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Now that you are up and operational, you need to focus on customer acquisition. While the CBD industry is trendy right now, shoppers won’t flock to you on autopilot. Unless you set yourself up with a solid marketing system.

1. Focus on content

CBD products are still largely misunderstood often, due to shady marketing from other brands or bogus medical claims made by self-proclaimed gurus. Build your initial customer base by seeding accurate content. Educate the interested, but cautious, buyers about:

• Different product types.

• CBD extraction methods.

• Possible benefits and results.

• Potential side-effects.

• Correct usage/dosage.

• The hemp industry as a whole.

Invite industry experts and use claims from verified sources to create more comprehensive content than your competition. Focus both on your blog and social media especially, as that’s where most younger consumers go looking for both product inspiration and info.

2. Leverage SEO

Publishing well-research content is key to dominating the search engine results. Especially with the latest Google update called ‘passage indexing’. By honing its AI algorithms, Google now indexes individual passages from a web page (rather than just the entire page) to help users find needle-in-a-haystack info.

So for instance, if I’m googling something like “What’s the best strength of CBD oil?”, I’m redirected to a highlighted result on the page:

 

 

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For CBD businesses this SEO change is a great opportunity to attract top-of-the-funnel customers and convert them with educational content.

Since SEO-competition around CBD-related keywords is pretty intense, going after long-tail, less-searched keywords can help you build the initial traffic, while you work on further optimizations.

3. Partner with influencers

Much of CBD’s current popularity comes as a direct result of patients’ advocacy and evangelism. First-hand stories from people, whom CBD helped cope with chronic pain and seizures, initially spurred the mass-interest in the plant both for therapeutic and wellness purposes.

Today, a ton of celebs are outspoken fans of the CBD. Some of them even launched their CBD businesses. So finding credible advocates for your brand shouldn’t be an issue. Just ensure that you are partnering with people who share your brand beliefs and can speak about CBD with authority. Also, don’t forget about mandatory FTS disclosures.

Lastly, keep close tabs on the latest FDA regulations (as these change as we speak) to make sure your communication stays in line with the requirements. Also, individual states have different regulations when it comes to CBD advertising. Be sure to verify local rules too.

 

 

 

4 Evergreen Issues CBD Businesses Are Facing

While entrepreneurs in the CBD industry can capitalize on the industry’s rapid boom, they should also brace themselves for a set of unique challenges. With a lack of FDA guidelines and differences in CBD regulations on the state level, running a CBD business can feel particularly gruesome at times. Especially when it comes to:

1. Banking and financing.

Sadly, CBD businesses are considered ‘high-risk’ by many financial service providers due to the aforementioned gaps in state laws and regulations. So prepare to do some walking and negotiating when opening a merchant account.

Securing extra financing via business loans can be challenging too, again thanks to the bad rep the cannabis industry has among certain FIs. But don’t despair. There are some hemp-friendly banks and investors in the field too.

2. Payment processing.

Payment processors aren’t making life easier for CBD sellers either. Most wrongly stigmatize such companies.

3. Business insurance.

Insurers are slow to act on the recent legalization of hemp and hemp-derived products. Just like conservative banks, they are often barring CBD companies altogether or burden them with crazy-high premiums.

But having a solid insurance plan is crucial for your company’s liability. So don’t skim on getting a good plan from a CBD-friendly insurer.

 

 

 

4. Differentiation from the competition.

With a slew of businesses touting ‘cannabis’ as a customer attractor, it may be difficult to stand out even when you sell genuine, high-quality cannabis products. A 2017 Penn University study, found that 70% of cannabinoid products sold online had issues with labeling.

Over 42% of CBD products were under-labeled, meaning that they contained more CBD than stated. Some 26% were over-labeled — they had a lower condensation of cannabinoid than stated.

Such happenings, along with misleading marketing and grossly overstated claims regarding CBD’s effectiveness are making new customers skeptical towards recent market entrants. Gain their trust by being positively different when it comes to:

• Transparency: From telling where your hemp plants grow to display proper certification of analysis, explain to your customers what they are about to purchase and munch.

• Accuracy: Avoid unverified scientific statements (even if they look promising for marketing). Check your sources, invite known experts to help you create content and educational brochures. Make honest, no-nonsense claims to set yourself apart from the sleazier types.

• Storytelling: Some of the most successful CBD businesses were launched by long-term CBD evangelists and regular folks, whose chronic health condition was majorly alleviated by CBD. Your unique story, cementing your brand mission and values, can help you build a stronger emotional connection with your target audience. For example, CBD for Life tells a story of how their founder concocted a CBD cream to help her alleviate the back pain.

3 Core Tips for Nurturing Your CBD Business

New ecommerce companies are very tender. If you want your CBD business to grow, evolve and always be ripe, here are three things you should consider doing.

1. Ask for help.

Between murky regulations and operational issues, new CBD business owners will have a lot of their platter. While everything is searchable on Google these days, you shouldn’t underestimate the value of a mentor aka someone who already walked the same walk before you.

As Andre Bourque said on Forbes:

“THAT’S THE RUB OF EXCELLING IN THE CANNABIS INDUSTRY: THERE’S NO MODEL OF EXCELLENCE RIGHT NOW. IT’S A FLUID AND SHIFTING INDUSTRY THAT DIDN’T REALLY EXIST JUST A FEW YEARS AGO.”

That makes finding a good industry mentor somewhat challenging. Yet, not impossible. AngelList has 1,210 marijuana investors and that’s just one place. Non-profit organizations such as CBD Alliance, National Hemp Association and Vote Hemp are also great places to find new industry connections and support.

 

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2. Have patience.

Fast traction is often viewed as a given in the ecommerce industry. You sure have heard literally overnight success stories where some “$500 Instagram ad drove $50,000 in sales in a day”.

In the CBD industry, paid ecommerce ads are not an option. Click-bait marketing can cause compliance issues, while content marketing and SEO both take time to work. So take a deep breath and prep several buckets of mental patients to methodically work through the different kinks of running CBD operations.

3. Understand the industry.

Despite (or because of) slow FDA response, the CBD industry keeps evolving in somewhat contradictory directions. While some states e.g. Texas removed the ban on selling edible CBD products in 2019., others banned CBD-infused foods and beverages last year.

 

 

 

Subsequently, market trends and consumer trends change from week to week too. Especially, when some celebrity like Gwyneth Paltrow announces her involvement in a new CBD venture or throws a CBD-themed baby shower as Kim Kardashian did.

For sure, no CBD business can or should stay atop of all the latest trends and fads. But they do need to keep close tabs on emerging tendencies among their clients, changes in compliance requirements, along with other major industry happenings.

Wrapping Up

CBD is an interesting product to trade. On one hand, you can make a genuine difference by supplying your customers with life-improving goods. On the other, you also need to constantly educate the general public (along with some B2B partners and other stakeholders) about your products’ actual benefits, their legality status and lack of connection with THC-dominant marijuana.

That can be a tough battle. But well worth it when you look at the CBD industry sales prospects again. Grandview Research estimates that the CBD market will swell by a compound annual growth rate of 22.2% between 2019 and 2025.

And you can be part of that revenue pool too if you launch your online CBD business today!

 

 

This blog does not constitute legal, professional or financial advice and Kentuckiana Websites disclaims any liability with respect to this material. Please consult your attorney or professional advisor on specific legal, professional or financial matters.

 

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