10 Tips On How To Promote Selling Weed From Your Dispensary

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How To Promote Selling Weed Online & Increase Profitability

Your revenue is just going to intensify due to ever-increasing consumer needs if you are in the legal or legacy marijuana business so having a good understanding of how to promote selling weed is imperative for the success of your business. 

Weed delivery services and online dispensaries are legal and entrepreneurs can make a substantial quantity of earnings quickly with the right cannabis marketing strategy designed to promote selling weed online. 

The Marijuana market in both Canada & the USA is in the fast line now and rapidly growing. Many US states who were anti-cannabis are now talking about legalization at the state and federal levels. 

According to Arcview Marketing Research, legal sales of cannabis in North America grew in 2016 by a tremendous 30% to $6.9 billion due to the constant growth of the marketplace in the U.S and Canada. 

The total North American market, licit and illicit, is expected to reach $65.1 billion in 2025, so now is as good a time as any to learn how to promote selling weed and get your share of this pie.

With smart cannabis marketing tactics to sell weed online and remarkable customer service at your retail locations, your opportunities for outranking and outlasting your competitors increase significantly. 

Here are 10 tips for effectively promoting selling weed online from your dispensary website store.

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1. Have a User-Friendly SEO Optimized Cannabis Website

The first step to understanding how to promote selling weed online is to prioritize building a user-friendly website – i.e. one that works great and looks great on mobile phones and has pages that load fast.

You also should prioritize the SEO, keyword, & blog content marketing strategy that is implemented on your dispensary website.

Why is this super important & highly relevant to how you promote selling weed from your dispensary?

Let’s start with why your dispensary website needs to be optimized with a professional & experienced dispensary SEO expert or cannabis SEO agency.

Whenever someone has the intent to purchase weed online for pick up at your cannabis retail store or get weed via mail order from your online dispensary, they will most likely, if not always, go to Google.

Would you agree?

If not, consider this. When someone has the intent to purchase weed (for pickup, delivery, or mail order), they most likely do not go to Facebook, Instagram, or TikTok. They’d most likely go to Google.

Right?

This is why an SEO-optimized website that ranks (and actually drives traffic from organic search) for purchase intent keyword search phrases is one of the best ways to promote selling weed for your dispensary.

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Your e-commerce website and online store need to be easily found in a simple Google (or Bing) search for purchase intent related keywords like ‘buy weed online’, ‘dispensary near me’, ‘weed delivery near me’, ‘best online dispensary canada’, and other relevant/related search phrases.

If not, you’re missing out on ‘free’; traffic from organic search that would absolutely increase the monthly revenue from your dispensary website.

Your strategy on how to promote selling weed doesn’t stop here though. In fact, it’s just getting started. 

If your website is ranking for purchase intent keywords and a potential customer clicks on one of your organic search listings, they’ll land on your website.

This is where having a user-friendly website, that loads super fast on smartphones, becomes a key factor in how well you’re able to promote selling weed online.

Let’s face it, there is a ton of competition to sell weed online and you’re not alone in promoting your dispensary’s website pages or your Google My Business page to rank on page 1.

So, if you’re blessed to have Page 1 rankings and customers land on your website it better load quickly and provides a smooth/seamless user experience while shopping on mobile devices.

If not, it’s very easy for potential customers to bounce from your site, hit the back button in their browser to go back to the search listings, and click on one of your competitor’s sites that are ranking just above or just below you.

Not only do you lose the online sale but the customer may not come back to your website to buy weed because of the poor experience they had the first time.

When strategizing how to promote selling weed effectively, we highly recommend you spend time & budget on developing a user-friendly dispensary website and implement a comprehensive SEO & blog content marketing strategy

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2. Use Your GMB Page To Promote Selling Weed

If you have a retail cannabis store or a local weed delivery service, you simply should not neglect to optimize your Google My Business page and profile with a local SEO strategy for dispensaries.

Google My Business pages are made for local businesses and are an integral part of Google’s local search algorithm as well as their Google Maps product.

