The CBD Marketing Guide: How to Stand Out in a Fast-Growing Industry

August 22, 2019
by Deanitra Kuminka

I always find it amazing how fast CBD distributors pop up as soon as it becomes legalized. That brings about the question of how to get your business to stand out ahead of the others? 

Buying your place in the line

While it can be useful in the short-term, buying your place with Google and other search engines has a value when a new consumer starts a search for CBD, but the last thing you want is to remain forever tied to that artificial ranking. You want to eventually earn your place on that list by way of natural customer activity. That kind of ranking won’t go away as quickly.

Pull organic practices into your marketing

Yes, organic marketing is a thing! Organic practices include establishing your CBD brand as a source of knowledge and trust…in other words, integrity. That kind of reputation building creates a long-lasting impression on your current customers and ones to come. Think of it this way; instead of saying “I sell CBD, so buy from me,” you should instead be spreading why buying CBD from your company is the best choice. You don’t just blurt it out a thousand times, though. Organic marketing is a more subliminal approach. Let’s explore how!

Blogs

Start a following with blogs on your website to entertain and inform your audience of current and future customers. In these blogs, you demonstrate your expertise and enhance the knowledge to your audience about CBD and a little about your product. Some blog topics may include:

  • Legal advancements of CBD in the general area and your expanding market 
  • The newest research of CBD and what it means to users
  • Specific uses of CBD (specifying anecdotal and officially recognized)
  • Oil vs. tincture vs. cream
  • Voice of your customer by way of testimonials

That list is just a start, for I’m sure you can come up with a few more. Your goal is to bring customer traffic to your website and encourage those visitors to spend time reading and being inspired to try your product. There are different benefits beyond the obvious to this behavior. First, once you establish your blog as one of value to your audience, readers begin to look forward to your next words of wisdom, and they share it with their friends. By reading your blog, your readers may wish to explore your website some more, look up your products, and check some pricing. You have a captive audience at this point, Now is your opportunity to point their direction to make a purchase. Another way to encourage time on your website from your blog is to link other pages on your website within the blog as part of that gentle guide to stick around.  

Be the buzz on social media

Social media is now a way of life for the majority of your customer base. Users of all ages have found their way to social media, so you want to make sure your CBD marketing has a strong presence on all relevant platforms and groups, wherever your customers congregate online.

You can purchase ads on social media, or you can build a following yourself with a business page and make posts yourself. Just as you share something cool on your social media page, others will start sharing your business posts, too. Again, think of ways to interest and engage your audience. 

Another purpose of social media is to get your audience to your website. For example, you may accomplish this by announcing the posting of your latest blog with just a little teaser on the post and a link to that blog article. Other potential hooks are promotions and new product announcements to your line. You don’t want to give them too much, because you want them going to your website, so give them just a taste. You can give them a brief description along with a link to that product on your website to see more. Any post or announcement to drum up excitement and action leads to a successful social media post. Just think of the kinds of posts that you react to as your guide.

Email marketing still works

Email is still one of the top producers of ROI when it comes to marketing. For one, email marketing is used to announce new blogs to your readers. Just like social media, you use email to drum up interest and a visit to your website. Provide only a taste of what is to come once they click that button that takes them to your site to read the entire blog. Next, just like social media, you can use email as a perfect way to announce any promotions and announcements. You can use your website to build your following and collect emails of customers interested in learning more.

Another thing to consider is that a part of your customer base may not be as active on social media as they are on email. You want to keep your customers up to date, so definitely keep email on your CBD marketing plan.

Boost your search engine optimization (SEO)

This is where the rubber hits the road. All of this talk so far about getting readers to your website by way of blogs or emails is all about boosting your SEO, which is how people find you. When someone is looking on Google about CBD oil and where they can find it, your SEO influences your ranking in those search results. Of course, you can pay for a position, but your rank remains as long as you continue paying every month. 

With organic marketing, your CBD company finds its way to the front page by a combination of factors, including your website content and the activity on your site. The content on each page and the time spent on your website by your customers justifies the relevance according to search engines. The algorithms take care of the rest. 

When your company’s name achieves placement on the list naturally (organically) for the specific keyword searches, it has staying power without the ransom demands of the search engine ads. Keeping your audience active on your website maintains (and raises) your presence. That’s why the blogs and emails are bringing customers to visit and spend time on your website. To see a perfect example of organic SEO at work successfully, google “organic marketing agency” right now. Joseph Studios is right there underneath the ones that are paying for their place. We got there with organic marketing, too.

Backlinks

Backlinks are the final piece of the puzzle with organic marketing. These are shared opportunities to post a link to your site from another company’s website. Many companies barter posting to promote each other to a new audience that shares similar interests. As a CBD company, you may swap backlinks with a natural supplement or holistic healing company as a way of promoting each other.

Another backlinks example is within a conversation thread. I’m talking about participating in a conversation that, for example, is speaking about the benefits of CBD and suggesting your business as a reputable source for quality products at just the right moment, just as a happy customer would recommend you over anyone else. 

Finding that CBD marketing partner

Now, the techniques mentioned are valid in most types of businesses, and we wanted to bring CBD into the forefront of practices since it is a new beginning for many entrepreneurs. Joseph Studios has a foothold in building the brands of CBD and cannabis companies.  If you are looking for your business to shine above the rest, contact us today. The Joseph Studios team is aware of the legal implications/considerations to be mindful of that may catch a less experienced marketing firm by surprise.  Organic cultivation matched with organic marketing – what’s not to like?

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