While the legalization of cannabis has made it more socially accepted, the industry has also become increasingly competitive.
Crafting killer cannabis video marketing campaigns that captures attention and drives sales is crucial.
As more and more entrepreneurs join the cannabis industry, traditional marketing techniques are no longer enough to ensure success.
To stand out from the competition, cannabis businesses must think outside the box and utilize creative tactics to reach their target audience.
With the rising popularity of video platforms, what better way to do it than with engaging, informative cannabis marketing videos.
Crafting Your Cannabis Video Marketing Strategy
To create an effective cannabis video marketing strategy, you need to start by defining your campaign objectives. What do you want to achieve with your videos? Are you looking to increase brand awareness, engage with your target audience, or drive sales?
Once you have a clear understanding of your goals, you can move on to selecting the right types of video content that align with your objectives and resonate with your customers' needs.
Consider creating a mix of educational videos, customer testimonials, how-to guides, brand videos, live streams, behind-the-scenes content, interviews, product demos, and landing page videos.
Each type of video serves a different purpose and can help you connect with your audience.
However, it's crucial to navigate the legal restrictions and guidelines surrounding cannabis marketing. Different social media platforms have their policies regarding cannabis content, so make sure to tailor your videos accordingly.
Important: Avoid showing cannabis consumption directly, as this often goes against social media regulations. Instead, focus on creating clever content that gets around these regulations to showcase your brand's products.
Types of Effective Cannabis Video Content
When it comes to creating engaging video content for your cannabis business, several types of videos can effectively showcase your products, and brand, educate your audience, and generate customers.
From product demonstrations to customer testimonials, each type of video serves a unique purpose in your overall cannabis video marketing strategy.
1. Product Demonstrations
Showcasing your products in action is a great way to educate customers and get them excited about your offer. Demonstrate how your products can improve their lives and make their cannabis experience better.
Product demo videos give your customers a hands-on look at how your product works, helping them make informed purchasing decisions.
Placement: Use these types of videos on your collection and product pages to help increase conversions. You can also place them on social media however don't overdo it.
2. Tutorials and How-Tos
People love videos that teach them something new. Create videos showing customers how to use your products or create their own cannabis recipes.
How-to and explainer videos should be simple and direct, solving a specific problem through show-and-tell or animation.
This content should be informative and entertaining to make complex topics easier to understand reducing purchasing fatigue.
Placement: Use these types of videos in blog content and on YouTube when customers are looking for solutions. Position your product as the answer without being too sales-y.
3. Behind-the-Scenes Content
Give customers a glimpse into your business by creating behind-the-scenes videos.
Show them how you source and process your cannabis, or give them an inside look at the manufacturing process of your cannabis smoking accessories.
Behind-the-scenes videos humanize your brand and allow you to connect with your audience on a personal level.
Placement: Use these types of videos on your homepage and top-of-funnel blog content. You can make a behind-the-scenes playlist on your YouTube channel or Instagram Stories.
4. Interviews with Industry Experts
Interviewing industry experts is a great way to showcase your business and build relationships with influencers. You can use the interviews to educate customers, as well as to promote your products.
Speaking with experts and recognizable people in the community boosts brand authority and proves you're knowledgeable and informed.
Placement: Use these videos on pages where customer skepticism about your products will be high. Use on landing pages or 3rd party websites to build credibility.
5. Customer Testimonials
Social proof is the best form of marketing. Customer testimonials are a powerful way to show potential customers the positive experiences other customers have had with your business.
Testimonial videos featuring satisfied, loyal customers will speak volumes to on-the-fence or first-time customers.
Placement: Use these videos towards the bottom of the conversion funnel like product pages and landing pages. They can also be used in blog content if you're featuring products, social media, and 3rd party YouTube channels.
6. Brand Awareness Videos
Over 90% of people discover new brands or products on YouTube. Brand awareness videos are all about getting noticed and building trust with your audience.
Design these videos for mass appeal, avoiding highly-targeted content and catching as many eyes as possible.
Placement: Use these videos on all your social media channels and distribute them to as many 3rd party channels or websites as possible to increase impressions.
Why Video Marketing in the Cannabis Industry
Video marketing is an essential tool for any business, and the cannabis sector is no exception. Cannabis video marketing helps brands engage customers, build brand awareness, and drive sales.
Rise of Video Content
Video content has skyrocketed in recent years, especially short-form videos, with platforms like YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram embracing this engaging format.
Importance for Cannabis Businesses
For cannabis businesses, video marketing offers:
- Consumer Education: Videos can effectively inform customers about cannabis strains, smoking products, and consumption methods, establishing your brand as a trusted authority.
- Combating Misconceptions: Well-executed videos can address myths and half-truths surrounding cannabis or CBD, winning over hesitant customers.
