Cannabis Concentrates Sales for the 710 Holiday

{}Introduction

Host: Welcome everybody to the latest podcast on how to boost cannabis concentrate sales for the 7/10 holiday, share the excitement, and bring the party to your customers. Today we'll be covering 7/10 event ideas your customers will love, creative product promotion ideas, and the best way to share them digitally, and a useful tool you can implement to make educating your customers even easier. I have 20 years of experience spearheading marketing initiatives to drive e-commerce and in-store sales, working with dispensaries and MSOs for six years now. A little about us — we are a digital dispensary advertising and marketing agency, focused on compliant, scalable digital strategies designed to increase foot traffic and boost e-commerce sales through Google Ads, programmatic advertising, including banners and CTV advertising, as well as SEO.

Before we get started, let's cover a few housekeeping items — if you don't mind, silence your cell phones, we love them, but they can be quite distracting, and familiarize yourself with the Zoom interface, especially the Q&A feature at the bottom, that's where you can ask questions, which will be answered at the end of the podcast. And make sure to stick around, we have a special offer for attendees that we'll be sharing at the end.

The New Normal for 7/10 Events

Host: All right, well, let's get into it — the new normal. Last year, during 7/10, dispensaries were faced with surprising circumstances, many were operating as an essential business while other shops around them were closed, plus most had mask requirements as COVID ran rampant across the United States. Now the situation is different, but there are still plenty of health, safety, and operational concerns — emergency orders that allowed for curbside pickup and delivery in states that didn't previously allow these options are starting to expire, so more customers will once again be shopping in stores, or at least shopping inside to pick up their orders. In addition, a lot of states have changed their mask requirements, to allow vaccinated individuals to go unmasked, and dropped mask requirements altogether. Comfort levels range, so there are plenty of people itching to get back to normal, and others who prefer to wear a mask even if vaccinated — with that in mind, because comfort levels may vary, you may want to offer both in-person and virtual events for 7/10 and beyond, to appeal to more of your customers. Follow the advice of health officials in your area to ensure you're creating a safe environment for everyone involved. Ultimately, there's no precedent for this — not only has the cannabis industry never faced such a strange time, the country hasn't dealt with something like this in modern times, we're all working through this together. So, while we're trying to grow our industry, it's crucial to consider the effects of our actions and how they impact our businesses down the line — that means implementing processes that work regardless of any crisis, remaining agile and adaptive to meet new challenges, and ensuring you're offering the service your customers deserve. So, while we're talking about the holiday and the excitement surrounding it, consider the different processes you can integrate into your business, like creating entertaining or educational video content.

Intro to Concentrates: An Educational Event

Host: Okay, that was very serious, so let's talk about 7/10 events and all the fun stuff that comes along with it. First up, let's set up something new for the newbies — if you're a medical dispensary, or have many customers new to concentrates, hosting an educational event is a great way to introduce people to using a different type of product, because concentrates can be intimidating. An educational event can help demystify what concentrates are — look at it from the eyes of a novice, wax, batter, shatter, they look nothing like flower, it can be hard to understand how something that seems so removed from its organic form can have the same benefits or properties. So the challenge is making concentrates accessible and showcasing how easy they are to use — you'll definitely want to address potency, a lot of people are afraid to try concentrates because they're super strong, and there are plenty of people who want to try them for the same reason but don't know how to get started — you need to bridge that gap and do a little hand-holding, so they feel more confident purchasing and using concentrates on 7/10 and beyond. This type of event can be held in person or online, and, if you do it virtually, you can easily share it on your blog and social media channels, it's also great to repeat regularly, since concentrates are growing in popularity. If you don't hold this type of event but still want to educate your customers, you can record an educational video ahead of time and share it in an email blast with your 7/10 deals — this type of reusable content is excellent for sharing on social media, including YouTube, and posting on your blog, it helps showcase your brand values as well. Educational videos can feel dry, so be sure to have an energetic teacher who can explain what concentrates are, their benefits, how to use them, while still having a fun time.

