How to Market CBD Oil

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How to Market CBD Oil

The changing landscape of CBD legislation has opened the door to wealth of opportunities for registered sellers throughout the UK. However, any business wishing to stock and resell CBD products are bound by a number of regulations. And they aren't restricted to the permitted levels of THC. It's equally crucial to make the right decisions in regards to CBD oil marketing.

CBD oil cannot be marketed in the conventional ways that regular products are able to be advertised. Meanwhile, all companies need to place a disclaimer on their sites and customer communications stipulating that their products are not intended for medical use, while also avoiding any medical claims. The regulatory restrictions CBD businesses face shouldn’t stop them from reaching their intended audience.

Here's all you need to know about how to market CBD oil products in style.

SEO

Search engine optimisation is the heartbeat of any digital strategy, and is perhaps even more integral for CBD oil companies with the usual advertising routes being closed to them. The competition for the obvious keywords, such as 'CBD oil' or 'buy CBD', is so vast that you probably won't rank #1 without a very large budget and lots of time. However, you can still use SEO to your advantage.

One of the best ways to ensure effective SEO is to acquire the support of an agency that understands the intricate complexities of ranking for CBD products. When you perform an on-site and off-site audit, as well as implementing structured strategies for local SEO, the results really can be phenomenal.

Check out our blog post ‘Promoting a CBD Website’, for more info on SEO for CBD websites.

Affiliate Marketing

CBD affiliate marketing works on the same principal features as any affiliate marketing strategy. Essentially you're allowing others to market products on your behalf in return for a cut of the profits. Affiliated sales are generated from sending traffic to your website via a traceable link, sales are recorded and a commission will be due to your affiliate partner. It's quite normal to have a minimum payout level so as to protect your site from anyone wanting money off on their purchases with you. It's a relatively risk-free solution that can boost sales without much extra effort.

All affiliates will need to meet the same restrictions as you. This means they won't be able to advertise CBD on social media or Google, or through channels where the audience is primarily children. Nonetheless, when affiliates understand the rules, this can be an effective solution.

Press Advertising

Media publications are a great way to get a message out to the masses, targeting a geographic location or an audience similar to yours by choosing the right outlet.

While some publications will reject CBD oil advertisements due to a conflict of interests (you're not going to place this in a kids' magazine, for example), it is possible to target the right market for your products.

Promoting product offers, or incorporating a supporting inbound marketing and social media strategy around your campaign, are some methods you can utilise to track your campaign's effectiveness.

Many CBD companies will find that using an outsourced media buyer will be the best way to make their time and money work harder. Agencies have huge bargaining power and strong working relationships with publications and can often get you a great deal.

Press Releases

Press releases are a particularly suitable option for CBD marketing. Education on the subject is a central factor for many new consumers. At a time where the UK's CBD oil has finally made positive steps in regards to testing standards, there is huge opportunity for companies to inform readers about new products and other developments relating to their brand and to the CBD industry.

A well-written press release can build excitement ahead of product launches, and can put consumer fears to bed by giving them an insight into the industry, company and products. The key is to ensure that all press releases are published by companies and outlets that will reach the intended demographic. Only then will the endeavours allow you to increase the audience and conversions.

PPC Advertising for CBD

Pay per click marketing has been a central feature of successful digital marketing campaigns for several years. CBD companies are unable to use either of the biggest channels – Google Ads and Facebook Ads – due to the terms set out by two global giants that are reluctant to be involved with CBD or any cannabis related product. Still, this needn't put an end to the PPC strategy.

Several networks accept Cannabis & CBD advertising.

At the C Word we use either Traffic Roots, or Mantis, or a combination of both. These display advertising networks are specifically designed for cannabis and CBD companies, offering targeted analysis as well as the standard features, and the usual retargeting methods that you'd expect of a generic PPC network.

Experience really does pay when it comes to PPC campaigns! Employing experts for your CBD Advertising campaign will guarantee your budgets won't be wasted… Find out more about our PPC Management services HERE.

Email Marketing

Despite the emergence of new communication channels, email remains king for conversion rates. As long as your email strategy is aligned with a robust inbound strategy, ROI can be high. Email marketing costs are also very low compared with other channels, so it's a very accessible marketing activity – you'd be a fool not to incorporate it!

B2C marketers who leverage automation have seen conversion rates as high as 50%. – eMarketer

Starting a CBD oil marketing campaign via email is best achieved with the generation of contact data through website capture forms. With nearly all of the big email-marketing providers, companies are able to target audiences with various different interests. So, if you know a particular audience of yours likes mint flavoured CBD products (either from previous order history, or from where they filled in a contact form), this audience can be targeted when you launch your fan-dabby-dozy mint CBD lip balm.

Transactional emails have 8x more opens and clicks than any other type of email and can generate 6x more revenue. – Experian

Customer Retention Programmes

Getting new customers is challenging, but retaining their loyalty is the key to sustainability. And your hard work doesn't stop with attracting people to your business, you'll want them to stay. And not only stay, you want them to be so happy with your brand and products that they want to share this with their social circle.

Outside of having a great product and fabulous service, there are many methods of retention marketing that you should employ. And they are usually all very cost effective.

Loyalty points, coupon codes, friends and family offers are just some of the low-cost methods of retention programmes that can make a difference. Rewarding frequent purchasers will turn one-time users into loyal customers that will keep coming back for years.

Influencer Marketing

Finally, influencer marketing for CBD oil products has become big business in recent years, and this modern strategy is the perfect partnership for new companies looking to sell CBD products.

What is an influencer?

Influencers are people with a large and highly engaged online following. This could be through YouTube, Facebook, Instgram or blog pages. They have built up authority from their followers and will therefore have influence with their audience. Influencers will usually have a niche; be it fashion, health or nutrition etc., and they publish content that attracts and retains the attention of their audience. Some will already know how to market CBD oil to their niche audience.

Influencers can be employed to inspire the buying decisions made by their audience. The great advantage to using this kind of marketing channel is that influencers are seen as more 'human', more approachable to their audience.

The C Word are experts in marketing cannabis and CBD around the world, we've done it for nearly a decade! Why not get in touch to see what we can do to market your CBD brand.

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