How to Market Your CBD Business
Giving your CBD brand a competitive edge means smart brand development and marketing. New brands need to focus on strategic marketing that will set them apart from the rest.
Start by asking important questions such as “Where does my brand fit in?” or “Do I want to focus on traditional products such as oils and edibles, more niche items such as CBD for pets, or both?”
Exploring your options gives you the opportunity to narrow down the different ways you may want to market your products. Perhaps you want to dabble in a few different types of CBD markets. Or, maybe you want to only focus on one type of CBD product at first.
Helpful Market Research
When deciding how to move forward, it’s important to make use of the vast amount of CBD market research. It not only reveals the growth of the industry but also helps you understand how people use the different products.
A Gallup poll found that one in seven Americans use CBD. Of those, 20% are between the ages of 18 and 29 with the majority of consumers living in Western states. In the South, 13% of Americans say that they use CBD.
1 in 7 Americans use CBD
The 2018 Farm Bill legalized industrial hemp, giving the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) control of hemp-derived CBD regulations.
This means that CBD businesses are limited when advertising and marketing their products. They must abide by FDA regulations. These guidelines affect every aspect of marketing, right down to what can be written on the product labels.
You can learn more about creating compliant product labels here.
While CBD businesses can’t make any medical or health-related claims, they can certainly use and refer to polls like the Gallup poll and other studies as a knowledge base for marketing their products.
It’s invaluable to any CBD business to know that between 2020 and 2027, the CBD oil market is expected to grow at a rate of 31.90% according to a Data Bridge Market research report.
Different market research on CBD can help businesses target consumers from different age groups or tap into niches within related industries to find new customers.
Creating a Marketing Strategy
When considering any marketing strategy, CBD businesses need to know where and how to find consumers. And, even more important, consumers need to know how to find your products.
Because of the projected growth of the CBD industry, it’s clear that there’s a significant amount of people who still aren’t using CBD products. In fact, 40% of Americans want to try CBD products, according to a survey by High Yield Insights.
In order to reach these consumers, you’ll need to market to your customers where they are. Nowadays, that is of course, online.
People are using the Internet more than ever, so taking the time to utilize platforms such as Google, Facebook, Instagram, or any other popular social media platform almost guarantees that consumers will come across your brand.
Brand Development Matters
With consumers having shorter attention spans than ever, you need a memorable brand that will grab their attention and entice them to want to find out more information about your products.
Some businesses use professional marketing services to enhance the quality of their brand names, labels, and packaging as well as to extend their reach to consumers. Others choose to market their products on their own.
Either way, brands need to set a purpose or have a mission. Think of this as your vision for the future of your brand.
After defining your brand, you’ll need to set up a value proposition. This tells the consumer the distinct qualities that make your brand better than the competition.
Utilizing Public Relations
One of the best ways to market new brands is to write a press release and send it to journalists, editors, and authority blogs. Contacting editors of wellness journals or websites with a well-written press release about your new brand gives you access to their already established audiences.
Samples of press releases are easy to find on the Internet. Here is a solid example of a press release.
Search websites such as Web Wire for publications that fit the industry. You can also find relevant websites and publications by using any search engine such as Google. Then you can contact the publisher or editor to introduce yourself and your brand in an email or phone call and follow up with your press release.
The Power of Digital Marketing
By far, the best way to market your brand to a new audience is through digital marketing. We all know how much we rely on the Internet for information and communication, so it only makes sense to use it to garner new customers.
Depending on your budget, you could end up spending a lot of money on Facebook and Instagram advertisements to increase your customers online. However, it’s not the best way to market your products because these popular platforms have restrictions on advertising CBD products.
Social Media Restrictions On CBD
- Facebook: Facebook allows only hemp-derived CBD advertisements. After lifting its ban on CBD products in 2019, you can now advertise topical hemp products.
- Instagram & Twitter: Both platforms don’t permit marketing CBD products. However, you can use these accounts to share posts and link back to your website.
- Google Ads (Adwords): Another strict platform when advertising CBD products, Adwords doesn’t welcome CBD advertisements. But, we may see some changes in the near future. Through a trial testing program, CBD retailers were asked to advertise their products.
A strategically smart way to garner attention for your brand is through influencers who have a large and loyal audience. A CBD business can reach out to influencers by sending them free samples along with a press release.
If influencers enjoy your products, they can be more worthwhile than an advertisement.
Influencers increase brand awareness in multiple ways including:
- Sharing a post written about your brand.
- Mentioning your brand on their social media platforms.
- Reviewing your brand on one of their platforms.
- Running a contest with a product from your brand as a reward.
- Featuring a post written specifically for their blog or website.
The Value of Print Marketing
We use so many digital gadgets to learn and communicate, which makes it easy to forget the value of print marketing.
The fact is that your product is a concrete object that can be displayed on a shelf or counter. Think of all the businesses and professionals who could help you market your products. Imagine what you might want to give them that will assist them in understanding the benefits of your products.
When approaching your local chiropractors’ offices, massage therapists, gym owners, or even personal trainers, you may want to leave them with a brochure that educates their clients about the value of your CBD products.
Content Marketing and SEO
The most frugal way to develop brand awareness is through content marketing and search engine optimization (SEO). It’s smart and practical to create content that informs readers and uses keywords to help search engines find your content.
Content marketing itself means writing a blog post or article for a website that informs readers about, in this case, CBD. For content marketing to be effective, writing valuable content consistently will attract new customers.
Ideally, these consumers search for information about CBD and find your posts on the first or second page of a search. An effective post anticipates consumers' questions about CBD and drives traffic to your website.
Marketers call this organic traffic because it’s free website traffic. You don’t pay for ads and these posts can be shared on social media platforms.
Unless you’re familiar with creating content with SEO in mind, you may want to consider hiring a marketing team or an SEO expert to work with you. Expert marketers can help you craft content that establishes your brand as trusted and reliable.
Once you’ve gathered a substantial customer base, you should take the time to create a newsletter that can be emailed to consumers. Including coupons and sale information in the newsletter will not only increase sales but also encourage recommendations to friends and family.
Ultimately, any solid marketing endeavor requires consistency and a little patience. Remaining focused and positive while maintaining confidence in your brand will position you for certain success.
Making Medical Claims
IMPORTANT: Do not make medical or health-related claims when advertising or writing about CBD products. You run the risk of losing your social media account and/or FDA enforcement.
While there are many restrictions on advertising the advantages of CBD products, businesses still have some interesting options when promoting their brands.
