Member Blog: How to Navigate the Cannabis Payment Landscape in 2023

With the recent crackdown on cashless ATMs in the U.S. for cannabis payments, dispensaries have been scrambling to find alternatives to this banking system. As more consumers nowadays prefer to pay by credit or debit cards, or another form of digital payment, dispensaries must offer convenient forms of making payments to their customers. But until there is federal legalization in the U.S., the cannabis payment landscape will continue to be marred by complications. This complete guide on cannabis payment processing can help you navigate the hurdles better and set your dispensary up for success with the best digital payment solutions. But continue reading for some quick tips on handling cannabis payments in 2023.

Reduce Cash Transactions and Risks

Cash may still be king in the cannabis industry, but it comes with many risks. And in this highly regulated industry, compliance must remain the priority for dispensaries. Cash also limits your ability to retarget or upsell to customers. By reducing cash transactions, you can avoid the following risks:

Cash theft by robbers, employees, or customers.
Mistakes in daily cash counts and accounting.
Inventory compliance issues due to untraceable cash.

Encourage the Use of Digital Payments

With digital payments, instant reporting capabilities give cannabis retailers a better understanding of business performance. Also, providing customers with a modern and convenient shopping experience is a competitive advantage in the cannabis industry. There are significant advantages to encouraging the use of digital payments:

Improved dispensary experience for customers.
Increased safety and security for everyone.
Easy Banking, Tracking, and Reporting.

Maximize the Benefits of Going Cashless

The most important benefit of going cashless is that you’ll see a massive increase in sales and revenue. When a customer is not limited by the amount of cash on their person, they always tend to buy more, and budtenders are better equipped to upsell. Most dispensaries using cashless payment solutions witness:

Minimum 25% increase in average transaction value.
Increased customer loyalty and retention.
Overall improved operations with data insights.

Choose a Compliant Payment Solution

There are quite a few cannabis cashless payment solutions out there, but not all can provide you with the enhanced safety, security, and compliance needed for cannabis retail. Ensure that you choose a multichannel payment solution that integrates seamlessly with your cannabis POS and complies with all laws and regulations. A dispensary cashless payment solution must offer the following:

PIN Debit Payment: The most compliant solution.
ACH Electronic Transfer: No-cost direct payments.
Integration with loyalty and gift card programs.

Implement Cannabis eCommerce and Delivery

To provide customers with the most convenient and efficient way to purchase cannabis products, dispensaries should also consider implementing eCommerce and delivery services. This allows customers to browse and buy products online, with the added convenience of home delivery. Implementing such services also helps reduce cash transactions, as customers can pay digitally if you have a compliant cannabis payments solution.

Set up an eCommerce website by using a cannabis-specific eCommerce platform that integrates seamlessly with your POS system.
Use cannabis-specific delivery software to set up compliant delivery services or outsource to third-party delivery companies.
Dispensaries must have a robust digital payment system that complies with all regulations, which can only be achieved by using a cannabis-specific payment processing system that integrates with your eCommerce platform and POS system.

Bonus Tips

Here are a few more tips for navigating the cannabis payments landscape:

Consider implementing a loyalty program to encourage repeat customers and increase sales.
Ensure that your payment processing system can handle high volumes of transactions to avoid delays or downtime.
Stay up-to-date with the latest regulations and compliance requirements for cannabis payments to avoid any legal issues.
Offer multiple payment options to customers, such as debit and credit cards, ACH transfers, and mobile payments, to provide greater flexibility and convenience.

Conclusion

The cannabis industry is rapidly evolving, and dispensaries must adapt to the changing payment landscape to remain competitive. By reducing cash transactions, encouraging digital payments, and implementing cannabis eCommerce, dispensaries can offer customers a convenient and safe way to purchase cannabis products while complying with state and federal regulations.

Offering the convenience of digital payments increases dispensary profits, enhances the customer experience, and elevates your dispensary business beyond the limitations of cash only. With a truly transparent and compliant cannabis cashless payment solution, you can facilitate faster check-out at your dispensary with simple, frictionless, and secure digital payments. Dive into Cova Software’s free cannabis payments processing guide to learn more.

