How To Capitalize On The Biggest Cannabis Holiday

How To Capitalize On The Biggest Cannabis Holiday

April 20th is revered by cannabis consumers around the world. Why is this date so celebrated, and why you need to make sure your cannabis-based business doesn’t miss out on the Black Friday of weed?

The significance of the number 420, as it relates to marijuana, has a number of theories from police codes to Bob Dylan's music. The truth of the matter is that four friends started meeting at the same time after class every day to smoke the herb, and you guessed it… that time was 4:20pm. So, how did such a simple gesture become the universal code for cannabis? 

One word… Marketing.

As the code word caught on with other cannabis consumers, word-of-mouth advertising took a simple number and turned it into a common euphemism. Today, cannabis consumers everywhere honor the time and celebrate the date like a holiday, and if your cannabis business isn’t taking advantage of the culture, you’re cutting your profits short.

Let’s look at a few ways you should be capitalizing on 4/20.

Start Early for Maximization

Obviously, like most successful holiday promos, the promotion should begin well before the holiday itself. For example, Walmart doesn’t put out Christmas décor the week before Christmas. No, they start filling their shelves with festive cheer the day after Halloween. This doesn’t mean to start promoting 4/20 the day after the New Year, but your 4/20 marketing plan should begin at least a month in advance.

Most cannabis consumers in legal states have become accustomed to the 4/20 rush. Much like Black Friday sales in November, many consumers anticipate the hype. As such, they often start looking for deals that appeal to them, which means brand loyalty may not be the deciding factor. Therefore, your sales staff and your online presence should be building hype and anticipation well ahead of the actual date. 

Understand Your Clientele

As with any marketing program, the first step is knowing exactly who your customer is and what they want from your company. Look at your data. Who is buying your product? Which products are they buying? Target your promotions to the individual personas who frequent your store. For example, if you rarely sell concentrates on the regular, promoting concentrates for 4/20 probably isn’t the best option.

Likewise, look at the average cart value per sale. 4/20 promotions are the perfect opportunity to introduce consumers to newer, higher-priced products that may increase the value of their carts in future purchases. Use promotions to temporarily reduce the price of top-shelf products, so shoppers are inclined to try, and hopefully come back for, these more profitable products.

Use data offered by WUNDERWORX. Our platform allows us to pull together a complete profile of your customers, so you know exactly who you are marketing to. Follow this link to review just a few of our cannabis marketing case studies.‍

Use Digital Marketing to Your Advantage

Look, at its simplest form, the Internet, and social media are word-of-mouth advertising, and today, these platforms are powerful advertising tools. As of 2019, 81% of adults in the United States have a smartphone, and on average, we check them every 15 minutes whether we get a message or not. Take advantage of the technology that’s at everyone’s fingertips by using direct-text campaigns and incentivize your customers to sign up for the notifications.

Social media can be a bit more challenging for cannabis-centric businesses as many platforms still frown on anything cannabis-related. In fact, many platforms filter and prevent cannabis-friendly pages and profiles from being seen, but with a bit of creativity, these boundaries can be overcome as well.

Wait! It’s not too late!

In case you haven’t noticed, 4/20 falls on a Tuesday this year – not exactly the friendliest cannabis consumption day for many people. Work schedules and responsibilities often take priority over a trip to the dispensary to save 10%. Try extending sales and promotions to the weekend to reach a bigger audience. The actual date of April 20th may be the peak of your sales, but there’s no reason not to take advantage of the festivities for those that may be late to the show.

Take Notes – Plan Ahead

When the 4/20 celebration is over and all the promotions have closed. Don’t forget to do the follow-up work. Evaluate your sales and look for what worked and what didn’t. Make a note of the increased sales, what products sold, and who was buying them. And then, start planning for next year. 

If you really want to maximize your reach, put professionals on the job. At WUNDERWORX, whether it’s 4/20 or any other holiday, we’ll help you start planning ahead to reach the clients who matter most to you. Contact us today to see how we can help you achieve your goals with every promotion. 

Interested In Learning More?

We understand the challenges small businesses are facing. If you would like to learn more about shifting your marketing strategies to grow your marketshare and bottom line, let’s have a conversation.  Stay informed to receive our Marketing Matters White Paper Series and Newsletter. ‍

WUNDERWORX provides the power of real-time compliant programmatic advertising across all devices and media, leveraging sophisticated geo-spatial audience building technology from our easy-to-use platform.  Let us demonstrate how programmatic, paid search and SEO can reduce wasted ad spend and time to conversion.

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