Dab Rig and Vaporizer Demos

Host: Now let's hop into dab rig demos — if you sell dab rigs and vaporizers for concentrates, why not demo them in-store? Both of these items can feel like an investment to customers, and by allowing them to hold and get a feel for them, they can start getting more comfortable with the equipment, so this is more of a hands-on educational event. Again, you want a compelling, charismatic person showcasing your gear, engaging customers, getting them talking about concentrates and how they can use them — you may want some cleaning procedures in place, since many people may be touching the equipment. To really build excitement, consider pairing this type of event with promos on dab rigs and vaporizers, so people considering which ones to invest in aren't just messing around with them — share the benefits of your different gear, how to clean and store them, which products they're best suited for, and more. And don't forget to highlight vaporizers that can be used with both flower and concentrates, a great way to encourage people not totally sold on concentrates to give them a try, since they can also use them for flower.

Bringing Back Vendor Days

Host: Should you invite vendors in? In a lot of places, vendor days disappeared during the dark days of COVID, it's time to bring them back. Dispensary shelves are packed with a variety of vendors, and sometimes customers can find it hard to distinguish between them — by inviting vendors back to your dispensary, you can get customers and company reps talking about what makes particular products and brands so great. Encourage your vendors to bring gear to give away, and offer special promos on the products they'll be talking about, to encourage customers to stop by and shop. When vendors are in-store, you can also do an Instagram or Facebook video to share that they're in the store and have gear to give away.

Food Trucks and Outdoor Events

Host: Take it outside with trucks — it's gorgeous outside, and we can all deal with a bit more time in the sunshine. Take the party outside with some good food — food trucks are still popular, and there's a larger variety than ever before. We recently had a client who hosted a jewelry truck at their dispensary, they regularly have events and have found food trucks are a fun way to encourage people to shop and hang out. If you want to host food trucks, make sure you have places for people to hang out and eat, lighting if you're doing this in the evening, and plenty of trash cans and napkins. In addition to food trucks, you can have a medical marijuana certification event to help bring in more potential customers, and you can also combine it with the vendor event to make it more of a festival — invite artisans from your town, or connect with local businesses or farms, to create a small pop-up market. Their products don't have to be related to cannabis, but you can have an overall theme in line with your brand — if you're focused on sustainability, invite other companies with the same values to take over part of your parking lot or waiting area, for example, a small bakery offering goodies, or a pop-up yoga class. If you start planning now, you can have a whole itinerary of exciting events and partners to entice your customers and score new ones — just be sure to work in some cross-promotional marketing, to reach those new people and drive more business to your shop.

Free Concerts and All-Day Programming

Host: Free concert time, live music is back, make the most of it by hosting a free concert — you can partner with local bands or a DJ to put on an evening of entertainment, start sourcing your sound equipment now if you want to do this, people are excited to get back to live music, though it may be harder to set up when it's close to the holiday. You can also turn this into more of an open mic, to encourage local artists to stop by and bring their friends — again, make sure you have cross-promotion going, you want any musical acts sharing their show details with their audience, and you can share it through your channels as well.

Host: Who loves the party — but all day? There's no reason to limit the party to the evening, line up different events throughout the day, or even the weekend, to maximize the fun and truly celebrate — you can even change your promos throughout the day to drive traffic at different hours. Take a look at your CRM to determine which segments of your target audience tend to shop at certain times, and cater events around those segments — if you tend to have more boomers in the morning, create an event for that demographic, like an intro to concentrates or demos, so they can learn more about how concentrates work, then start bringing in food trucks and capture the lunch crowd, get the music started, get an ice cream truck for the afternoon or evening, mix in vendors, and keep promoting all day long, then cap it off with live music or an open mic. Events are really only limited by your imagination, so do some brainstorming and talk to your bud tenders about what they think would work best for your customers.

