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It’s important for a modern business to have a strong online presence, starting with the website. This is especially true for dispensaries, cannabis concentrate companies, and cultivation facilities. Senior members of the FCC have warned national broadcasters against accepting marijuana advertising because the plant is still illegal on a federal level. Especially with TV and radio ads out of the question, the internet is the best place for marketing cannabis businesses.
Some states with more developed cannabis industries have enacted marijuana advertising laws. Colorado, for example, forbids retail marijuana establishments from advertising unless they have reliable evidence that no more than 30 percent of the audience can be reasonably expected to be under the age of 21. That’s paraphrasing the state’s cannabis advertising laws, and the full regulations are much more complicated.
The ambiguity involved in running a dispensary in Colorado is one thing– that industry is relatively well defined compared to what you can find in most states. When it comes to advertising a marijuana business in Missouri, where the industry is brand new and for medical patients only, businesses have even less information about how they can advertise. The best bet for marketing a cannabis dispensary in Missouri (or related marijuana businesses) is to create a great website that can generate traffic.
It’s worth noting that businesses in this space should take steps to keep underage visitors off of their sites. This can be as simple as creating a popup that asks if patients are at least 21 years of age or have a medical marijuana card. If the visitor selects no, don’t let them see the site’s content.
Once you understand the regulations and have an appropriate website in place, there are seven general categories of blog posts that will be especially helpful for your cannabis business SEO strategy.
Cannabis consumers and medical marijuana patients are more discerning than ever before. They want to find the best strains, learn about different terpene profiles, and even explore the history of their favorite strain. Create blog posts to go into detail about some of the different strains you stock at your dispensary, grow at your facility, or use to produce your concentrates and edibles.
Your audience will appreciate the information, and you’ll position your brand as a reliable source for cannabis knowledge. When people search for a specific strain you’ve written about, they’ll be more likely to find your site. This is an opportunity to connect with audience members who are ready to make a purchase and already know exactly what they want.
Now that governments are taking a more progressive approach to cannabis, scientists and researchers have more freedom to study this plant. It seems like there’s a nearly constant flood of new information about cannabinoids, terpenes, and the effects of cannabis. By creating blog posts to share this information with your audience, you’ll show up in more searches and demonstrate that your cannabis business is in the know.
As the cannabis industry continues to boom, there are a lot of exciting new products coming to market. Keep your audience up to date with the latest and greatest options, especially those that relate to your business. If you’re running a cannabis concentrate company, let your audience know about how your extraction process works or a new product like THCA diamonds. If you run a dispensary, it can be helpful to publish a blog post about which types of edibles your customers or patients can find at your marijuana business.
If you’re running out of ideas for how to advertise a cannabis business, do a quick search about the latest industry news. Let your audience know how about new laws and industry updates. For companies in some states, that may mean publishing posts about cannabis delivery laws. If you’re marketing a medical marijuana dispensary in Missouri, it makes more sense to provide updates about how patients can get medical marijuana cards. Become a trusted source for people who want to explore the industry, and they’ll be more likely to patronize your business when the time comes.
Some of your readers may already be invested in the specific changes your business is making, or they might just want information about how cannabis companies operate in general. If you want to share information about how your business and your partners operate, consider the following ideas for blog posts in this category:
Writing localized blog posts is important if you want your cannabis business to show up in local search results. Focusing on a specific community can help a local cannabis dispensary stand out from larger corporations. Even if you’re running a cannabis dispensary with multiple locations, it’s a good idea to show that you’re plugged into the communities where you operate or where you’ve established franchised chains. What local occurrences are relevant to your target audience?
Ranking for question-based keywords can solidify your brand as an authority. Creating an FAQ page is a great place to start. Beyond that, comparing similar products or writing instructional articles can go a long way toward getting your brand in front of the right people. For example, blog posts like the following can generate organic traffic to your dispensary's website and help you crack the elusive top page of Google search results:
When you want to invest in SEO for a marijuana dispensary, cannabis concentrate company, or legal grow operation, you can turn to Buddy Gardner. Based in St. Louis, MO, Buddy Gardner has experience working with cannabis businesses all over the United States. Let’s talk about what we can do to help you show up higher in Google search results, especially from local searches. Get in touch today, and we’ll start with a free consultation to identify opportunities for your business.
