Omnichannel Holiday Marketing for Cannabis Brands

According to the latest numbers from MJBizDaily, cannabis sales are down in Colorado Headset reports sales are down elsewhere, in California, Canada, and beyond. So what are you doing to recoup some of these profits over the holiday season? You need to make the most out of omnichannel marketing strategy.

Omnichannel marketing is a valuable approach all year long, but it becomes especially critical come Christmas time. A recent survey from Ayr Wellness reported that 77 percent of cannabis consumers were planning to share a toke or two with friends and family this year. Headset reports "a week-over-week growth boost of around 15%" running up to Christmas. 

In a period of slow sales, you need to capture this opportunity. You need to target customers where they shop for greater reach, and better returns on ad spend. 

How do you manage a successful holiday marketing campaign geared towards a cannabis consumer? Gather data, focus on essential questions, and make your approach highly personalized.

It's All About Leveraging Data

Do you know what cannabis consumers choose you as their go-to source for green? Do you know where and how they shop? Cannabis consumer data gives you the insights you need to apply your marketing efforts effectively. But more importantly, beyond the data, you need it merged into a clear and concise picture.

Start with your own set of data, collected through your dispensary Point of Sale (POS) systems, cookies, and other first-party models. This gives you valuable insights into your current and former customers' shopping habits, demographics, and more. 

Do they only shop for flower? Do they love concentrates? How big is their usual shopping cart? Once you have this information, layer in additional data from second and third-party sources, like suppliers, marketers, and publishers. 

WUNDERWORX deploys millions of data points on consumer behavior, demographics, location, and interests. This wide scope of information helps us paint a highly accurate portrait of who is smoking your product and why.

Every layer of consumer data helps you drill down to a highly targeted segment. You'll know what your ideal customer is shopping for, where they prefer to shop, when they shop, and even what other dispensaries or delivery companies they are comparison shopping with.

Consumer data at this micro-focused level ensures your omnichannel cannabis holiday marketing campaign makes the most efficient use of your resources.

Cannabis Questions: Where, the When, and the How

No matter what you find out about the shopping habits of your most prolific cannabis customers, the key questions to focus on are where, when, and how. 

For example, do they shop online, order cannabis delivery, or head into your cannabis retail location for an in-person experience?

When are they shopping? When it comes to holidays, different consumer segments will head into stores (or online) at different times. For example, Headset tells us that just before Christmas, consumers are loading up on topicals and edibles (presumably as gifts). It also indicates other categories, like flower and concentrates, tend to fall off.

Finally, how. Is your audience shopping on their phone, in response to sales emails, text message alerts, or through other channels? Once you have these answers, you can roll them into an omnichannel but highly targeted holiday marketing strategy. 

Introducing Programmatic for Omnichannel

Programmatic is one of the most effective tools within the omnichannel methodology. It's an automated and data-driven technology that bids on ads in the online marketplace in real-time. It works based on consumer interests and demographic and location-based intel. 

It's one of the only ways to ensure your personalized ads reach current and potential consumers at the right time and place. Most importantly, in a cost-effective way.

Curious about what Programmatic Marketing can do for your brand? Check out how we used a Programmatic Campaign to drive brand awareness for a next-generation herb vaporizer via a top-of-funnel strategy featuring a standard display and video creatives.  

WUNDERWORX leveraged behavioral and location data to generate audience segments, leading to more than 10,000 clicks, a 63 percent video open rate, and a 0.3 percent conversion rate.

Advertise, and Make it Personal

With all this data, you can ensure your message is highly personalized to the habits of your cannabis connoisseur. Why do you want to tweak your ads and message? Because increasingly, that's what people are expecting.

Forbes published a survey reporting that four out of 10 millennials wanted advertisements relevant to their interests. Another 90 percent of people surveyed said impersonal and irrelevant messaging were "annoying." 

New research also tells us that younger generations seem willing to share even highly personal information if it would save them money. This same survey reported that almost 70 percent of millennials would let insurance agencies see their fitness tracker information if it results in lower premiums and personalized coverage. 

We can liken this to cannabis apps using personal consumption details (strain, dose, ailment, and more) to predict and suggest new products. Your customers want personalized messaging, and you need to employ it across all channels.

Successful Cannabis Marketing is Always Data-Driven

Theoretically, you can run an omnichannel holiday marketing campaign without data. But, you'll find significant ad dollars are wasted, targeting in-person shoppers with online ads. You'll likely hit the wrong channels and all at the wrong times.

Leverage the data gathered from your networks, and upgrade it with WUNDERWORX's geospatial and demographic consumer databases. 

Comprehensive information allows you to find cannabis consumers where they shop to deliver a personalized message. This results in no wasted ad spend, and a much greater chance of winning over past and future customers. When they pass around that joint or tasty edible this holiday season, you'll be capturing a bit of this holiday magic.

Interested in Learning More?

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WUNDERWORX provides the power of real-time compliant programmatic advertising across all devices and media, leveraging sophisticated geospatial 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.