Gary Cohen is the CEO of Cova Software, the fastest growing technology brand in the cannabis industry. Cohen’s focus has been driving the company’s overall strategy, including its vision, go-to-market plan, and strategic development. Since joining the cannabis industry in 2016 and launching Cova commercially in 4q17, Cohen has led Cova to dominate the enterprise sector for dispensary Point of Sale, while forging client relationships with hundreds of single-store retailers across North America.

With Cova’s cannabis POS and its excellent integrations with eCommerce and delivery services, the online order automatically pops up for the budtender to tender the sales, and the POS system updates inventory once payment is approved. Cova offers multiple eCommerce solutions to choose from, as per your needs and budget, and you can legally sell cannabis online stress-free while staying compliant with strict government regulations.

Committee Blog: The Road Ahead for Cannabis Payments in 2022

by Daniel Muller, Founder & CEO of AeroPay
Member of NCIA’s Banking and Finance Committee

In many legal dispensaries around the U.S., customers have been given the option to pay with debit cards via “Cashless ATM” transactions, but the regulatory walls around these methods might be closing in. Last December, Visa explicitly called out the misuse of ATM cash disbursements by merchant dispensaries that are unable to obtain payment services due to Visa Rules or regulatory constraints. This compliance memo from the United States’ largest payment network put legal dispensaries on high alert, considering how roughly half of the country’s cannabis retailers handle payments through point-of-banking, or cashless ATM transactions.

While Visa did not clarify specific disciplinary measures, any perceptive retailer should view this as a courtesy warning before official crackdowns begin. Fortunately, eschewing cashless ATM transactions will not relegate dispensaries back to cash-only operations. In fact, there are now a number of compliant payment alternatives available to legal dispensaries that will enable them to operate like full-fledged mainstream retail businesses.

As cannabis business owners eye their next phase of growth, many should examine the long-term advantages of adopting modern and compliant payment solutions that ultimately benefit consumers, retailers, and the industry at large.

What should retailers look for in digital payment partners?

Although both credit cards and debit cards are currently off-limits for cannabis transactions, retailers can still offer digital payment options through bank-to-bank transfers, commonly referred to as ACH. In recent years, more mainstream FinTech platforms specializing in this field, like AeroPay, have started offering ACH bank-to-bank account solutions to regulated cannabis businesses. not only to mitigate the operational risks that come with cash-only and cashless ATM transactions but also enable dispensaries to provide seamless retail experiences. Nevertheless, it’s important to remember that not all ACH platforms are made equal. Retailers in search of a compliant and effective digital payment partner should be mindful of the following operating standards before signing on.

First and foremost, payment providers must require transparent and accurate reporting. Dispensaries that use an alternate store name or address on their transaction receipts are likely “masking” their identities in order to conceal cannabis sales from banks or regulators. Platforms that either facilitate or overlook this misconduct are not operating in accordance with state and federal laws.

Compliant platforms should be forthcoming about securing regulatory approvals in each operational state. A responsible payment platform will have rigorous due diligence processes and obtain the necessary local regulatory approvals and permits before working with clients. It is also equally important to work with providers that have an established relationship with trusted, cannabis-compliant financial institutions, such as Safe Harbor Financial, that follow all reporting guidelines outlined by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN).

In this highly regulated space, it is especially valuable to partner with platforms that offer extensive fraud and anti-money laundering transaction monitoring. These are still prevalent issues within the regulated industry and compliant providers are serious about keeping both their internal operations and clients accountable. Platforms that thoroughly vet clients and routinely look into potential misconduct are mitigating payment risks for dispensaries and consumers while reinforcing the legitimacy of the regulated market.

Finally, dispensaries should seek out solutions that complement their overall tech stack. The industry’s open architecture leaders see the value in integration. Integrations of payment solutions with POS systems and e-commerce solutions can introduce sophisticated services such as cashless payments for deliveries or allowing prepayments online – features that are not feasible through point-of-banking. These seamless, integrated solutions also reduce the risk of human error.