Building a Full Week of Concentrate Promos

Host: Now let's talk about promos — if you want to entice more people to try concentrates, it's important to put together some excellent promos. Popular promos for concentrates include a percentage off, like 10 or 50 percent off all concentrates, buy-one-get-one deals, spend-based deals, like spend $100 and get a live resin for a dollar. Instead of promoting deals only on 7/10, we encourage you to create a full week of deals — this gives customers a lot of products and deals to choose from, and also promotes social distancing by not overcrowding your dispensary in one day. A great way to sort out the deals is by focusing on one product type per day — for example, Mondays, oils, Tuesdays, wax, Wednesdays, shatter, Thursdays, vape cartridges, Friday, dabs, Saturday, dab equipment, and Sunday, tinctures. Also, you want to make sure customers come back post-7/10 — offer an exclusive coupon for 7/10 customers, with a discount that could be used at a later date, this comeback coupon increases the likelihood they'll buy online again and become loyal customers.

Letting the Data Guide Your Deals

Host: Don't forget the data — so what exactly should you be running sales on? When creating deals, take a look at a few different data points, the best places to look for trends are within your point-of-sale system, online menu, or CRM. First, check what sold best last year and what your hot items are right now — do you want to push those items even more, if so, you may want to order more now. Next, look at what you're having trouble selling — you can bundle these products together to help move those units, for example, combine some concentrates with different edibles or complementary flavors into 7/10 bundles. You can also look at products that tend to get purchased together and create bundles out of those, or bundle a new product you want to promote with an existing customer favorite.

Promoting Deals on Your Website

Host: Once you've crafted your deals for the week of 7/10, it's time to get the word out. Create a deals page — if you don't already have a deals page on your website, it's time to add one right away, the most visited dispensary pages on your website are your home page, your online menu, and your deals page, make sure your deals are highlighted on all these pages, encourage customers to take action with a button saying "shop 7/10 deals." You can also add a pop-up to your website — whether you like it or not, website pop-ups still work, your pop-up should mention you have a week of 7/10 deals and link customers directly to the deals page. Depending on your online menu, you can also create a collection or deals section, to promote the deals of the day or week, select the products you'd like to promote and they'll show up at the top of the online menu when a visitor first visits.

Promoting Deals In-Store

Host: Don't forget in-store — what better place to promote your 7/10 deals than in-store? Promote the deals everywhere at your dispensary, print out flyers and display them prominently at the check-in and check-out stations, a great spot is in line when people are checking out, at the entrance door, and at the checkout at the POS system. Advanced tip — add a QR code right on the flyer, so people can start browsing the deals on their phone. You should have the deals highlighted on your in-store kiosks, and update your TV screens to showcase the deals of the day and upcoming deals of the week. And, of course, your bud tenders should all be updated on the deals of the day and week, so they can share the offers directly with customers — this is a perfect opportunity to upsell, especially if you have any spend-threshold deals. If your bud tenders don't have experience making recommendations or upselling, make sure they get some additional training, so they feel comfortable telling customers about additional products to check out.

Leveraging SMS and Email

Host: Leverage SMS and email — if you've been building your customer list, it's time to use it. First, create a single image of all your weekly deals, so customers can see your full set of offers in one location, then send it out to your entire customer list, this will get you the most exposure, and customers will share the deal with their friends. When you send this text message, include a link directly to your menu, and a call to action, like "shop 7/10 deals now." To maximize your SMS strategy, send segmented text messages based on customers' past purchases — since 7/10 is focused on concentrates, segment customers who've purchased vape cartridges in the last 180 days and send them another text reminding them about vape deals, same goes for every other product category, customers are more likely to purchase when you provide relevant deals based on previous purchases. Give people what they want, but don't stop there — your SMS marketing should expand beyond 7/10, after investing time and resources into capturing customer data, make sure you're using it to drum up more sales, share deals, and remind them about special offers. Another great way to reach customers is via email — with email marketing, you can go more in-depth with your messaging, and since you've already created an image with all your 7/10 specials, send this out to all your email subscribers, be sure to have a clear subject line so customers are enticed to open it, for example, "7/10 deals every day of the week."

