It’s no secret that as more states legalize Cannabis here in the U.S., and other countries are embracing it as well, that there are hundreds if not thousands of new brands launching this year hoping to ride the wave of this red hot market. But to stand out and make a name for themselves, many of these startups don’t know where they should be investing first to elevate their brands and start spurring investment or sales. Although there are still restrictions on paid search and social as well as advertising for Cannabis companies, there are many ways to build a strong online presence. By acting now, you can ensure you start building awareness for your company and laying a strong foundation for the future.
Build out your profile.
While it may seem obvious, many organizations don’t full take advantage of all the ways to list their company and get better organic search results. For example, claim your Google and Bing listings and optimize them with as much information as possible about the company and executives; complete all contact info and add in compelling content such as photos. Do the same on reputable sites in the Cannabis industry such as Leafly and Ganjapreneur. Also, ensure your physical address is on all your web pages as well, and add a Google location map to your site. These may seem like simple aspects to add, but they are often overlooked.
Content, content and more content.
What are you offering that’s different or better? What is the real value and who is your target audience? It’s imperative to articulate your message and remain consistent across all your Owned channels, as well as any listings. Creating compelling content is crucial at this point and will only help boost your search results. Once you have your message, start a blog and be consistent. Also, look to related sites and publications to submit contributed content to sponsor. This will help drive traffic to your site as well as help to build your reputation in the Cannabis space. Another channel to explore is YouTube. By starting a channel and posting videos regularly, you can help drive even more clicks to your site.
Reviews for your business.
If you’re a retailer/dispensary especially, whether in CBD or marijuana, reviews are a great way to generate not only site visits but foot traffic. Encourage happy customers to post positive reviews on Google and Bing but also on apps such as WeedMaps and CBD Oil Maps, as well as websites like Leafly.
Page titles and descriptions.
To ensure searchers are getting the most relevant information to their search queries, keep page titles and meta descriptions optimized using relevant topic keywords and key phrases. Page titles are an accurate description of a page’s content or the topic that page covers, and they give the first impression to people about your brand and website, and can be used for social sharing as well. Descriptions allow you to capture your audience with a well optimized summary of the page’s topic and an enticing call to action.
Take advantage of verified marijuana accounts.
Although you cannot advertise on Facebook, the term marijuana has recently been allowed. It is now searchable and allows verified profiles to appear in search results for marijuana-related terms. This is a huge opportunity to take advantage of – and one way to do this is by finding those influencers and organizations who are verified and collaborating with them on different forms of content, from videos to blog posts, news articles and the like. This searchable content will help to drive brand awareness.
Navigating the restrictions in Cannabis can be challenging. Why not tap a team of experts to help? Matter has a team dedicated to understanding the ins and outs of this industry and can help you build your presence no matter what stage of the process you may be in currently. As of now, we’re offering free search audits to those interested, simply fill out this form.