The cannabis industry is growing rapidly, with 37 states and the District of Columbia legalizing cannabis products for medical use. Nineteen states, two territories, and Washington DC have also legalized recreational use of cannabis. Several other countries have legalized medical and/or recreational use of cannabis.
With awareness and acceptance spreading, competition is also strong. Using branding effectively is a way that dispensaries can stand out from the competition.
Focus on Your Target Audience
Why do you need a target audience? Different consumers have different affinities for different brands. Understanding how your customer base thinks, and what motivates them will help your brand “speak their language”. For example, a suburban mom and a hip 20-something young adult will have different tastes, and different types of marketing will appeal to each of them differently. By creating target personas (customer avatars), you can craft messaging, imagery, and store décor that makes your customers feel comfortable.
These are some of the things that you should consider when creating personas for your target customers.
- What is their age? Education level? Income bracket?
- What are their life experiences? What motivates them?
- Where do they live? What is their neighborhood like?
- Who are they, and what is bringing them to a dispensary? What problem are they trying to solve?
- What do they expect in a customer experience? If they walked into your dispensary, would they be satisfied with the experience? Would they be likely to become repeat customers?
Remember that your brand is encompassed by not just your logo, but also by your other marketing materials, your social media, email marketing, store layout and ambience, and customer experience as they interact with staff.
What Is Your Dispensary’s Unique Value Proposition
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In simpler terms, what differentiates you from other dispensaries in your area? Perhaps you have extra staff for a more personalized customer experience. Perhaps you have a wide selection of concentrates and extracts. Maybe you offer delivery or the ability to order ahead online.
Highlighting what makes your dispensary unique will help you create messaging and merchandising that highlights these characteristics.
Using Branding in Your Merchandising
Your logo and identity materials are also a part of your branding. Your logo should represent the overall experience of your dispensary, act as a symbol that unifies your marketing efforts, and connect with your customers.
Placing your logo on your product displays and marketing materials will help remind your customers of your dispensary, and create a more memorable customer experience. Note: Bud Bar Displays can add your dispensary logo to all of our cannabis sniff jars and display pods.
Customer Education Plays a Huge Role
Cannabis is still a new industry, though it is far more accepted now than it was thirty years ago, there is still a large need for customer education.
Your dispensary staff has institutional expert knowledge about cannabis and cannabis-derived products. Use your marketing channels to educate customers on cannabis uses, regulations, and innovations. It’s important to fit the content to each channel you utilize. Email marketing, TikTok videos, YouTube, Instagram, and blog content are each consumed in different ways. Creating specialized educational cannabis content for each platform can help you reach customers in a format that they expect to find.
Need Help With Dispensary Product Displays?
For 25+ years, Bud Bar Displays has been designing award-winning retail displays and store fixtures. Our current team of retail display specialists design and build product displays for cannabis dispensaries. Check our product line of display cases, store fixtures, and product displays to highlight their cannabis and CBD product lines.
Whether your need displays for a dispensary large or small, we can help you determine exactly how to design a memorable customer experience.
If you need help with choosing the right product displays for your dispensary, contact the team at Bud Bar Displays, or call us at (916) 858-2000.