CBD Marketing

WTF Actually is Digital Marketing

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First and foremost a lot of people that I run into think that marketing and advertising are the same, they are similar, but they are not the same. We all know that in the world we are currently living in that we as an industry can not advertise online in any form. Therefore, I'm going to really quickly explain what the eff marketing actually is.

Marketing is an essential area of management attention that is determined through continuous observation, research, and analysis to answer questions such as:

Who are your customers?

How do they think?

Where are they located?

How do they make their buying decisions?

Advertising is clear communication to people about the promises that your business makes to them.

Let's begin by thinking of your brand as a house. Your brand colors, logo, packaging, mission, website, customer service and photography is the structure of your product. When all of these aspects align the outside of your house is complete. However, nobody wants to live or visit an empty house. We need furniture, we need to decorate the walls we need to make people who visit us feel comfortable and cozy.

The comfortable and cozy feeling that is what digital marketing is. Digital marketing is a piece that tells your story. I know that you have pieces in your house that have a tale attached to them. That chair you got from grandma or the artwork on your wall that you collect because it reminds you of somewhere that you've been.

Your brand also has a story that wants and needs to be shared.

Here is real life, for instance, many of us can relate to:

It's a Saturday afternoon, and you're walking around the grocery store, and you see a cheese vendor set up, you get closer, and the friendly face asks if you want to try a sample of their latest and greatest flavor, that's marketing.

While you're standing there and shoving your face with cheese, the friendly sample person begins to tell you that the beautiful grassy pasture, the ethical practices they use and the solar heated barn that the cows live in is what keeps the cows happy and really the key to what makes the flavor what it is, that's advertising.

They've identified:

1. You're not a vegan and are into cheese

2. You run errands on what is probably your day off or a significant amount of downtime, and you are a leisurely shopper. Because people in a hurry ain't got no time for a cheese sample.

3. You live in the vicinity of the store where the cheese is delivered.

4. With your attentive listening, they've established that happy cows are something that you care about and can get behind by handing over your money for a block of cheese.

When they run an advertisement on social media or tv, you will watch it, and it will resonate with you, even if you think it's not.

Digital Marketing is obviously doing this all online which is why you have to know the answer to those four crucial questions every time you post. If and when the opportunity presents itself to the cannabis industry that we can begin running ads, to run a successful ad the knowledge of analytics on which posts are performing the best is the equivalent to the stuff your face with cheese and chit chat moment in a grocery store.

Sharing your brands' story is going to set you apart in this industry because it will begin to build trust with your target market. The cannabis industry is the wild west right now, there are potential customers of yours that do not carry all of the knowledge on CBD or THC that you do and part of your job is to tell the story of why your product will help them.

Beautiful packaging and photos are only going to get your one of a kind product so far. Sharing the story behind your brand is what will set you apart.

What The Eff Is A Target Market And How To You Find Yours

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When I have a virtual or in-person consultation about someone’s digital marketing needs, one of the first questions that I ask that potential client is, “Who is your target?”

A lot of the times the answer is, “ Well everyone and anyone that would wants to get high or use a CBD product. “

Doh!

The internet is a big place and the markets are becoming saturated with more cannabis and CBD products and sellers every day. I’m sorry to say but not everyone and anyone is your brands target market. Those are just the cold hard facts.

I know what you’re thinking right now, “Well then, what the actual eff is a Target Market and how do I figure out who my market actually is?”

The dictionary definition of Target Market is as follows "A particular group of consumers at which a product or service is aimed."

What a generic and simple thing right? It must just involve figuring out some simple demographics about the people I want to consume this product or use this service.

A target market is so much more than some simple demographics of 22-36-year-olds, dual income, no kids, in the city where you’re located. You need to actually figure out, what these people like to do, where are they hanging out, what makes them tick, and what problem do they have that your brand can fix? Answering each of these questions plus a few more will help you create actual depth to the group of people you are trying to reach.

Once you’ve sat down, thought about and identified this group of people you can begin to talk to them through your posting and engaging by using the language they are also using. You can begin paying attention to the trends and topics that they are following and portray your content in a way that appeals to them and causes them to stop their scroll and read what you are actually talking about under your photo. Taking the time to research how your target moves, thinks and speaks through the world is going to help you stand out in a saturated market, sell more and sell it faster.

Identifying your target will also help when you are ready to outsource to someone like me by being able to tell me who we are talking too because I don’t want to cost you more money by creating content and talking to a group of people that we aren’t even targeting.