- Showcasing Products: Product demonstrations and tutorials give customers a hands-on look at how your products work, increasing their confidence in making a purchase.
- Building Brand Loyalty: Behind-the-scenes content and customer testimonials humanize your brand and foster emotional connections with your audience.
Platforms That Boost Cannabis Video Marketing
- YouTube: As the second-largest search engine, with YouTube cannabis and CBD businesses can create high-quality content to attract organic traffic through optimized titles, descriptions, and tags. Develop a YouTube funnel to convert views into sales.
- Instagram and TikTok: These platforms are ideal for showcasing products, and behind-the-scenes footage, and engaging with your audience through creative, visually appealing short-form videos. Make sure not to show marijuana directly.
- Website: Embedding videos on your website can significantly increase engagement and conversions, with landing page videos boosting conversions by up to 80%. With platforms like Tolstoy and VideoWise, you can make these videos shippable and take conversions even future with a custom video funnel strategy.
Tips for Creating Engaging and Compliant Cannabis Videos
Creating captivating cannabis videos is a must but if they're not compliant there is a good chance they'll be taken down.
Focus on crafting compelling stories while adhering to industry regulations.
Best Practices for Production And Storytelling
- Hook your audience with intriguing questions or statements at the beginning of your videos to pique their curiosity and encourage them to keep watching.
- Lean into education by sharing informative content that helps viewers learn something new about cannabis products, consumption methods, or the industry as a whole.
- Incorporate humor and entertainment to make your videos more engaging and memorable. People love content that makes them laugh.
- Tell a story with your videos, using a clear beginning, middle, and end structure. Think of them like articles, with a headline, body, and conclusion.
- Keep in mind that many people watch social media videos without sound, so make sure your visuals are strong and you're using subtitles.
- Create attention-grabbing titles and thumbnails for your videos to increase views and engagement.
Ensuring Compliance
- Avoid showing direct marijuana consumption in your videos, as this often goes against social media platform regulations.
- Do not make any health claims about your cannabis products that are not supported by scientific research, as this could lead to legal issues.
- Ensure that your videos comply with all applicable laws and regulations in the geographic areas where they will be shown.
- Be aware of the different policies regarding cannabis content on various social media platforms, as some have stricter rules than others.
Leveraging Analytics and Feedback for Video Marketing Success
You should set metrics and KPIs that you'll track throughout the video campaign. Depending on your goals, you can review data like video views, shares, clicks, and more. Here are a few things you can test once your video strategy is underway.
- Video topics
- Title of video
- Video thumbnail
- The best platforms for your audience
As you develop more videos, you'll learn more about what your audience likes, and doesn't like, and what content increases sales. Use UTM parameters to track key sales events in GA4 and which videos were responsible.
Tracking Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
It's important to always begin with the end in mind. Knowing what you want to accomplish with your videos is key to success because it will influence the types of videos you create, the content you include, how you go about creating them, and will inform what metrics you should track.
Utilizing Audience Feedback for Content Improvement
One of the most common questions we get when people start doing cannabis videos is what to talk about once the camera starts recording.
One way to begin is to write down what the customers' questions are that come up in customer support. Feedback from customer reviews is another source.
What values and stories about your business could you share? What types of videos are your competitors creating? What 420 community discussions are happening on Reddit?
Use these questions as a starting point for your content ideas. In doing so, you'll have enough content topics to keep you busy recording videos for the next year.
Adapting Strategy Based on Analytics and Trends
Use the data you gather to understand what works and what doesn't. Which types of videos have the highest engagement? What themes or topics resonate most with your audience?
Use this information to refine your video content and strategy continuously.
A/B testing different video styles and marketing messages can also help optimize your video marketing efforts, allowing you to understand the preferences of your target audience.
Stay up to date on viral trends and brainstorm if you can incorporate them into your video strategy. This will increase the likelihood of going viral.
Lastly, distribute your videos across multiple channels and partnerships to increase reach with new audiences.
This strategic approach not only broadens your reach but also deepens engagement, fostering stronger connections with your audience and acquiring new customers.
The Bottom Line
Video marketing is a powerful tool for cannabis businesses looking to engage their target audience, build brand loyalty, and drive sales in the increasingly competitive industry.
By crafting a well-defined video marketing strategy, creating a mix of informative and entertaining content, and leveraging the right platforms, you can effectively showcase your products, educate consumers, and establish your brand as a trusted authority in the cannabis space.
Remember to continuously track your performance, gather audience feedback, and adapt your approach based on data-driven insights to maximize the impact of your campaigns and achieve long-term success.
If you're looking for the best cannabis marketing companies to help you create effective digital marketing campaigns for your cannabis e-commerce brand, Maaly is here to help you.
Let's work together to find the right marketing solutions for your business, so contact us today to learn more and get started on your path to video marketing success in the thriving cannabis industry.