Anyone want to talk CANNABIS MARKETING?

High Everyone!

I am a cannabis marketer with a few of my own sites plus I do work for other cannabis clients. Mostly graphics and video but I am getting more and more into SEO, PPC, Content, etc.

If there is anyone else who wants to communicate and exchange ideas on how we can promote cannabis online better I am always up for a chat.

Im based out of Canada where cannabis is fully legal but only if you buy it from the government.

am not the government. i operate in what we call the free market zone here.

Cheers,

B

Do you work with US companies as well?

I'm a developer from denver. I've been around and behind the scenes in this industry for the whole ride. All of it. Many friends are growers. Lived in houses where basement is all plants , all the time, and we have to call everyone we know to come help with trim sessions. I've had long conversations with dispensary owners about the problems with their sales/inventory/etc software choices,, things like that. I've got some insights lol.

I did a bit of SEO to dispensaries here in Los Angeles back a few years ago when it was still legal for medical use.

Mainly boosting listings from weedmaps on the serps

The market has since changed greatly here and become extremely over saturated, there is a shop on every corner now.

Competition is crazy and big brands have emerged.

Curious to see how the market is in CA

Oh, and welcome to the forum. Be sure to read and follow the rules here
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Zed32 said:

I'm a developer from denver. I've been around and behind the scenes in this industry for the whole ride. All of it. Many friends are growers. Lived in houses where basement is all plants , all the time, and we have to call everyone we know to come help with trim sessions. I've had long conversations with dispensary owners about the problems with their sales/inventory/etc software choices,, things like that. I've got some insights lol.

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All ears about that, ive just boarded my first dispensary and got them credit/debit processing.
Banking is on its way.
Tomorrow Im hopefully placing them in a credit facility for offering suppliers/stores and such net 60 terms which Im hearing is not too common so hoping to capitalize on that.

Thanks for the messages, everyone. It looks like I've been missing out on some good conversations. Like I mentioned I do freelance marketing for black market cannabis companies here in Canada, plus I run a same-day delivery service on the side as well. The country went fully legal over a year ago but the government decided they wanted to control the industry and made it impossible for the small player/grower etc to get into the market. They instead let these huge companies with investor money come and build these huge cannabis factories that produce shit weed. Within 15 minutes of my place, there are over 3 million sq ft of cannabis factories running on robotics. But the grassroots users have avoided the government stores like the plague up here and the cannabis stocks have plummeted by 2/3 in less than a year. Our black market has since exploded. When I started selling weed online in 2012 we were on the dark web. A few months later I saw the first Google searchable site come up. Within a couple of months, there were a couple dozen of us going at online. It was waaaaay different back then. Today there are hundreds of online sites here in Canada and its super competitive. I need to find ways to promote cannabis online. I don't care how I just need results.

Anyways sorry for the wall of text.

I hear our market is very similar to the California market in size( California population 40 Million is the same as all of Canada) . And it looks like we are following a similar trajectory as far as the weed market goes too.

As for banking, we haven't had the issues the US has. We can use our regular banks as long as they don't know it's for weed. (I sell hobby crafts as far as the bank knows)

And Denver, well you and Califonria are the holy lands as far as 420 is concerned lol. You guys have been pioneering the whole thing for years. I appreciate your input.

I have been learning SEO on own out of necessity, and now have a few clients that I would really like to help.

Curious to hear everyone's stories or experiences as I find it all very interesting.

Cheers,

RUSH420

You got me confused, are ya selling online, or you are promoting other sellers (I'm talking about black market)

The online sites are black market, and you are wondering how to get into that? Or you are wondering how to promote the existing sites?
Who are you trying to sell to and how?
By that I mean is it shipped, pick up, etc? How do they pay? Is it local only? Only within Canada I assume, but region specific?

i had no idea that is how it went down in canada, now i have a bunch of questions for you too

but right now im in a hotel in orlando and just woke up with random heartburn... having difficulty thinking clearly. im gonna go hit up the front desk and try to take care of this real quick lol

I do both actually, I run a local same-day delivery service (web-based ordering with smartphone apps and delivery app for drivers). But in the last couple of years, my main gig is doing online marketing for other online dispensaries that are national in scope. CBD companies too. Things have changed so much in the 7 years I've been promoting cannabis. The market is hyper-competitive now. It takes months for a new site to rank and I need to find better ways to speed this process up if possible. Maybe build a network of friends to help promote our sites better. I'm open to any ideas anyone has at all.

We package and brand all our own products for the delivery service too. Hoping to build out the brand nationally at some point

Cheers

RUSH420

RUSH420 said:

I do both actually, I run a local same-day delivery service (web-based ordering with smartphone apps and delivery app for drivers). But in the last couple of years, my main gig is doing online marketing for other online dispensaries that are national in scope. CBD companies too. Things have changed so much in the 7 years I've been promoting cannabis. The market is hyper-competitive now. It takes months for a new site to rank and I need to find better ways to speed this process up if possible. Maybe build a network of friends to help promote our sites better. I'm open to any ideas anyone has at all.