Local dispensaries that optimize their GMB page will have the edge on how to promote selling weed locally in the city or cities in your target geographic areas.

Google always shows the “local map pack” highlighting 2-3 local businesses that are close to the person searching. The map pack shows your location pin on a local map as well as links to reviews on your GMB page as well as links to your website and store.

This is super valuable search real estate to help you promote selling weed online or from your retail store. 

Follow this link for more details on how to totally optimize your dispensary’s Google My Business page.

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3. Promote Your Dispensary in Cannabis Magazines & Industry Websites

Your ad in publications covering the cannabis market will place your brand messaging in front of targeted customers for your marijuana products.

Keep in mind that some of your competitors can use the tame tactic and run their ads and brand messaging in the exact same publication. Therefore, your ad style needs to be distinct & creative in terms of imaging and copywriting so that it stands out from other dispensaries.

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4. Advertise On Google To Promote Your Weed Products

Yes, it is possible to advertise cannabis dispensaries on Google search. We have been doing this successfully for our clients in Canada, USA, and the EU since 2017.

Getting marijuana ads approved on Google is a challenge and requires a significant monthly media spend of at least $6k-$8k/month, however, it can be a very lucrative way to promote selling weed.

Using Google to promote your weed delivery works well because there is high search volume across Canada and/or the USA for phrases like ‘fast weed delivery near me’, ‘weed delivery in [your city name]’, and even ‘legal weed delivery in [your city]’.

Stoners love weed delivery because they can conveniently shop online and get their weed delivered to their door, which is even more convenient. 

But, there’s a ton of competition for weed delivery services in organic search and your website isn’t ranking on Page 1 (or 2, 3, etc) for weed delivery-related keywords.

The best way to get ahead of your competitors for weed delivery and get to the top of the search results page, fast, is to start using Google Ads. 

Check out our case studies to see some examples of Google search ads for mail order marijuana, as well as Google ads for a cannabis retail store.

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5. Use Outdoor Advertising To Promote Your Weed Delivery Service

Outdoor advertising isn’t one of the services our cannabis marketing agency uses to promote selling weed at your dispensary, but it is an excellent marketing tactic to grow brand awareness locally.

Many US & Canadian cities have outdoor media companies that allow for cannabis advertising. We have referred many of our dispensary clients to our outdoor media partners to help them buy billboards in high traffic areas that promote their dispensary’s location and delivery service. 

These clients have seen an increase in in-store traffic and in online weed delivery orders during the time that they used outdoor advertising to promote selling weed.

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6. Programmatic Display Ads

Programmatic display/banner advertising & retargeting is actually available and allowed for Cannabis companies in Canada & the USA and can be an excellent tactic to promote selling weed online at your dispensary.

Note that this type of advertising provides priority ad placements on some of the world’s most popular websites and includes a large network of mainstream sites that people visit every day like CNN, FoodNetwork, Business Insider, Forbes, People, HGTV and more.

It’s important to understand that programmatic display ads are best used as a tactic to increase brand awareness or offer awareness as opposed to increasing customer acquisition and online sales.

The potential customers that see your weed promotions on websites they’re on do not have the intent to purchase weed at the time of seeing your ad. They are in the middle of reading an article or watching a video.

The power of using display advertising to promote selling weed is all in the segmenting of user data, purchase behaviour, and retargeting campaigns.

When you promote selling weed and drive traffic to your website, unfortunately not everyone will make a purchase. There’s no such thing as a 100% conversion rate with promoting weed or any other product.

So how can you get the people who don’t purchase from you when they visit your dispensary website back to your site to make the purchase or to clear their cart and complete the sale?

You use programmatic display ads in retargeting campaigns where you’re able to serve up dynamic ads to everyone who had visited your site but didn’t buy any of the weed you’re promoting.

These people will see your display ads highlighting the products that they viewed on your website but didn’t add to their cart and/or complete the sale.

When strategizing how to promote selling weed online or in your dispensary, consider hiring an experienced cannabis advertising agency to manage your retargeting strategy. 

This way you’ll be sure to have an experienced cannabis advertising expert to not only manage the campaign targeting but also optimize your campaign budget and cost per acquisition.

