Love is in the air, but so are corporate partnerships that deliver mutually beneficial brand building opportunities! As operators look to capitalize on Valentine’s Day as the next big cannabis shopping holiday, we want to help you bolster your budding friendships with other partners in the industry to execute a successful season. For both cultivators and retailers and everyone in between, here are some of our ideas when reaching out to build relationships and see your business bloom this Valentine’s Day.
Leave Them Wanting More
An area of opportunity that may be overlooked is the exit bag. While of course these strict regulations on cannabis make the exit bag necessary, it doesn’t mean the exit bag has to be boring. State regulations vary on what defines an exit bag but if your area allows for an exit bag to be decorative or feature logos, this is a key opportunity for the dispensary customers to bring a bit of your brand home with them. This could be something as simple as a sticker or business card driving to your website or social, or it could be something more timely and exciting like a valentine’s day card to show you care.
Sweet Nothings
There’s a reason babes who ball on a budget have the saying ‘if it’s free it’s for me’. Sampling builds brand authority, just ask anyone who’s impulse purchased something at Costco because they got a sample. Sampling is a tried-and-true tactic that works in traditional retail and can absolutely work within cannabis. For cultivators, building out half gram pre-rolls to sample flower or single packs of gummies can be a cheaper way to sample a larger product sample. Working with dispensary partners to do a ‘spend X, get Y for $0.01’ is a great spend incentive to drive either your product or an overall higher average order. These cheap and cheerful promos can encourage brand affinity for both the retailer and the brand. There is a buy-in on the producer’s end to be able to cover the expense for packaging, but it can be a good investment if the promotion is well received.
Save the Date
Shopping seasons are a key time to bust out the brand ambassadors. Cultivators and producers can be proactive to work with dispensary operators to get pop-ups on the schedule and drive excitement around the in-store activation. Pop-ups benefit both the retailer and the distributor by offering education, non-medicated swag, and a physical presence in the store. Unfortunately, pop-ups aren’t always communicated well to the community which results in low attendance and even lower levels of interest. Both the brand and dispensary can take it on themselves to go on social media to promote, the brand ambassador themselves may have a brand-specific social following to utilize and budtenders can encourage shoppers to return during the pop-up hours. Light lifts like these can drive an incredible amount of engagement which directly builds sales. Everyone wins!
Go Dutch
One of our favorite partnership opportunities in business (and just a good practice in life) is to split the bill with your partner. Looking locally, there may be opportunities for print, radio, and OOH ads that can be co-branded opportunities for both the dispensary and brand. Something as simple as ‘purchase this edible at this store’ drives a clear call to action to the community and connects the brand and retailer together in the consumer’s mind. Marketing budgets are tight and 280E and taxes make it so all cannabis operators must pinch pennies and stretch their budgets as far as possible. Split the bill, drive a clear call to action, and own the narrative of the community that the best products are available at the best dispensary.
Love Letters and DTR
For even more affordable partnership options, turn to the website and social presence to collaborate with partners. Retailers often have larger email and loyalty followings while brands may have a larger social following. This creates the opportunity to do balanced touchpoints across multiple areas to further drive the partnership with your pals for the season. Retailers can include shoutouts to the brand in their email or text messages to shoppers, showcasing them as a premiere product. Brands can create social features showcasing their in-store display at their favorite retailer. This all creates a synergistic relationship that defines the relationship as best friend status- or trusted partners for the stakeholders out there.
However you partner with your pals this Valentine’s Day season- remember, this is a holiday invented by greeting cards to drive revenue. Get in on the action and get a slice of the pie.
For more strategic opportunities to conquer the cannabis landscape in your community, connect with our team at MJ Platform. Our software can be your partner to leverage for this and so many more opportunities while saving you time, money, and bandwidth. Gift yourself a free personalized live demo of the platform by clicking here.