We package and brand all our own products for the delivery service too. Hoping to build out the brand nationally at some point

Cheers

RUSH420

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Being that this is not regulated market or black, and local delivery, wouldn’t you make good headway with a large push for a referral program from existing customers, community based marketing.

you can even kill two birds and offer a new product/service as the reward. Pretty much retargeting your customers while they refer for you.

Yes we use a "Reefer a Friend" program and it works fairly well. Word of mouth marketing is really strong for us. We have a points program as well which also works well. The all the usual swag shirts, stickers, etc.

Im more interested in Google Ads right now. We have had problems getting out ads by the censors and they get taken down ina day or two. We are trying to not use any words like weed etc now and that seems to be working better.

Hey B,
Yah cannabis is a big product for us. We do display ads targeted to people who walk into dispensaries. We use a product that targets people who walk in there (we grab the ad id's from their phones as they walk in) then we show display ads to them not only on their phones but also their computers at home and work after they leave to direct them to the dispensaries that we're marketing for. It's sort of a physical retargeting if you will... We have very little pushback from the display advertising networks and get some great results. Cannabis is a big industry for marketing.

If anyone else wants to try it just let me know, I'll get you in at no cost. Just here to help!

Chris Ormiston said:

Hey B,
Yah cannabis is a big product for us. We do display ads targeted to people who walk into dispensaries. We use a product that targets people who walk in there (we grab the ad id's from their phones as they walk in) then we show display ads to them not only on their phones but also their computers at home and work after they leave to direct them to the dispensaries that we're marketing for. It's sort of a physical retargeting if you will... We have very little pushback from the display advertising networks and get some great results. Cannabis is a big industry for marketing.

If anyone else wants to try it just let me know, I'll get you in at no cost. Just here to help!

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Thanks Chris! I am interested in taking this to the local dispensaries in Edmonton. Do you have analytics or stats?

RUSH420 said:

Thanks Chris! I am interested in taking this to the local dispensaries in Edmonton. Do you have analytics or stats?

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RUSH420 said:

High Everyone!

I am a cannabis marketer with a few of my own sites plus I do work for other cannabis clients. Mostly graphics and video but I am getting more and more into SEO, PPC, Content, etc.

If there is anyone else who wants to communicate and exchange ideas on how we can promote cannabis online better I am always up for a chat.

Im based out of Canada where cannabis is fully legal but only if you buy it from the government.

am not the government. i operate in what we call the free market zone here.

Cheers,

B

Click to expand...

Hello local cannabis entrepreneur,

I am from B.C Canada, have been operating in the cannabis space for 10+ years.. started out selling dim bags.. moved into dispensaries and online world real quick and expanded across Canada. been a crazy 7,8 years of major changes, sounds like you have been through it all as well.

Since legalization last year, we have went full blown online and closed down our stores. but like you said its super competitive out there, seems like a new site is popping up every day lol

I have spoke with a few different marketers on this platform and hired one plus engaging with another hand full. I will share there contacts if you like.

The Google My Business campaign that sounded like a sweet idea.. just pricey. Have you guys done that yet?

James Wong said:

Hello local cannabis entrepreneur,

I am from B.C Canada, have been operating in the cannabis space for 10+ years.. started out selling dim bags.. moved into dispensaries and online world real quick and expanded across Canada. been a crazy 7,8 years of major changes, sounds like you have been through it all as well.

Since legalization last year, we have went full blown online and closed down our stores. but like you said its super competitive out there, seems like a new site is popping up every day lol

I have spoke with a few different marketers on this platform and hired one plus engaging with another hand full. I will share there contacts if you like.

The Google My Business campaign that sounded like a sweet idea.. just pricey. Have you guys done that yet?

Click to expand...

How does that work? You can sell/ship cannabis in Canada? Im trying to attack the market here financially and would like to learn about CA issues in finance, such as taking payments, banking, loans, etc.

I am also interested in marketing cannabis. Specifically I am looking for SMS shortcode to reach potential buyers by cell phone. I like this approach because as a delivery service I can reach people while they are out and about, shopping, etc. Also, it is the new wave in marketing. I am currently with Grouptexting.com which uses longcodes to reach potential cannabis customers. Looking for shortcode provider that allows cannabis/marijuana marketing, but have not found one yet. I was referred to textmunication.com by google as a marijuana industry specific start-up, but was informed by them that a law called SHAFT compliance pushed them out of this industry. Any suggestions? I have also signed up with Nexmo, but am not savvy regarding using their platform, I find it too tech and I am not tech savvy. Thanks!

Yeah sure, this is an interesting niche.

Mike Sanders said:

PM me, thanks!

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