It’s an exciting and fascinating time to build a business in the cannabis industry.
Changes in legislation are opening up new avenues to reach consumers. The public is becoming more mature and discerning about their relationship with the product.
According to some analysts, the global cannabis market is expected to exhibit growth of 32% between 2021 and 2028. As such, building your brand now can see you capturing a significant amount of consumer attention.
Part of the issue with a booming industry is a lot of entrepreneurs are keen to engage. Competition certainly isn’t a bad thing. But it does mean you need to work harder to reach your audience and maintain your growth.
One effective way of approaching this is to market your brand as a clear expert in this thriving but underexplored sector.
This isn’t always easy to achieve, particularly with a product as dependent on tastes and trends as cannabis. So, let’s take a look at some of the ways you can approach marketing your company as an authority.
Leverage Your Professionalism
One of the most important components of the cannabis industry today is the continued need to legitimize it. In many ways, you’re battling against historical biases built on inaccurate perceptions. As such, it’s important to present high levels of professionalism and customer care as primary elements of your brand identity.
This doesn’t mean your company needs to be bland or even overly serious. But you do need to be able to demonstrate that your consumers can trust you to deliver the best quality cannabis products safely.
Alongside creating a fun and relaxed atmosphere, you need to make sure images and videos of your premises show it is clean, well-maintained, and accessible. Ensure your website is easily navigable and that members of staff are on hand to provide clear and unbiased advice.
Behind-the-scenes looks into your operation can be key in this regard. Produce content in which you discuss the botanical sciences behind your cultivation procedures.
Show images and videos of the safety components involved with your growing operation. Highlight what steps your company takes to make improvements in your product and what considerations go into your quality control procedures.
Promote Health and Wellbeing
There’s nothing wrong with demonstrating the recreational uses of cannabis. Much like any other consumable or gourmet product, there are a variety of ways your customers can engage with cannabis simply for their enjoyment. However, your authority as a brand can be enhanced by showing you have a good understanding of the ways your product benefits consumers’ health and wellbeing.
You can find your authority is emphasized when you take an educational approach. Health literacy is an important tool for patients to maintain and advocate for their wellbeing. Yet, the majority of Americans struggle with it.
As a cannabis brand, you can produce literature on the various physical and mental health benefits of products in your industry. Highlight the different methods of consumption and how products like CBD oil can be incorporated into daily health practices.
You may also find it effective to offer your expertise as part of community outreach events. Get involved with health education organizations in your local area either as a sponsor or education provider.
The events you engage with don’t have to be specifically about cannabis. In fact, providing your insights as part of wider community health efforts demonstrates how it can be a tool in general wellness. The most important part is you’re positioning your brand as an advocate for public health initiatives. This can boost your authoritative reputation.
Showcase Your Expertise
Content marketing is often at its most powerful when it highlights you as an expert in your field. As such, your actions to position your brand as an authority can benefit from making smart content choices. You need to showcase your valuable insights into the various aspects of your product.
Your website should include a blog that provides in-depth discussions related to your business.
It can be wise to have members of your staff from different areas of your operation to write articles about their specialist subject. This could include your technicians discussing how light impacts the chemical profile of your plants.
You can involve your sales staff in producing reviews and recommendations. Even your compliance manager may be able to offer fascinating insights into the development of industry legislation.
Wherever possible, you should go multimedia with your content. This exposes your expertise to a wider audience. Podcasts remain a popular approach to long-form discussions.
Team up with other experts in your field to capitalize on one another’s positions of authority. Ethnobotanists can help you discuss the role of plant medicines in society. Therapists can talk about how cannabis is increasingly featured in mental health care.
Post all of these materials regularly on your social media channels. This ensures your audience is drawn to prove that your brand is an authority in your field.
Conclusion
The cannabis industry is undergoing rapid growth. Marketing your brand as an authority in your field can help you maintain a competitive edge and cultivate a solid reputation.
Make certain you lean into the image of your company as a highly professional contributor to the industry. While recreational use is great, highlighting the wellness benefits shows you have an understanding of how cannabis can improve lives.
Importantly, make sure you use content marketing in a way that best showcases your company’s expertise on the subject. This is a fascinating and enriching sector to be an entrepreneur in; it’s worth taking the time to push your brand to the forefront.