What’s the upside to going cashless?

Running a profitable and streamlined cannabis operation requires business owners to mitigate potential risks. Unfortunately, relying on cash transactions may exacerbate safety concerns, especially in light of increasing dispensary burglary rates across the country. Transitioning to digital payments not only enhances dispensary security but also reduces the possibility of employee theft –which can range from cash skimming to giving away free products under the table.

From an operational and consumer experience standpoint, allowing cashless ATM transactions or cash payments can maximize internal redundancies and friction points at checkout. In fact, mainstream e-commerce studies have already identified extra costs, lengthy checkout processes and untrustworthy payment platforms as the leading drivers of cart abandonment. This is a serious issue that negatively impacts inventory management and new customer acquisitions.

Offering contactless, digital payments can increase basket sizes for both e-commerce and brick-and-mortar settings. While it is widely known that online cannabis orders often outperform in-store transactions, it is also worth noting that contactless payment options can boost total purchase value by 19 percent among mainstream retailers. Although this is an emerging technology within cannabis retail, dispensaries must proactively cater to customer preferences in this competitive environment, especially considering how roughly 60 percent of consumers are currently using digital wallets for mobile payments.

How are digital payment services creating a solid foundation for the regulated industry?

Over the past decade, the industry has adopted a number of makeshift solutions to overcome both expected and unexpected regulatory and consumer challenges. However, as cannabis evolves into a more established sector, it will be imperative for businesses to leverage battle-tested platforms and services to ensure compliant and reliable operations.

By integrating digital payments into a business’ best practices early on, cannabis retailers are positioned to operate seamlessly, thus bolstering their credibility among regulators, investors and future business partners. Additionally, working with a platform that diligently vets clients will ensure timely customer and vendor payments –thus eliminating a pervasive and frustrating retail bottleneck. Embracing digital solutions not only reduces opportunity costs associated with manually tracking cash flow but also optimizes tax collection, compliance monitoring and enforcement as well as consumer-facing cashback and loyalty programs. More importantly, optimizing these internal operations could allow the cannabis industry to establish new and efficient flow of funds standards that do not exist in mainstream sectors.

As the chasm between legal cannabis and established sectors narrows, industry stakeholders must make a concerted effort to adopt standard operating procedures that align with global business practices. It is time for cannabis retailers to finally utilize modern payment solutions for their increasingly mainstream businesses. Gaining access to legitimate payment and banking partners has been a perennial issue within the industry, but dispensaries now have the chance to use this inflection point as an opportunity to demonstrate the sector’s commitment to operating compliantly and fostering trust within the wider business community.

Member Blog: 5 Must-Have Features for Your Cannabis eCommerce Website

by Gary Cohen, Cova Software

As the cannabis industry goes mainstream, eCommerce is increasingly becoming a necessary part of cannabis retail operations. But with a plethora of dispensary eCommerce solutions available, not all of these can help you build an online presence. With intense competition in cannabis retail, there are some things that you must not compromise on as a dispensary owner. The following five must-have cannabis eCommerce features will help you grow your dispensary business, differentiate yourself from competitors and establish yourself as a formidable brand in the online cannabis space.

Independent eCommerce Platform

When deciding how to sell cannabis online, retailers can either use a third-party marketplace or have their own eCommerce website. Using a marketplace may be the easier option, but in the long run, you will certainly benefit more from owning an independent eCommerce platform. Having your own cannabis eCommerce website gives you complete control over the design, product information, and branding, unlike a third-party marketplace that offers little room for customization. Another valuable benefit of an independent cannabis eCommerce platform is that you can market it directly to online visitors and existing customers and build brand loyalty.

Data Ownership For Building Relationships

To market your online cannabis platform directly to your target demographics, it’s essential to have access to their contact details, which is not possible when you use third-party marketplace platforms. With an independent eCommerce platform, you will not just own your website but also all customer information and other relevant data to help you create innovative marketing campaigns and offer a more personalized online customer experience. Through email marketing and loyalty program communications, you can keep your customers regularly engaged with your brand and grow your business by building long-lasting relationships.

