Delta 8 Marketing: 5 Simple Steps To Success
While Congress legalized commercial hemp cultivation throughout the U.S. with the passing of the 2018 Farm Bill, the matter of selling hemp-derived Delta 8 products is still a confusing topic.
To avoid facing any legal repercussions, Delta 8 brands need to ensure that they adhere to the rules and regulations set forth by the FDA.
The Challenges of Marketing Delta 8
With the Delta 8 market growing at exponential rates, it may be easy to think that the market is quickly becoming saturated. However, as more and more people began to explore the properties of Delta 8, the demand only continues to increase, making way for new players to join the industry and even find new and inventive solutions for untapped markets.
Stigma
The use of Delta 8 has seen an immense increase in the last couple of years. And while studies have aimed to remove Delta 8 from the shadows of cannabis, some are still wary or unsure of what exactly Delta 8 is.
This paves the way for Delta 8 companies to educate consumers through legitimate science and research-backed content marketing. This serves to help educate consumers, but it will also place businesses in the position of trusted industry leaders.
How to Create Your Delta 8 Marketing Strategy
To best determine where to best market your Delta 8 products, you’ll want to know which markets they best serve.
Know Your Target Audience
Rather than just guessing where your products will get the best reception, brands will find it best to either use existing data to figure out the top-performing customer demographics or perform a competitive analysis.
Which method you choose depends on what stage of marketing you’re brand is in. For example, those starting will want to stick with existing data and use it as a launching point, whereas established brands can benefit from competitive analysis.
Optimize Your Website
In today’s e-commerce world, a web presence can be the difference between success. To ensure your brand can stand out from the buzz, you’ll want to create a website that works for your unique needs.
Brand Positioning
Considering how today’s consumer is served up a constant barrage of data and ads daily, you’ll want to create a brand identity that not just stands out but also sticks.
This is where knowing your target audience comes in. Consider who they are and what they’re looking for. They want a high-quality Delta 8 product. But what else? What separates your brand? What else can you offer that others cannot?
Develop your brand identity and mission carefully. It should reflect your brand philosophies and those of your customers.
Once you’ve developed your brand identity, you’ll want to infuse it into your site, creating a seamless brand story from your product to your packaging, website, tone, etc.
Lead Magnets
One of the best ways to grow your business is to focus on customer retention. You’ll want to attract not just new traffic but also repeat customers. These are your brand advocates.
Through " lead magnets, " a proven digital marketing tactic to keep new or potential customers engaged and thinking of your brand is through “lead magnets.”
These incentives encourage web traffic to exchange their email address for some helpful content. What this content is can vary significantly based on your brand and target audience.
For example, brands can offer a 15% discount on the first order for customers who sign up for email alerts. Another option could be a piece of downloadable digital content, such as a blog or article, or a guide that your consumers can get value from.
If you’re attracting new customers to the Delta 8 industry, you can create a downloadable beginner’s guide to Delta 8.
These lead magnets open the doors for you to initiate email communications with your customers, updating them on special promotions, providing them with further tips and tricks, or retargeting them with a strategic email sequence such as a welcome or abandoned cart email series.
Beware of Restrictions
You may know that some digital advertising can be tricky for Delta 8; after all, you wouldn’t be reading this blog if you didn’t.
However, it can get more complicated than exchanging the word “Hemp” for “Delta 8” in your ads.
You see, that’s because some advertising avenues, such as Outbrain, and even some merchant accounts, will not do business with you if your website talks about Delta 8 or vapes or vapes or has cannabis leaf symbols.
You must read the fine print of your merchant account contract to make sure that there aren’t any precautions or restrictions set forth on your Delta 8 website. It is also essential that you carefully consider your URL to eliminate any chances of your ads being rejected.
Develop a Strong Content Marketing Strategy
One of the most affordable and organic ways to drive traffic through your site is search engine optimization (SEO).
Because of the ever-changing algorithms, this method can be a bit of a trial-and-error situation to get right. But once you do, you will see an excellent return on your investment.
Aside from the low cost of SEO (unless you hire an SEO expert), another benefit is that SEO does not abide by the same strict regulations, unlike paid ads. You still want to avoid making medical or unfounded claims due to legal restrictions, but feel free to use Delta 8-centric keywords to execute this strategy properly.
Keep in mind that SEO keywords will be considered marketing and advertising materials if the FDA is investigating any health or disease claims, so stay compliant.
Blogs
Any good marketer will tell you about the benefits of SEO. Next, you’ll hear about the value that blogs have on your SEO strategy.
You can use blogs to keep customers engaged with your brand and establish yourself as an expert in the industry. You can also put it to use in amping up your SEO strategy by implementing strong longtail keywords.
This is a part of your site that you can easily outsource if you need to. One way is to feature guest articles on your site.
Keep in mind that an informative, entertaining, or engaging blog is sharable. This can be an excellent word-of-mouth advertising piece for your brand.
Email Marketing
One of the book's oldest and most successful tricks, email marketing goes a long way toward lead conversion, customer retention, and community building.
Whether you’re sending informative letters, updates on coupons and sales, or updates on abandoned cards and new product availability, email marketing keeps you top of mind for your customers.
Better yet, many customers keep a lookout for these communications. Nielsen reported that 28% of U.S. online shoppers subscribe to store or product emails to stay informed.
Social Media Marketing
When it comes to a successful Delta 8 strategy, you’ll want to diversify as much as possible. Stick to the tried and true (like SEO and email marketing) but throw in some fresh new tactics.
One good way to reach your audience is through influencer marketing. One of the fastest-growing segments in the marketing world, this technique allows you to enter into a mutually beneficial relationship with a partner who can promote your brand to their existing audience base.
As of June 26, 2019, Facebook announced that it would be lifting its ban on Delta 8 products. If your audience is on the platform, you can now meet them there.
Of course, you’ll want to take precautions on how you position your product, but you can now join the conversation, engage your community, and connect with your customers on their grounds.
With this platform, you’ll want to focus more on the lifestyle aspect of your Delta 8 brand. You can promote your products, but research your favorite brands and your most successful competitors. You’ll quickly notice that Instagram is less of a selling platform and more of an aspirational and aesthetic one.
Focus on creating eye-catching and captivating content for your posts, stories, or IGTV. Brush up on the trending hashtags. And be sure always to provide valuable content to your audience.
