How Do You Pair Your Cannabis Business with An Agency?
Marketing your cannabis businesses is unlike most industries in the world of advertising. The various rules and restrictions across online platforms tend to take away your efforts to market freely. In this case, allowing a marketing agency to control your marketing agenda is the best way to ensure it’s done correctly.
But how do you find a good agency to meet the needs in this growing market, and your company in particular? The cannabis industry is an especially creative one, and differentiating your business is critical for standing out. To find the right match, it takes a lot of reflection and consideration. Ask yourself these five questions to bring you closer to discovering an ideal marketing partner.
What are your business needs?
To begin your agency search journey, define what you aspire to achieve through your marketing efforts. You can do so by identifying a brand personality and what must be accomplished in your strategy in order to achieve this. After you’ve identified your needs you’ll have a clearer idea on what qualities you may need from an agency.
Perhaps your main focus is out of the box creative visuals, so you’ll want an agency with a strong art department. Or rather, your main goal is to focus on developing a strong branding, so an agency with exceptional branding experience will be a priority.
Is their personal branding lame or impressive?
Although it’s said you should never judge a book by it’s cover, you may want to judge an agency based off its personal branding. After all, branding, web, and logo design are likely ways the agency will assist your business. Therefore, it’s not a bad idea to see what type of work they’ve produced, especially for themselves. The language and design used on the website express the agency’s personal style and skills, and after identifying your brand personality and needs, this is a good way to test the waters. The cannabis industry is full of visually creative logos and strong branding which makes standing out crucial for attracting consumers.
Is the agency cannabis specific?
To market well, you must know the ins and outs of the industry, which is why the wisest option is a cannabis specific agency. If you’re already involved in the industry, you should be aware of the heavy rules and regulations in place around cannabis marketing. With that being said, it should be a guarantee that your cannabis agency knows these rules well and stays up to date on any changes. By now, there are certain do’s and do not’s of cannabis marketing and there’s no need to repeat mistakes. If your agency is uninformed on the regulations, than you should definitely go back to the drawing board.
What will the strategy look like?
Another important ingredient is what the agency offers regarding marketing strategies. Make sure that the agency you choose is thorough from top to bottom in your marketing plan. Don’t settle for an agency that only offers vague or general descriptions of its strategies. Look for complete plans of execution and don’t be afraid to ask questions. Consider how comprehensive the plan is and reflect on its ability to address your needs.
Are they reliable communicators?
Like any successful relationship, good communication is key. Begin evaluating this from your first verbal interaction. It’s presumed that whom you first talk business with will be one of your go-to representatives, and how they interact with you goes a long way. Were they vague in business answers? Were they knowledgeable? If they didn’t have the answer to a question, did they make an effort to find one?
You need your agency to understand your business objectives and marketing needs at the same level you do. This starts and ends with communication. Everything from how they speak, answer emails, to how long it takes to get back to you gives insight on what type of communicators they are. If they maintain good communication with your business, they’re likely a dependable agency.
Multiple factors play a role in the quest for a cannabis marketing agency. First things first, narrow your search down to cannabis specific agencies to reduce wasted time. You need to spend your time defining your business needs rather than worrying about your agency complying with industry rules. When you find a good agency it allows you to leave marketing to the experts and grants time to devote to other business endeavors.
Be patient in your decision. If an agency doesn’t check the necessary boxes, know there are others out there that will. If you’re looking for a well-informed cannabis specific agency, talk with the professionals at Herban Creative to discover how we can be your marketing match.
