How To Promote CBD Oil
The CBD industry has seen tremendous growth in recent years and with all this growth has come increased public awareness, as well as increased competition.
A successful marketing strategy is more important than ever for those looking to sell cannabidiol (CBD) products. Without the right advertising in the right places, your brand has no way of reaching the customers it needs to grow and thrive into the future.
CBD itself also presents a number of unique issues to the marketing strategist.
In this article, we are going to do a brief exploration of CBD promotion, why it is needed, what pitfalls you should avoid, and how you can begin to think about marketing your CBD products for maximum efficiency.
CBD Marketing Concerns and Issues
It seems fitting to first begin with the main differentiating factor between CBD and most other industries; its legal issues and controversies.
The cannabis industry as a whole has had a long and tumultuous rise to become the behemoth it is today; and while many business owners are joining into, and profiting off of, industries centered around cannabis and hemp products, they are still running into roadblocks and hangups regarding public sentiment and fears.
Large segments of the population in the US and many other countries still take a relatively negative posture towards all hemp – CBD and THC related products. While CBD (also known as cannabidiol, an extract of the hemp plant shown to be effective for a variety of uses), is non-psychoactive (one of the bigger fears) it still carries much of the same stigma.
A good CBD marketing strategy should take this into account when planning ad buys. For example, poorly placed paid ads or ones that put forward the wrong message may cause a backlash and may even get the ads removed – this can happen even if the ad is fully benign. E-commerce companies and those running Facebook ads or advertising on other social platforms can usually target specific customer segments a bit better and may run into these issues less often.
Make sure to pay close attention to the advertising restrictions of the area you are marketing in and the advertising policies of those you are marketing through.
Why You Need to Use CBD Marketing
Now that we have the major concerns out of the way, we can focus on WHY we should advertise our CBD product in the first place and even deal with the possible backlash. Some of these may seem obvious but are worth saying here.
1. Helping Your Brand Stand Out
In a crowded space, differentiating your brand is key to standing out and attracting more customers.
Create surveys, find a niche market, and begin to focus on that group and how they can specifically benefit from your services. By finding a unique voice for your brand, you can increase brand awareness and look much more attractive to a specific population segment than more generic brands.
2. Attract and Retain New Customers
While we covered how you may be able to attract customers with marketing, retaining them is just as important.
Discounts, deals, loyalty rewards, and affiliate programs are all great marketing tactics to keep customers returning and feeling like they are benefiting from the continued relationship.
Used in tandem with a smart marketing campaign, these initiatives can be exponentially effective. Even simple regular newsletters can help boost customer engagement and help you to retain buyers. Do your best to both stay in touch and not annoy your customer base.
Methods of Promotion for CBD Oil
Promoting CBD oil really isn’t much different from promoting most other products; a good landing page and smart digital marketing are necessary of course and once you understand your target audience you just have to talk to them in a way they appreciate.
Having said that, there are some slight nuances with CBD and the various marketing mediums. The following are some basic marketing strategies you could employ for your CBD business.
Focus on SEO
Search engine optimization (SEO) is still one of the primary ways to get buyers on your site. A good SEO ranking on-page and amongst your content will ensure that you can still get traffic without a large investment in advertising. The higher you rank on Google, the higher your on-site number will be.
Since some companies still have issues with CBD brands marketing with them, SEO may also be one of your only means early on to attract customers.
Focus again on niche market segments and strategic keyword options.
Your keywords may also count as marketing and advising materials when dealing with health or disease claims according to the FDA.
Additional Tip: Grow Your Content Marketing
If you have a good SEO plan, then content creation is naturally going to be part of it.
Get suitable high-volume keywords and write gripping articles that can retain readers. Use these media to add depth and context to your brand social media accounts.
Talk about CBD news, health benefits, usage methods, and lifestyle. Doing this regularly (and well, with sourced information) will help your brand become an influential leader in the CBD industry.
This content also ties in well with link building and back-links. Quality content will cause other sources to link to your page, earning you more views and credibility in SEO algorithms.
Give people a reason to link, talk about, and share your content.
Use Influencer Marketing
Since CBD is a crowded market with some limitations as to how it can be advertised, you need to try and focus on a specific target market at the outset.
The best way these days to reach specific market segments is through influencer advertising.
Using social media stars (or at least those with a large following in a related market) you can quickly get your brand in front of thousands of relevant customers. 17% of companies currently claim to spend over half of their marketing budget on influencers. Social media platforms, podcasts, YouTube and more can all be great venues for the right influencers to get the word out.
A great example of this is how many UFC stars are being used to market CBD to athletes and fighters who would normally be hesitant to use hemp products.
Use Email Marketing
Through all of your marketing endeavors always do your best to at least get an email address of potential customers. Many will offer free items or discounts on-site in exchange for this email address.
The reason for this is that having a large list of people who either consider buying your product or have once bought your product, can be a powerful tool. The correct usage of an email list can be surprisingly lucrative and can help you quickly get reviews and attention on new products.
Analytics are the Future
Correctly using analytics and predictive pricing software will be the future of all competitive web-based stores. Starting to work with firms that offer sophisticated analytical options will offer you key information and strategic options as you grow your business.
These analytics will also let you know which ads are doing well, why and where your marketing money is being best spent. Utilize analytics to maximize the return on investment of your marketing.
What Makes for a Good CBD Ad
A good CBD advertisement can come in many shapes and forms. As long as you understand the type of brand you are, the type of customer you are talking to, and what your USP is, it is hard to go wrong.
1. Be true to your brand image.
2. Speak to your customers in a way that resonates uniquely with them.
3. Understand the main selling point of your product(s).
For example, take a lifestyle versus a medical CBD brand. A lifestyle brand will focus more on the culture, activities, and styles of those they are marketing to. A medical brand will focus more on educational content, health studies, and customers of more advanced age.
Marketing CBD online for either type of brand should include digital advertising of multiple mediums and formats.
Another thing to consider is the general ignorance and lack of understanding around CBD.
CBD is listed under names such as cannabidiol, full-spectrum hemp, hemp oils, and more, this only adds to the confusion. Though some may have a positive opinion of it, they may not even know that you are talking about the same product. Consider your target market and their likely knowledge of CBD products.
The Major Selling Points for CBD
One of the key aspects of good CBD advertising is a focus on the positives of the product and how it will directly benefit the customer. CBD companies should focus group their target customers and see where they should focus this attention.
- CBD has been shown to help with chronic pain issues. In fact, more than half of those actively looking to purchase CBD state this as their main goal.
- CBD has also been used widely to help with nausea, and in turn increase appetite. This is especially popular amongst those going through chemotherapy.
- CBD may help with mood. Many studies have been conducted that give good credence to the idea that CBD is effective for mood and hormone management -helping to avoid depression and sadness.
- CBD products hare often used to help alleviate chronic seizures, as well as rare and severe forms of epilepsy.
- By using CBD for these effects, users are often able to avoid relying on more harmful opiates and other pharmacological treatments with adverse health side-effects.
The Major Selling Points for CBD
While this information was very basic, it can still be a lot to put into practice.
As long as you make an effort to reach the correct market segment, and tell them why your product will be great for them, you are off to a good start. The real challenge is maximizing the dollars spent and becoming more effective in your messaging.