The cannabis industry is booming, and if you’re starting a cannabis brand, you’re entering an exciting space. With more businesses entering the market daily, investing in a cannabis startup has become an increasingly attractive opportunity. Still, it’s essential to understand the unique challenges and opportunities that come with it. Whether you’re a new entrepreneur with tons of cannabis business ideas or someone exploring ways to scale your existing cannabis operation, getting noticed is more important than ever.
Standing out among competitors requires more than just attracting traffic. You need to understand your customer journey and guide them from interested visitors to paying customers and, ultimately, to loyal brand advocates. With the right strategy, you can turn clicks into meaningful conversions. Let’s break down how to build a plan that drives lasting growth for your cannabis startup.
Understanding The Cannabis Market and Customer Needs – Who Are You Serving?
Before you create a cannabis product or run ads, you must first identify your target audience and understand their need states. Cannabis consumers are diverse, and they come from all walks of life. Whether catering to medical users, wellness-focused individuals, or recreational buyers, your marketing approach needs to reflect each group’s unique needs and behaviors. To identify your target audience, start by analyzing your product and the problem it solves, then assess who benefits most from it. Look at your current customers and analyze trends in their demographics, behaviors, and needs. Create detailed buyer personas based on age, income, interests, and purchasing habits. You can also conduct market research by studying competitors, staying up to date with industry trends, and gathering direct feedback from customers through surveys or focus groups.
Building a Brand That Speaks to Your Audience
Once you know your audience, the next step is to build a cannabis branding strategy that resonates with them. Your brand should tell a story instead of just selling products. Consumers want to connect with brands that have a purpose and are aligned with their values.
Consider your startup’s mission, values, and the emotional connection you want to build with your customers. Whether your brand concerns sustainability, wellness, or community, that story must shine through in everything you do.
You’ve launched a cannabis brand focused on ethical sourcing and fair trade practices. How do you position your brand to attract eco-conscious consumers? Share stories of the farmers you work with, explain your commitment to environmentally friendly packaging, and show how your products support local communities. Authenticity is key when aligning with values-driven consumers.
Getting Found Online – Why Digital Marketing is Your Cannabis Startup’s Secret Weapon
In today’s world, visibility is everything—especially in the cannabis industry. Digital marketing is your best friend when it comes to reaching your audience. But it’s not just about being present online; it’s about being found by the right people at the right time.
Work on your cannabis SEO strategy, create a Google My Business profile, and optimize your website for mobile. Start building a solid digital presence to ensure your cannabis startup is easy to find when potential customers search for cannabis products.
Navigating Cannabis Advertising Restrictions
Cannabis is a regulated substance, similar to alcohol and tobacco, which means traditional advertising channels aren’t always available. Before launching any campaigns, it’s essential to understand your State Cannabis Advertising Regulations, including what can be used in ad creatives, required warnings, and license number disclosures.
Unless you operate a CBD business that is legit script certified (for topical CBD only), you won’t be able to advertise on major platforms like Facebook, Instagram, or Google. So, how can you drive traffic and sales without relying on these tools?
While social media ads may be off-limits, there are still effective ways to engage your audience. Influencer marketing, affiliate programs, and email campaigns should all play a role in your strategy. However, the most powerful channel for cannabis marketing is programmatic advertising. This approach allows you to reach 21+ age-verified audiences across mainstream websites and apps they use daily.
Programmatic advertising automates ad placements and targets specific demographics and locations using real-time data. It supports a variety of media formats, including connected TV (CTV), digital out-of-home (DOOH), display ads (banner ads), and more. With programmatic, you can build highly personalized campaigns that resonate with potential customers while ensuring compliance with industry regulations.
By combining these tactics, you can create a cannabis marketing strategy that effectively connects with your community, drives authentic engagement, and helps grow your business in this highly regulated market.
Converting Traffic into Sales – Turning Awareness into Action
Now that you’ve built a solid foundation and are getting traffic, it’s time to focus on conversions. Simply getting visitors to your website doesn’t mean much if they aren’t purchasing.
Optimizing your website for conversions means having a clear path from awareness to action. This involves creating high-converting landing pages, having compelling calls to action (CTAs), and a retargeting strategy to convert curious website visitors into customers. Create a limited-time offer with a promo code for first-time buyers and personalized product recommendations for previous customers to encourage repeat purchases.
Mastering Cannabis Marketing to Drive Growth
Marketing your cannabis startup requires a strategic blend of audience insight, brand storytelling, digital presence, creative advertising, and conversion optimization. It’s not enough to drive traffic; you must ensure that your visitors take action—whether making a purchase, signing up for your newsletter, or sharing your content with their friends.
The cannabis industry is evolving, and as a startup, you can be part of that exciting transformation. By staying creative, authentic, and data-driven, you’ll be able to build a brand that not only survives but thrives in this competitive space.
Author: Jake Litke
Jake is the CEO and Founder of MediaJel. He is a highly regarded leader within the mobile and advertising industry. He was previously the Founder and CEO of Media Cannon, a mobile advertising company. Under Jake’s stewardship, he led the company to a successful exit in 2010. With over 15 years of experience building dozens of successful mobile products and ad-tech platforms serving millions of users, Jake has a proven executive management track record.
Around MediaJel, he’s often considered a walking encyclopedia, and a champion trivia extraordinaire.