Mobile and SEO-friendly Website

These days, consumers regularly use their smartphones to search the web and make online purchases. Hence, your eCommerce website must function properly not just on desktops but mobile devices as well. You must avoid using an iFrame embedded menu, employed by many third-party marketplaces, as Google won’t crawl or index your website. To ensure that your online cannabis store is discoverable, use an advanced native eCommerce solution that aids in building SEO authority. If your chosen solution offers the ability to create content, you can also capitalize on SEO best practices to improve the flow of organic traffic to your website.

Age-Gating and Compliance Features

If you’re selling products online that have legal age restrictions, then an age-gate on your website is a must. This is not just a compliance requirement, but it also demonstrates your commitment to not exposing cannabis to minors. Many regulatory authorities in the U.S. and Canada are mandating more robust online age-gating measures beyond a simple “Are you 21+ yes or no” pop-up, and it’s essential to choose a solution that offers the functionalities for you to comply with the laws. Your cannabis eCommerce store also must-have features that allow for compliance with legal purchase limits and any other online regulations within your state or province.

Integration with POS and Cannabis Ecosystem

Most importantly, your chosen eCommerce solution must integrate seamlessly with your POS system for efficient inventory management, transactions, and payment processing. Ensure that you are using an advanced cannabis POS system that syncs with leading cannabis tech ecosystem solutions so that you can streamline your online business and maintain a recurring revenue stream from it. For a seamless shopping experience, your customers should be able to browse the website, place an order, pay online and request for pickup or delivery.

Member Blog: Top 8 IT Concerns for the Cannabis Industry

by Sean Dawson, Director of IT Solutions at Office1

Integrating and measuring innovation for cannabis businesses can be daunting, mostly because cannabis has been considered illegal for decades. Luckily for the cannabis industry, the laws prohibiting the use of marijuana and marijuana products are tumbling down, and windows of opportunities are opening for people to integrate information technology with their cannabis businesses. As in other industries, information technology is shaping the cannabis industry as a frontier of opportunities for professionals in many exciting ways.

Despite being stereotyped and demonized for close to a century, the marijuana industry is swiftly reconstructing itself, thanks to cutting-edge technology that’s ensuring inventions, innovations, and progress. IT remains the ultimate lever for changing how people view and relate to the cannabis industry. Over the last few years, IT revamped the cannabis industry and transformed how marijuana is grown, processed, distributed, purchased, branded, and consumed.

Despite the remarkable progress, there are a few IT concerns for the cannabis industry. Here are the top 8 IT concerns for the emerging cannabis industry:

Automated Cultivation

Marijuana grow-boxes with fully automated grow technology for high-quality yields are a potential game-changer for the cannabis industry. A perfect example is a home-grow technology that allows people to discreetly plant a seedling or two in every corner of their houses. Every bit of the home-grow technology is highly guided and fully automated. This gives growers a deep personal satisfaction of growing their own marijuana without having to go through the taxing learning curve that other farmers have to endure to get the best quality yields. With this technology, you don’t even need an outdoor garden.

On a larger scale, there are tech-driven innovations in seed genetics and breeding as crucial aspects of cannabis cultivation. This technology modifies the DNA of cannabis to develop a cultivar with rich taste and more resistant to pests, diseases, and harsh elements of weather.

On the applications frontier, cannabis farmers now have access to customizable apps that allow them to configure cannabis cultivation to their geographical locations, soil texture, climate, and desired outcomes, among other considerations.

Automated cultivation is a growing concern for the cannabis industry as IT companies are striving to improve the cultivation technology even further, and growers are looking to leverage the best technology to gain more control over the quality and quantity of their yields.

Access Control

Cannabis dispensaries face the need to ramp up security within their premises. These dispensaries mostly deal with large cash transactions, which expose them to crime. These businesses are vulnerable to burglary, forgery, and robbery, necessitating advanced security options.