Connecting on Social Media (Carefully)

Host: Connect on social — everyone is online right now, browsing Instagram, make sure you're there too. While we don't recommend sharing your deals on Instagram, because that can get your posts flagged, social media does allow you to interact with people interested in your brand — make sure you have a URL on your profile so people can visit your website or location page. We do not recommend linking to your menu or deals page, because Instagram may flag your account for trying to sell cannabis on their platform, you don't want to get banned by Zuckerberg, do you? So, share trivia, tips, and info about your 7/10 events, but don't promote deals directly on any social media profiles, and, of course, use hashtags like #710[YourCityName], social media hashtags do engage with people in your area and encourage them to stop by. Advanced tip — if you've invested in a text messaging platform with a text-to-keyword feature, use it on social media, for example, in your Instagram stories or posts, ask customers to text "710" to your number to get 7/10 deals directly to their mobile phone — not only does this provide an easy way for them to message you, it adds that phone number to your database, a win-win.

Adding Live Chat

Host: Next up, you have to add live chat — online chat makes it easy to help customers. According to eConsultancy, an international marketing education and consulting group, not only do 79 percent of customers prefer live chat because it offers instant responses, but 63 percent of customers who use live chat on a website are likely to return to that site, plus live chat has the highest customer satisfaction rate, at 92 percent. Your customers can use online chat to ask general questions, reach out about placing an order, or talk with bud tenders about cannabis-related questions — it's a valuable addition to your website, and a great way to support online shoppers this 7/10 and beyond. If you find you're answering a lot of similar questions, use that valuable customer feedback to create blog posts or an FAQ page, to answer common questions about online ordering, using delivery, or redeeming loyalty points. You can also associate keywords with answers to create automated replies to live chat requests — for example, anytime someone says the keyword "hours," you can set up a generated response with your hours of operation for that day. Live chat may also help reduce cart abandonment rates, and make it easier for people to buy from you — just make sure you have a knowledgeable staff managing it.

Advertising Your 7/10 Event

Host: Start advertising — you can offer the most amazing discounts and events, but none of it will matter unless you get the word out. We have a month until 7/10, and, if you're hosting an event, you have two weeks to get your itinerary together before you need to start promoting it — you can start teasing it now, then share more information as the date approaches. Dispensaries cannot leverage social media advertising, but you can leverage display ads, programmatic ads, and Google Ads to increase your reach. With display ads, you can get your message right into customers' hands, your banner ads will show up on their favorite mobile websites and apps, like Zillow, Zynga, and more. With programmatic ads, you can leverage the power of AI to secure ad placement on over-the-top video advertising, so you can get your video ads playing on potential customers' smart TVs, and you can even include a QR code so someone can scan it with their phone and make a purchase. And, of course, the last thing is Google Ads — yes, your dispensary can advertise on Google, and you should definitely be using them around major cannabis holidays like 7/10.

Special Offers

Host: All right, well, I hope you enjoyed the podcast, and I'm happy to offer a few promos — we want to make sure it's easy for you to grow your customer base and increase revenue, and to help you navigate the digital advertising landscape and get your future deals out there, we have two special promotions for today's attendees. First up, get a free website with a six-month advertising plan that includes Google Ads, display ads, and SEO — this plan provides the support you need to launch your dispensary, give your website a refresh, or supercharge your advertising. Let's get this underway and start advertising your 7/10 events and deals — schedule a call with us today, and we'll walk you through everything. Or, you could choose to get 50 percent off a new dispensary website with a three-month digital advertising plan, including Google Ads, display ads, and SEO — you can schedule a consultation with Jason, our client success manager, and learn how these services will support your goals.

Closing Remarks

Host: I love bundling these services together, because they really do work best in unison — don't put all your eggs in one basket, you need to be able to diversify your advertising investment to have the largest reach. Don't wait until right before 7/10, schedule your consultation today, and start planning your ads ahead of time. Thank you so much for joining us today, I hope you all have a successful 7/10.

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