Cannabis Branding Essentials: How to Craft Messaging for Your Cannabis Business Interview
If you are anywhere near the cannabis or hemp industries, you know that marketing is key. But restrictive advertising regulations and limitations on organic marketing can prove to a minefield for the ill-prepared. Since we started MadisonJay in 2017, it is hard to think of a single day in which we have not fielded questions about how cannabis and hemp entrepreneurs can effectively build their brand without unnecessary regulatory risk.
For businesses in the cannabis and hemp industries, it's critical to develop a smart, powerful, and compliant marketing plan. That means expert resources like MadisonJay, but also folks like our talented friends at Cannabis Creative.
In other words, you do not want to be the next cannabis brand to be forced to scrap your entire brand concept after beginning operations because you took too much risk in your brand design and regulators conclude it is fatally flawed. Similarly, you do not want to be the next cannabis brand to launch with a marketing plan that is so vanilla that neither regulators nor consumers notice you.
Given the importance of these issues to brand success, we thought it would be interesting to ask the Cannabis Creative team some questions about what they think it means to craft a good brand message for your cannabis business and why it's critical to do so:
Q. From an agency perspective, what does ‘messaging’ mean in cannabis and hemp cannabinoid marketing?
Messaging refers to the way a brand conveys the value it provides. For cannabis and CBD businesses, this comes down to establishing a solid brand strategy to determine exactly what you want to communicate with your customers.
This might range from low product prices to high-quality flower to unmatched dispensary customer service. Whatever your unique selling point is, your brand messaging should be centered around emphasizing that.
Q. As marketers of both cannabis & non-cannabis products, what's a good cannabis marketing message?
A good cannabis marketing message resonates with your customers and their core values. The idea is to appeal to their hearts and their minds. In fact, according to the Harvard Business Review, 64% of consumers who self-identify as having a brand relationship say the primary reason they connect with a brand is shared values.
To dive deeper into that, think about Nike’s “Just Do It”. The slogan is short, bold, and empowering. Now, compare that to Adidas’ “Adidas is All In”, which is a touch longer, and speaks more to community and unity. However, what is more complex is that brand messaging goes beyond a simple tagline
When it comes to branding cannabis, it is important to convey what makes your brand stand out. Too many brands focus on proving what makes them different from the competition, when the reality is, you should be communicating directly with your customers about what makes you the best choice for them.
A good cannabis marketing message centers the audience, the ideal customer, and develops voice, tone, and emotion with them in mind.
Q. As leading cannabis marketers, can you share some insights on how you approach crafting an effective cannabis marketing message?
The short answer: Tell your story, your cannabis story.
At the end of the day, an effective cannabis brand has a story to tell about its ‘Why.’ Capture the feeling that launched you into business in the first place. Whether it was a social justice cause, a quest for a higher-quality product, or the need for more education in the space, hone in on that.
Good cannabis messaging takes into account several perspectives: the internal perspective (that “why”), the customer’s perspective, and your brand positioning. To do this, ask yourself these questions when developing your messaging:
What matters the most to my customers?
What is my company’s ultimate mission?
How do my values align with my customers more than the competition?
With these questions in mind, you will find that your cannabis brand’s core values are rooted in something much stronger than simply selling to sell. And that is what you want to capture in your messaging.
Q. In the world of cannabis marketing, why is messaging important for cannabis brands?
The cannabis industry is a rapidly growing space with innovative brands popping up left and right. People really want to be a part of it!
As a cannabis branding agency, it is our job to help our clients develop messaging that attracts the right type of consumers to their business. As with any business, you don’t want to attract just anyone.
When you apply the Pareto Principle to your business, you’ll find that 80% of your sales come from the 20% of your audience who are most loyal to your brand. And how do you build that loyalty? Cannabis brand messaging.
If you’re struggling to develop brand messaging that resonates with you and your customers, you can reach out to us at Cannabis Creative at info@cannabiscreative.com for more information or help with your marketing needs.