The online CBD industry is shaping up to look like a modern-day gold rush of sorts, with projections that the industry could exceed $20 billion by 2024. With growth, though, comes competition. Here are some ways to promote your CBD business online and find new customers in a rapidly growing field.
Cannabidiol may have entered the mainstream, but that doesn’t mean every consumer or would-be customer knows exactly what CBD is or what it can do. Tackling specific topics related to the benefits of CBD oil could help grow your bottom line.
Examples include:
The COVID-19 pandemic has more Americans looking for ways to improve their health. Fulfilling this knowledge gap is one way to grow your CBD business online.
Regardless of what industry you’re in, online marketing and social media now go hand in hand. This is where people’s eyes are when they’re online, so being active and original on at least one platform is a good way to stand out.
Promoting your CBD business online doesn’t mean you have to be everywhere at once. In fact, it’s probably best practice to invest your time and money in just one or two platforms. Trying to be everywhere at once can be exhausting, and may result in watered-down efforts.
Similarly, another best practice when you first start promoting is to invest in only one or two forms of media at a time. Video, blog articles, and audio (i.e. podcasts) all offer wonderful benefits. But focusing on one will help you create better content that your audience will be more likely to engage with.
Online payments can make or break any internet business. Today’s consumers are used to (if not demanding) one-click payments and other convenient methods. Internet CBD merchants who acknowledge this and plan accordingly stand to move ahead of the competition that doesn’t.
CBD businesses can sell products that contain .3% or less THC. Some vendors that make online payments simple consider CBD companies a high-risk investment for this reason. Learn more about how Pinpoint Payments can boost your CBD merchant processing systems online.
One way to stand out in a crowded, ever-growing market is to market in places where trust is established. Influencer marketing is one good example.
Influencer marketing means using established influencers (on social media, at industry trade shows, etc.) to market and promote your products.
Ideas include:
Established influencers typically get paid, receive exposure, or get products for their time and efforts.
Increasing traffic through search engine optimization is a high-leverage, long-term strategy for growth.
Tailoring content to specific keywords, optimizing your website for speed and mobilization, and offering value to readers who consume your content helps increase authority in the eyes of Google and other search engines.
Unlike social media, you might not see results for several months when promoting your CBD business online through SEO. But you’ll receive more consistent traffic over time without having to pay for things like ads, guest spots, or influencer bookings.
Social media can make email marketing feel antiquated, but even in 2021 it should still be an essential part of promoting your CBD business online.
Here’s why: email marketing and promotion is the only strategy you retain total control over. The rest of your marketing efforts--social media, search engine optimization--rely on third-parties like Google and Facebook.
Should something happen to either of them in the future, or should a major update come along to the search engine’s algorithms (which has happened on Google), you may find your marketing efforts drop off effectively overnight. Email marketing is a solid way to hedge your bets and increase loyalty with your existing customer base.