The need for improved security has led these dispensaries to incorporate stringent security options that effectively prevent malicious activity. For instance, to protect their crucial product, processing plants and growers utilize remote and cloud-based access control to the facilities.

Cannabis dispensaries normally take advantage of the flexibility that comes with current security systems to ensure that only authorized persons can access various areas within their facilities. To enhance security and access, these systems combine various security applications within one package, making them robust and efficient.

For instance, an access control system that grants keyless entry also combines with surveillance cameras, alarms, and the check-in systems to store a proper record of all personnel who visit specific areas within their premises. This ensures a safe work environment where the company maintains trust with their staff while simultaneously reducing liability. Remote access control also triggers rapid growth since it facilitates the management of many branches from a single point.

Automated Vending and Online Recommendation

With advances in computing and robotics, various companies have been experimenting with non-human point of sale vending technologies. The cannabis industry has not been left behind. Artificial intelligence has allowed companies to aggregate HIPAA compliant data thus allowing for the creation of platforms where doctors and patients to better predict treatment outcomes as well as managing analytic data points from seed to consumption. Enter, opportunity. Companies have now been utilizing this to innovate the way cannabis is being purchased. Through the creation of search engines designed off the AI data aggregation, consumers are now able to find the best available strains for their desired use case in both a medical and recreational use case.

Such technologies revolutionize the supply and delivery of the product as they help users make informed decisions regarding consumption methods and available strains, and therefore pivotal IT concerns for the cannabis industry.

Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence (AI) has significantly transformed the way every industry does business, and the cannabis industry is not lagging far behind on this. The grade and strain of cannabis produced majorly depend on the environment in which it was grown. Artificial intelligence helps growers to enhance the plants’ genetic makeup and CBD/THC concentration to produce popular strains.

AI also helps in optimizing the supply chain, ensuring efficient and fast delivery of marijuana products. Companies are diligently exploring ways in which AI can help improve how quickly and efficiently the product can be moved, from the growers to the processors and, finally, the consumer.

For example, a California-based startup, Eaze, collects consumer data relating to consumption and delivery. The data is then processed, analyzed, and leveraged to help dispensaries keep track of demand and update their stock.

Other companies use artificial intelligence to forecast price changes, fluctuations in product supply, and to analyze trends within the cannabis Industry.

AI is, therefore, a critical concern for the cannabis Industry.

Retail, eCommerce, and Delivery

Retail, too, has benefited from advances in delivery technology. Today, you can order a product or service with the click of a button, pay for it remotely, and have it delivered at your doorstep. The cannabis industry is already in on these advances. In states where marijuana consumption is legal, there are apps you can use to order a marijuana product and expect a home delivery in minutes.

Marijuana dispensaries have also turned to technology to help educate the public on cannabis production and consumption. For instance, some dispensaries are adopting the use of augmented reality to guide consumers through the available strains and their effects on the human body. There are also tons of education programs that cover everything from how cannabis functions in the body, growing options, and the best strains for different types of consumers.

Customized Consumption

Technology has revolutionized how we consume the product. Unlike the previous years, when smoking was the most popular means of consumption, modern consumers have a wide range of options. These include skin patches, e-cigs, and dosed inhalers. These technologies have disrupted the cannabis industry, and are paving the way for even safer options.

No doubt, modern technology has led to the invention and discovery of safe practices in the consumption of marijuana. For instance, it is known that different consumers react differently to various methods of marijuana delivery. Today, it is not uncommon for a doctor to take a swab of saliva to determine the best strain and delivery method for a particular user.

Electricity Storage and Consumption Monitoring

Marijuana growers attest that one of the highest costs of marijuana production arises from the use of electricity. The use of LED lights and climate control are responsible for these power costs. One way to reduce these costs involves the use of storage batteries. Growers can buy electricity during off-peak times when power is cheaper, store it batteries and use it during peak times. This also calls for the use of energy monitoring solutions to determine power consumption trends within the cannabis farms.

