tactics
Our 7-step social media marketing plan comprises some of the most cleverly thought out tactics that uniquely work for the cannabis industry, especially considering the strict restrictions it faces towards a traditional marketing approach. Let’s get into the nitty-gritty of these tactics now!
Educational Content Strategy
Since client-business relationships in grey industries like cannabis are usually built on trust and reliability, we mostly emphasized educational social media posts in the beginning. The goal was to educate an audience about cannabis products in general and remove their inherent doubts.
This helped us establish the client’s brand as the authoritative cannabis information platform, which users will frequently visit and rely on to resolve their cannabis-specific queries. More visitors would drive our popularity sky-high among target users.
Paid Social Media Ads
Once we had secured visitors to our social media platforms, the next step was to convert them. For this, we created dedicated social media ad campaigns on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn, as these platforms were cost-effective and got maximum traction among target users.
We ensured the ad content was engaging enough by using media elements such as high-definition product images, video explainers, relevant web page links, and clear, persuasive CTAs to get our worth through maximum conversions.
Community Building
Social media posts and ads could get us traffic and conversions, but long-term gains can only be achieved if we can secure a thriving community of regular followers. To build such a community, we needed to engage with our initial visitors directly on multiple levels.
Some of the engagement tactics we tried at this stage included Q&A sessions, live polls, social posts that sparked conversations in the comments section, live events, trending hashtags, and posting daily stories. We also built dedicated social groups and pages of popular and most sought-after cannabis products.
Influencer Marketing
Self-promotion is not always enough to secure the ultimate confidence of your followers. Most often, you need a trusted third party to sponsor or promote your brand as a user. This is where influencer marketing helps!
We approached several influential and highly followed personalities on social media who often reviewed cannabis brands independently and through paid sponsorships. Upon pitching the client’s products to them, we were able to secure a place on their social media channels, expanding our reach among their followers as well.
Social Media Contests
Communication is a two-way process, even on social media platforms. We did our bit to engage with our audience, but getting the same reciprocated was essential to ensure sustained networking and brand exposure.
Social media contests proved to be of immense help in this context. At regular intervals, our team initiated rewarding contests with general cannabis questions to test the knowledge and interest of our audience. To increase the participant count, we ensured cross-platform promotion and enticing freebies as prizes.
Video Content
Since the inception of social media, video content has been a go-to choice for entertainment and information users alike. We could simply not neglect this channel and lose the opportunity to expand our user base.
We created all sorts of anchor and AI-based video content to post across social media platforms. These included reels, short videos, and long descriptive videos that served different purposes. Our primary target was to expand our user base on video-specific platforms like YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram.
User-Generated Content (UGC)
Cannabis users behave like any other user on an e-commerce platform. They place prime importance on prior user accounts and experience. So, to portray our client’s brand as reliable and a customer’s favorite, we relied on user-generated content.
We shared several user reviews, ratings, and pictures of our products clicked by customers. We also reposted the unboxing videos and stories they shared on their social media channels. These UGCs were the faces of our real-time users and depicted their first-hand accounts and experiences regarding our client’s products.
Key Takeaways
Social media is one of the most powerful tools for marketing brands across the board. You can even achieve a great deal of followers and leads for grey niches like cannabis. That’s because, unlike other promotion platforms like search engines, print media, and broadcast media, which control cannabis advertising, social media allows free advertising for the domain.
The added advantages include cost-effectiveness and the sheer presence of your target audience on common social media platforms.
