Being declared as an essential service, the cannabis industry is slowly being recognized as an integral part of the market, especially with regards to healthcare. Cannabis businesses are reporting steady sales of cannabis and even an increase in sales of marijuana products during these times, showing that the industry sustains its success even in such difficult situations.
In spite of the captured market of cannabis businesses, the public health issue poses a challenge to owners, which is the need to adapt to the current situation. Businesses need to step up their digital marketing game in order to keep up with the need for accessibility and online solutions. Most people nowadays get information and various types of content from their social media feeds, which is why it is perhaps the most popular tools for digital marketing.
However, one tool that is often neglected is the quantity and quality of reviews. Many customers neglect giving reviews once they receive the product or service. Nevertheless, feedback remains crucial in a business, especially one that is relying on digital solutions for its marketing campaign.
Why Reviews are Vital to Business
The average consumer may think that giving a review is nothing more than them giving their two cents’ worth of opinion. However, for the business and its owner, feedbacks can spell the difference between success and failure.
Think about it. Why do you think brushing scams are rampant these days? If you are not aware, the brushing scam is a practice by shady businesses, especially online shops, in which they send random products to random consumers. The thing is the shops use accounts they control to buy from their store, but sends it to an unknowing victim. They then use these bogus accounts to give their shop higher quantity and quality of reviews.
The reason behind this scam is simple: consumers prefer buying from shops with more reviews, especially positive ones. One thing you should understand is that feedback reflects the general perception of customers. More positive feedback is taken as an indicator that the business’ products or services are generally good, while the more negative one is taken as the opposite. Moreover, a business that has more feedback is preferred by potential customers as it is a sign that many people are buying from this shop. This can help you increase your leads that you can convert to sales.
Another reason why reviews are crucial aspects of any business is that they are a vehicle for connecting with consumers. It gives you an opportunity to get customers’ opinion about your product or service, which you can use to further improve your business. Plus, it opens up a way to respond to what they have to say, whether good or bad. It is an excellent avenue to clear misconceptions, uphold your branding, and offer promos and discounts.
What can help you boost your reviews?
So, you may be convinced that feedback is a vital part of your cannabis business but you are not sure how to proceed. If you want to increase the number and quality of the feedback you receive, you should pay attention to several things such as:
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More Sales
Getting more reviews and positive ones are the gift that keeps on giving. As mentioned, customers who are looking for the best shop for their needs prefer buying from ones with many feedbacks, thus increasing their leads and potentially, sales.
The thing is the more sales you have, the higher your chances of getting additional feedback are. This is because customers who value feedbacks tend to leave one themselves, which then entices other potential customers to buy from your business, then the cycle continues.
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Launching Promotions
Speaking of more sales, one of the best ways to increase your conversion rate is by launching promotions and other similar offers. Remember that consumers generally love deals such as discounts, buy one get one offers, and other similar promos.
By offering these, customers are bound to check out your dispensary, increasing your leads. Just like in the point above, you are increasing your chances of getting more reviews when you convert these leads to sales.
So, how do you encourage your customers to leave reviews? The simple answer is to include it in the promotion. By incentivizing feedbacks, you are making it favorable for them not only to purchase from you but also to leave feedback.
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Engagement with Your Market
Above, we talked about reviews giving you a way to connect with your customers. When you interact with your consumers, you are presenting your brand as a friend to them. This is important not only as part of your branding but also as a customer relations strategy.
While you can definitely do this under your social media campaign, engaging with your target market through review responses is a great way to show that you care about your customers no matter what kind of review the post.
For good reviews, taking the compliment with grace is a great move and can improve how the public perceives your brand. When you receive bad feedbacks, how you handle the comments will definitely make or break the quality of public perception you are enjoying. By responding to negative comments in a positive manner, you can take these reviews as an opportunity how gracefully your company handles such issues.
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Showing off Good Reviews
Anything good you do in your business is bound to receive great feedback. When you receive positive feedback, there is no shame in showing them off through your website and social media pages. This is where your website comes in. You can use this platform to create a more positive perception of your brand through the positive comments you receive.
Remember, customers are always looking for affirmations that they are transacting with the right dispensary, and there is nothing better in doing this than the opinion of their fellow consumers.
Cannabis Marketing Tools that can Boost Reviews
Now that you know what aspects can help you get more feedback, you want to make sure that you use the right tools in order to gather more. Part of digital marketing is reputation management, and this deals with reviews and the feedback and perception of your target market. Some of the best tools for the job is also covered by digital marketing. Here are some of the best things you should check out.
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Search Engine Optimization
As mentioned above, more sales mean more reviews. In the world of cannabis marketing through digital means, SEO plays a huge role in increasing sales. Imagine sitting at home and wanting to buy cannabis products from a dispensary near you but you do not know where to start. You search Google and you are given an answer. This is search engine optimization at work.
SEO is the process of optimizing your website for Google’s crawlers so that it will give your website and webpages as answers to similar questions like the example above. When you implement an SEO approach, you will use the right keywords in your content and metadata to increase your rankings, thus also increasing the chances of your site and pages to appear in search results.
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Link Building
In connection with search engine optimization, link building is a great tool that can help you increase your sales. There are two things you need to know about SEO: it focuses on content and it takes a look at your site’s authority on the subject matter.
On the other hand, link building is the practice of looking for high-authority websites to ask for a space to post your content with an inbound link back to your own website. Think about it this way: you tend to believe a recommendation from a friend you trust and are trusted by many.
The same thing is true with websites. Google sees your site as a more authoritative one if a high-authority website refers you through backlinks. What you need to do is to show that you have something to offer back to the host site. What you can do is to drive traffic to their site by providing high-quality guest content to the host site.
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Social Media
Lastly, social media is a great platform for managing your reputation, especially as your target market spends a lot of time on it. It gives them a way to voice out their opinions, including ones about your dispensary and products. You can use your social media account to respond to reviews and address them properly.
Moreover, it can drive traffic to your website as you can use it to share your website’s contents to your followers’ feed. This will increase the number of visits to your site, increasing your pool of potential leads, as well as potential sales.
The Bottom Line
Cannabis marketing can reach a whole new level with digital strategies. With a focus on the reputation management aspect of digital marketing, especially reviews, you can make the most out of your platforms and increase your chances of success.