Seed-To-Sale Technology

With the growth of the marijuana industry, producers and growers seek ways to improve efficiency in the cannabis production process, following the laid-out regulations and maximizing profit. Seed-to-sale technologies equip producers with all knowledge regarding their product supply chain. This way, marijuana growers function the same way as any legitimate pharmaceutical or distribution chain.

Seed-to-sale software allows for vertical integration, which means the grower can track the product through various phases of distribution (manufacturing, supply, and dispensing). Point of sale software can combine with the company accounting software to create a fully-fledged Enterprise Resource Planning system, making it easy to manage the product like any other business.

Seed-to-sale software also helps with the documentation of cannabis transactions, which helps with compliance management, inventory management, and analysis of consumption trends.

The Bottom Line with Cannabis and Technology

With the increased decriminalization of cannabis comes unprecedented growth, which attracts investors. This growth has brought with it some industry shifts, especially in technology. This article has explored various IT concerns that have spurred growth in the marijuana industry. Legalization has also helped debunk myths formerly associated with the cannabis industry, which has encouraged IT startups to create solutions for the marijuana supply chain. This way, growers and suppliers can focus on developing high-end products, while technology helps with compliance, bookkeeping, and product improvement.

The relationship between IT and marijuana growth will spur developments that propel it into a multi-billion-dollar industry in the coming decades.

Sean Dawson is the Director of IT Solutions at Office1. Office1’s mission is to innovate and progressively modernize the inefficient business landscape by providing a proactive, personalized, and eco-friendly office technology solution from planning to implementation and optimization. One solution from one company – Office1. Sean seeks to understand the heart of a challenge and then focuses on creating practical and timely solutions. He is an avid DIYer, gardener, and master house re-doer who loves spending his free time with his wife, four children, and six chickens.

Member Blog: Pivoting Your Cannabis Business During COVID-19

By Lindsey Griffith, Creative Content Specialist at ThrivePOP

Life has changed, and businesses are in panic mode. Consumer income suddenly becomes uncertain, and we begin to face our own economic vulnerability. Luckily for the cannabis industry, they were deemed as an “essential” business during the COVID-19 pandemic. And while this meant they were still excluded from federal funding, they were allowed to operate and service their consumers based upon differing state rules and regulations.

While some cannabis companies’ first instinct may be to cut costs to marketing, there are several reasons why that should not be the case. Not only does marketing need to continue for your cannabis business to stay thriving, but it also needs to be amped up. Here we’ll discuss some reasons why you should keep marketing efforts rolling and just how you can pivot your tactics during a pandemic.

Make The Most Of Your Time Online

On a normal day, the majority of the population is online. Now that many companies have transitioned their employees to work from home, or shut down altogether, even more people are spending time online. More people are on social media trying to interact with their clients and audience, and those that may have downtime are spending it on the web. COVID-19 brought sudden closing to in-person cannabis services across the globe and many businesses found themselves scrambling to get online. Social distancing practices suddenly transitioned daily activities to a completely digital life, so increasing your digital marketing efforts is a good way to continue to bring revenue to your business.

Now that your cannabis business may be limited to curbside, it is necessary to make your new purchasing process transparent online. Create a pickup process graphic for your website or pin directions to the top of your Facebook page. The easier you make it for your consumers to purchase your cannabinoids products during COVID-19, the better. Being online and consistently updating your content across the board is essential to keeping your cannabis business afloat.

Focus On eCommerce

During times like these, people are stuck inside – so naturally, everyone wants to shop online. By transitioning your cannabis sales to an online market, you will be able to maintain stability in uncertain times. eCommerce is a highly beneficial and successful way to keep your business active and making money during an economic crisis! It’s called retail therapy for a reason, right?

Luckily there are many resources to list your products online within the cannabis industry that expose you to a much larger audience than your website alone. Leafly maximizes your cannabis or CBD business presence through targeted advertising on its website. It’s also equipped with an easy to use online ordering system that allows customers to easily order in advance for pickup at your location. Another resource often used as an eCommerce platform within the industry is Weedmaps. Equipped with a mobile application, Weedmaps also makes it easy for consumers to easily search for cannabis brands and products near them. These are just a few of the resources available for you to legally list your products online.

