Sites like YouTube, X, TikTok and Instagram have proven to be marketing gold mines for many so-called “conventional” companies.
However, in spite of the fact that CBD products are legal, the regulatory landscape surrounding the industry remains restrictive. Even so, that does not mean you can’t harness the power of social media for your CBD business. You just need to know the ins and outs.
Find the right partner
If you want to accept online payments for your CBD products, you need to work with a payment service provider with specific expertise and experience in your industry.
Like it or not, CBD stores fall into the “high-risk” category due to the nature of the products sold, as well as the above-average likelihood of chargebacks and security breaches. Additionally, most conventional lenders are wary of the added regulations and restrictions in the CBD sphere.
A CBD-friendly payment processor, on the other hand, is happy to partner with your company. They have established relationships with banks and other financial institutions, with knowledge of the complexities and potential for profits that are inherent in the industry. These processors are happy to help you to successfully navigate the constantly evolving security landscape.
A combination of the right payment processing partner, and an effective social media strategy, could really power your sales and brand efforts.
Understand the restrictions
For the most part, direct sales or the promotion of CBD products via ads is prohibited on social media platforms. Nevertheless, these forums can still be powerful tools that you can use to spread the word about your brand, drive traffic to your website and foster a positive relationship with your audience.
Your challenge is to create and disseminate creative content in the form of images, text and videos.
The purpose of what you make should be to educate, inform and engage your customers in such a way that they want to go to your website to learn more. Once they get to your home page, you can and should pull out all the stops to intrigue, delight, engage and entice your visitor to buy your CBD products.
Even on your website, however, never lose sight of the importance of the language you use.
Avoid making any medical claims about your products. Moreover, don’t post any images or verbiage that even appears to glamorize drug use.
Focus on superior content
It is the words, images and customer interactions on your social media pages that will transform casual guests into long-term clients and passionate brand ambassadors. Therefore, the photos and videos you share should be unique and of high quality.
They should draw customers in with interesting angles and fun twists that encourage sharing, and inspire visitors to interact with you and each other about your products.
Make your brand fun and exciting
Promotions, contests and giveaways are great strategies that work wonders to get people excited about your CBD store.
Whether you offer discounts or freebies for new customer referrals, or host a video or photo contest, the key is that you are finding ways for people to become a part of your brand’s team.
Partner with an influencer
You don’t need to spend thousands of dollars to make influencer marketing work for your CBD marketing campaign. Even micro-influencers have highly loyal fan bases eager to follow the recommendations put forth by a minor celebrity whom they respect.
Whatever you spend to collaborate with an influencer who gels with your brand and message can pay for itself many times over when you are able to make inroads with a whole new fan base.
Use tagging to your advantage
Although you are prohibited from directly selling CBD products on social media sites, tagging is fine. For example, use Instagram’s “shop” tab or Facebook’s “buy” button to tag merchandise that shows up in your posts.
Doing so will send interested audience members directly to your purchase page.
Let your customers do the talking
There is nothing like social proof to drive business to your CBD store. It’s one thing for you to tout the virtues of what you are selling – of course you would – and quite another for a happy customer to provide their personal story.
Make it your business to encourage those positive testimonials, posting them prominently on your social media pages for maximum effect.
Use social media to display your customer focus
Sure, sites like TikTok and Instagram are springboards that can lead to enhanced CBD product sales. However, that’s not all. They also give you the perfect medium for demonstrating your commitment to the customers whose happiness and loyalty are indispensable to your success.
As we illustrated above, it is your loyal patrons who can be your most effective brand ambassadors. Use your pages to show how you resolved questions and concerns, and be sure to showcase testimonials that speak about your company’s customer-first approach.
Respond to comments and concerns immediately and publicly on your page so that the poster – and everyone else who follows you – can see your commitment to addressing concerns effectively.
Use the same policy when dealing with negative reviews, which are inevitable for any business. Respond to negative criticism with empathy and a commitment to resolving the situation. Then take it off line to work out the details.
Measure your outcomes
As with any other marketing strategy, it is important that you have concrete ways to measure your social media marketing strategy’s success. To that end, focus on engagement rates that show the ways your audience reacts to your pages.
The click-through rate quantifies what percentage of visitors clicked links in your posts.
Follower growth indicates the rate at which your audience is expanding, and conversion rate quantifies how many visitors turn into paying customers. Finally, bounce rate shows how long visitors stay on your site.
When you partner with a merchant account for specialty businesses, you have successfully laid the groundwork for a successful CBD enterprise.
Augmenting it with a robust social media campaign that stays within the bounds of industry restrictions can furnish your CBD store with the extra marketing push you need to turn your entrepreneurial dreams into reality.
