Marketing isn’t just difficult- it’s expensive. One of the bigger expenses in your budget is going to be your customer acquisition cost, aka earning new customers. With dispensaries being limited in how they can promote their business paired with razor thin margins, earning new customers is an uphill battle. We sympathize with the struggle and have been there too. Here are some ways you can drive new customers through your doors without breaking the bank.
Bring in the Foodies
They say the way to someone’s heart is through their stomach, and they’re right (whoever they are). Food trucks sometimes have trouble finding places to post up, so your parking lot becomes a key piece of real estate that can help them grow their business while you can grow yours. Look through local festivals and find lists of food trucks (or reach out to your personal favorites, of course!) and send them a message asking if they need places to park and sell. Food trucks thrive off their social followings and will message out that they’re at your location, bringing their fans with them to you. Food trucks can also attract drive-by business. Once they start drawing a crowd, you’ve got your audience ready to come in and pair their lunch with something fun from your dispensary. They may attract people who didn’t even know your location was there- it’s great for locals to discover your location and get a great bite while they do.
Engage in Your Community
We just talked about this recently on our blog, but we love charity as a way to raise awareness of your location and brand. By giving back, you earn positive press and show that you care about your community. In this respect, one of our favorite ways to give back that we talked about in that earlier blog is hosting an animal adoption event. Reach out to a local shelter and have them host an adoption event at your dispensary (or in your adjacent space, parking lot, wherever you can!). Those cute puppies and cats will bring in animal lovers and show that you are a caring organization that loves fuzzy friends.
List Your Events Online
You should be up to date on scheduling pop-ups (and if you’re not, check out our comprehensive guide right here for resources), and you need to be promoting them to bring people in. Outside of listing your pop-ups on your website or pushing them on your Instagram, look for other outlets to promote them. If your region has a weekly culture magazine (Denver has Westword, Oakland has the East Bay Express, etc.) reach out and let them know what you have coming up. If you’re polite and they need support, they may help by listing your event as something happening for that week. You can also list your pop-up events on Facebook as an event or other local outlets. While this may take some emailing and some time to get updated, it’s worth it to promote events happening in your location.
Add a Splash of Color
This one may be tricky and dependent on what your building’s lease allows, but if you are able to, a mural with a local artist or art group can be awesome. Some groups are just looking for walls to paint and may not require payment, so reach out and mingle with local artists who are looking to put their work out there in the world. Murals, especially ones that are bright and Instagram-able can bring over fresh eyes. If you find an artist that wants to collaborate and has a following, their name brand piece may bring in new people. This could also work for college or other 21+ art groups or clubs who are refining their skills and looking for opportunities to create. Plus, it’s pretty!
We love to see cannabis brands winning. For more resources and ways to keep your brand on top, stay tuned to our blog!