Important Note: These ads are different from native ads on niche websites offered through smaller ad networks like Mantis & Traffic Roots. We’ll cover these platforms in the Native Advertising section below.

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7. Native Advertising

Native advertising is perfect for targeting cannabis consumers because they go perfectly with the feel, function and form of the website or social media page the customer is on. 

They allow you to expand customer reach by advertising on niche websites where people who consume cannabis products already spend time browsing. 

You effectively promote selling weed and increase the exposure of your dispensary by targeting people who already buy weed products. This means you’ll be able to promote new weed product offers without having too much competition from other brands vying for their attention!

Marijuana advertising networks like Mantis and Traffic Roots, are an excellent way to promote selling weed and get your dispensary marketing campaigns noticed. 

These native ads avoid the irritation caused by other types of online advertisements, such as pop-ups or frame breaks that can disrupt users’ browsing experience on sites they may be visiting that have nothing to do with cannabis. 

Let’s discuss Mantis as an example of using native ads to promote selling weed.

Unlike the big names in native advertising, Mantis is a smaller network that doesn’t have as many features. 

However, it still provides similar services to what you can find with Taboola or Outbrain and does allow you to promote selling weed.

Mantis is a pioneer in the field of advertising technology and promises to provide customers with content, products or services through its native-advertising strategies.

This marijuana ad network has more than 500 websites and they claim they’ve helped their clients advertise content with incredible results. 

However, they suggest that sponsored content should form the backbone of any dispensary marketing strategy involving weed products since these tend toward higher engagement rates from users on sites throughout their niche network.

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8. Email Marketing Promotes Selling Weed

We all know the power of email. Unlike social media, where you can get shadowbanned and have your posts disappear from sight – emails are yours forever! 

This makes it possible for cannabis brands to be completely transparent with its messaging without any fear that people won’t see their content and weed promotions.

Every email you send is like a bridge that connects your dispensary with potential weed customers. 

Emails allow for instant conversations and the opportunity to learn about your customer’s needs & wants, which in turn shows how much value you bring as a weed dispensary!

Email marketing is a tried and true method for dispensaries to generate new customers, build relationships with existing customers as well increase brand awareness. 

Research from Litmus found that every dollar spent on email generates $42 in return while separate Campaign Monitor studies show an impressive ratio of 1:1 or more! 

Cannabis companies should take note because email marketing for dispensaries will help grow your business quickly without emptying any bank accounts.

Email marketing is a powerful way to reach your customers at just the right moment. 

With cannabis-related businesses being highly restricted by many traditional and digital marketers, email provides an opportunity that dispensaries wanting to promote selling weed should not pass up.

There are a few email marketing providers that are happy to work with cannabis companies to help promote selling weed. For example, try Klayvio and/or SendX.

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9. Daily Presence on Social Media Helps Promote Selling Weed

Social media can be a real pain in the ass when it comes to how to promote selling weed. I always say it’s a necessary evil for weed companies.

You have to be there because social media helps a weed dispensary create, build, and grow awareness and trust which are required before a customer will purchase from you.

Platforms like Facebook and especially Instagram are super unfriendly to cannabis companies so dispensary marketers need to find n effective social media content strategy in order to not get flagged, banned, or flat out cancelled.

We recommend that dispensaries use social media to educate customers on cannabis and clear up the many lies we’ve been told about the plant over the years.

Stick to science and facts. Stay away from posting close-up photos of plants, buds, and other cannabis products.

This type of strategy can help your dispensary differentiate itself from competing pot shops and also helps you stay compliant on any social platform and not get shadowbanned or shut down.

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10. Understand Your Cannabis Customers

Researching and understanding your target customers is one of the best tactics to start with when planning how to promote selling weed from your dispensary.

Cannabis customers are always looking for brands that meet their needs.

By paying attention to what your potential customers want, you can save money on marketing and generate more revenue while keeping customer loyalty high.

If things go as planned, these consumers will likely be telling friends about the great experience they’ve had at your retail store or online dispensary!

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