How to Build a Digital Marketing Plan for CBD

Cannabidiol can be aptly defined as an extremely popular substance that has witnessed massive recognition in a very short period.

Commonly known as CBD, cannabidiol refers to a wide set of compounds, also known as cannabinoids, that are found bounteously in the cannabis plant.

As per studies, the cannabis plant hosts around 113 known active cannabinoids, with CBD being the star element here.

CBD is extracted from the two strains of the cannabis plant, that is either the marijuana plant or industrial hemp. Despite being psychoactive, CBD has gained enormous popularity, even more than its counterpart, THC, the notoriously psychoactive one that provides a euphoric sense when ingested or smoked.

However, it isn’t every day that a product takes the entire market by storm. In this regard, CBD has made a spot for itself.

Though the booming benefits in the medical market have helped CBD create an industry of its own, the credit for the same is also shared by the enthusiastic worldwide acceptance and the supportive legislation like the federal Farm Bill 2018.

If we go by the studies and the evaluation of the past statistics of sales, one can easily ascertain that CBD has shown a dynamic surge in recent years. It is also estimated by the market analysts that CBD may rake in promising sales by jumping from approximately $500 million in 2018 to a whopping $1.8 billion (annually) by 2022.

Learning these facts about CBD makes it pretty easy to perceive why marketing such a sought-after product is an important subject that needs to be handled with utmost care.

Before we jump onto explaining how one can build a digital marketing plan for CBD, let us have a quick review of why CBD marketing is necessary.

Expansion of clientele

Keeping pace with a rapid growth rate, it becomes imperative to expand your clientele too. This is where marketing comes in to help you attract new customers.

Let your brand stand out

With a market so extensive, a consistent pouring in of new companies is a common thing to happen. But this does not imply that the older ones ought to lose their sheen. In such cases, marketing plays a vital role by helping brands create a distinguished space for themselves and stand out from the rest.

Retaining customers

It is a fact that big brands have high customer retention rates. This explains why brand building is essential, and hence the marketing.

CBD marketing helps create opportunities that make it easier to hold onto recurring customers. An active engagement with the customers for their feedback and opinions helps make the buyer-seller relationship stronger and highly productive.

With this, we get on to the crucial part, where we shall learn how we can plan a successful digital marketing setup for CBD.

Even with the legalization and a significant value in the U.S. market, CBD faces its own set of restrictions concerning marketing and advertising. One may bear with the numerous local restrictions as well as the myriad digital roadblocks, but the fact that CBD is a drug remains constant. Thus, one must follow a smartly designed plan of action to achieve set goals.

The following steps may help you curate a plan for yourself.

Research the Market carefully

Knowing your customer, his needs, and his choices is as vital as knowing your local CBD advertising rules and regulations. You must be adequately informed about the limitations associated with the cannabis industry as even a slight mistake or a loosely aggressive approach can get your account banned from the digital platform.

You can try using tools like BUZZSUMO, GOOGLE TRENDS, or SEMRUSH, for probing into the CBD industries’ latest trends.

Set Goals

One must establish marketing goals that effortlessly align themselves with the company’s goals altogether. Be specific when it comes to defining what exactly are you expecting to achieve and define the estimated time required too.

Make sure the goals are relevant as well as attainable. Adopt a realistic approach and set goals that are measurable. This will further help you in the future to establish if you have accomplished what you had intended.

Explore Your Digital Assets

Prepare an agenda of every digital platform available that accepts cannabis ad buys. This may include your website, Facebook, or any channel that lets you reach out to your target audience. This list can then be classified into three groups- owned media, earned media, and the paid media.

Work upon the available budget and the estimated time required to meet your goals. Consequently, while trying to strike a balance between these two, pick and choose the channels that best serve your goals.

Seek professional guidance

As much as it is necessary to implement the plans you made, getting an expert opinion is essential too. An expert review won’t harm, instead, you can achieve better results under the guidance of thorough professionals.

Integrate Digital Technology

Modern digital marketing technology is the new hype that allows you to build a custom audience for ad targeting. For eg, for CBD clients, it is recommended to combine data using tools like LIVERAMP along with mainstream ad-buying channels like THE TRADE DESK. This will help to target known CBD consumers on prevailing abundant websites.

Maintain and Use your Digital Campaign Data

Keeping up with the ever-changing marketing trends and rules deserves proper attention as it gives you a real-time update about your successes and failures. Your digital campaign data should be able to tell you if you are moving in the right direction or not. If not, gain insights to build the one that does.

CBD marketing is a tricky matter that comes with a defined set of regulations and restrictions. The irony is that these rules are not constant, hence, what feels right today won’t necessarily stay like that too. Thus it becomes obvious that one must design a course of action that deals with this subject judiciously while keeping all the opportunities handy.

Similar Stories