While these external resources are extremely beneficial, all of these should work in conjunction with your own cannabis domain. Having your own domain and website for your business is essential to succeeding and staying on top of Google search results during COVID-19. Using search engine optimization and regularly adding new content to your website are just some of the ways to continually rank for related cannabis search terms. Don’t expect immediate results, however, as it often takes several weeks for Google to analyze and formally rank your website changes.

Build Your Email Marketing List

Now more than ever is a great time to build your client database. With the influx of people online and more time on their hands, it means that your offers can reach more people with the right marketing strategy. Setting up a marketing campaign with insider exclusives is an amazing way to keep people interested in your business and keep you at the forefront of their minds once things return to normal.

This can be done in the form of an email newsletter signup, social media contest, or even lead generation quizzes. Just make sure you’re following current web and social media contest rules and regulations. When creating these campaigns, consider what is valuable to your consumer, as this won’t be the same across all cannabis businesses. Do your consumers want to be educated? Are they interested in the latest products or strains in store? Does the majority of your business come from recreation or medicinal sales? Use what you know about your target audience to carefully curate exclusive offers that are unique to your brand.

Utilize All Of Social Media’s Tools

Adults are using social media up to 51% more than before the pandemic. Increasing your cannabis brand’s social media presence is key to staying in front of your audience during COVID-19. While you are currently not allowed to do any paid social media advertising (social media companies abide by federal law) there are many free tools available to grow your page organically. Making use of Instagram stories polls, questions, and countdowns are easy ways to give your audience a chance for them to interact with your page, therefore feeding into the algorithm.

Confused as to how that works? It’s actually pretty simple. Every time someone interacts with your Instagram story it signals to the algorithm that the user is engaged with your content. The more they interact, the more Instagram deems your content important to that user. Therefore, bumping you right to the top of their news feed!

Using micro-influencers on social media is also a very cost-effective way to market your cannabis business on social media. Their small circle of dedicated followers is more likely to convert into a customer for your business than a larger influencer account. Just make sure the partnership aligns and makes sense for both parties involved.

Reassessing Your Long-Term Strategy

How often do businesses get to press the reset button? If there is one silver lining during COVID-19, it’s the ability for businesses to adjust their marketing strategies. Now is the perfect time to develop a cannabis marketing plan that implements the standards of a “new” normal. When you do this you are able to reconsider your 4 P’s of marketing:

Product: Does my product serve my audience well during COVID-19?
Place: Is my product or service easily accessible to my audience during COVID-19?
Price: Can consumers afford my product or service during this economic crisis?
Promotion: Will consumers respond to marketing tactics as they had before COVID-19?

Marketing can’t just be turned on and suddenly leads and conversions pour in. It’s a long road with twists and turns that lead you to your destination. Dropping marketing efforts turns that car around immediately, reversing all efforts to obtain leads and increase sales. This may be a difficult and confusing time in the cannabis industry, but remaining strong in your marketing strategy will keep your business stable and active during and after a crisis.

Moving forward, consider how your marketing campaigns can now enter your consumer’s psyche. Keep your campaigns focused on your cannabis brand and don’t look to gouge worried consumers. Let’s be ethical about all this, while also remembering how marketing and staying in front of your audience is important, pandemic or not. Eventually, things will return to normal, so being smart and socially conscious and putting your best marketing foot forward will carry your business through!

Lindsey Griffith is the Creative Content Specialist at ThrivePOP, a West Michigan based Digital Marketing Agency. As a copywriter, Lindsey has experience in creating and implementing content across several digital platforms including podcasts, webinars, blogs, and social media profiles. During her cannabis career, she has worked with several cannabis manufacturers on search engine optimization through blogging to drive traffic to their website and assist in organic social strategies to gain new followers. Lindsey received her Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing from Grand Valley State University and her work has been published across several cannabis industry platforms.