CBD Sales - Structure, Tools, and Methods in 2021

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CBD Sales - Structure, Tools, and Methods in 2021

Despite all the challenges in the CBD sales process, this is quite a trendy market that is expected to grow. Thus, growing this business in 2021 is quite possible, especially given the CBD consumption growth because of the pandemic. However, you still have to know some rules, as well as understand the CBD sales structure and utilize the best tools and methods for your sales growth. In this article, we are going to discuss it.

CBD Sales Rules

Before proceeding with the revenue-boost marketing practices your CBD sales department is better to follow, let's find out some general rules that are vital for CBD business success and legal operation.

1. Cooperate With a Licensed and Reliable Manufacturer

There are a lot of CBD manufacturers on the US territory since the Farm Bill 2018 changes the cannabis production landscape by providing them with more favorable conditions and federal support programs. However, you still should make sure that you are going to buy from a reliable CBD processor that has all the necessary permission to grow, cultivate and process hemp raw materials.

Before starting the cooperation, ask for the license, make sure it is valid, and most importantly, find out what CBD production method the manufacturer uses. CO2 extraction is the safest approach in addition to cold press hemp processing. However, using CO2 allows manufacturers to offer better prices to the resellers and this method still causes no doubt in the final product quality.

2. Make Sure They Provide Up-to-Date Lab Tests

According to US CBD laws, each bunch of CBD products offered for sale should be backed-up by the independent lab test results describing the detailed compound of the product. Thus, ask your manufacturer to supply you with the test result, and make sure there are no mycotoxins, heavy metals, and residuals of the solvents in the compound. Also, make sure that the amount of THC doesn't exceed 0.3% since in the opposite case, such products are illegal to produce, sell and use.

3. Check Local Laws in Advance

Despite the fact that CBD with up to 0,3% THC in the compound is legal across the US territory, each state has specific CBD regulations. For example, these products are completely prohibited in three US states (South Dakota, Wyoming, and Idaho). Also, there are completely CBD-friendly states such as Ohio, California, and Texas. In Virginia, a CBD user should get a written recommendation from a doctor before getting started with CBD, so make sure to find out the local laws in the state you are going to cooperate in and/or ship CBD to.

4. Make FDA-Compliant Statements

If you are going to use content marketing (and this is the top way to streamline cannabis sales online), you should make FDA-compliant statements only. Since CBD isn't FDA-approved, you can't speak about CBD benefits and effects if they aren't confirmed by medical research.

CBD Sales Process Structure

After you are compliant with the rules above, it's time to move to the CBD sales process structure. Fortunately, it is the same as with any other product or service and is completely based on the standard sales funnel. Below are its stages and the ways to deal with your customers at each of them

funnel

1. Awareness. At this stage, your customers already know what CBD is, however, they are not sure about the benefits they may get, CBD product types and differences, and so on. So, the task is to make them even more aware of CBD and the health opportunities it opens up. At this stage, educational content shared on your blog and in the email newsletter works well to improve CBD awareness.

2. Consideration. After the users are aware of CBD essence, they start considering whether this option is suitable for them and whether it may solve their core problems. At this stage, it makes sense to deliver problem-specific and concern-centered content to different segments of your users (for example, for those who suffer from pain or from insomnia).

3. Purchase. At this stage, make sure you may provide a seamless purchasing experience in the terms of your website UI and checkout, delivery opportunities, data protection, and money-back guarantee.

4. Post-Purchase. If you set up the CBD sales process right on the previous three stages, then you may expect your customers will come back to either try another product from your range or replenish their CBD stock.

Cannabis Sales Methods

There are three basic CBD sales methods.

  1. Online. Getting started with cannabis sales online is the easiest way since it allows for lowering launching and inventory costs. In this case, you are going to invest only in the digital presence (website with a well-developed mobile version, social media profiles, and email marketing).
  2. Offline. Opening a dispensary shop is one more opportunity, and in this case, you should be sure that CBD is legal in your state, plus you should carefully follow CBD sales and consumption rules. Some states require offline CBD resellers to have permission, while others require CBD buyers to have permission as well. As for the advantages of this approach, you may also offer some other health and wellness products in addition to CBD but keep in mind that you have to invest in outdoor advertising and take special care of the reputation of your store, as well as the quality of the goods you offer.
  3. Online & Offline. A dispensary CBD and the corresponding website combination is the most promising revenue-driving option since in this case, your sales funnel becomes even more flexible and you get new opportunities for customer database creation. Also, this approach to cannabis sales is the most expensive one since you have to put the effort into the online and offline presence at the same time. In this case, it makes sense to hire a team, create a CBD sales department and employ data gathering, storing, and analysis tools to get more actionable insights into your CBD business development.

CBD Sales Tools

Regardless of the approach, you choose to launch your CBD business, using digital tools and Internet marketing practices is still essential. Below are the best strategies to use for your CBD store promotion and sales boost.

Content marketing

Content marketing is the game-ruler in any digital marketing strategy since each of the approaches is always centered around the content you create. As for the CBD sales process, scientifically-based content is the best way to deal with potential customers' concerns, educating them and moving them to the next stage of the sales funnel.

To create top-notch CBD content, use the following tools and platforms:

Email marketing

Email marketing is quite good for staying in touch with your customers and delivering them the content according to their sales funnel stage and the concerns they have. MailChimp is one of the best applications for streamlining email marketing since it allows for flexibly setting your campaigns, creating attractive templates, and analyzing the results.

affiliate marketing for cbd shops

Affiliate marketing

Selling CBD via affiliate websites is one more strategy to follow in 2021. What's more, there are a lot of platforms to get in touch with potential affiliates, however, make sure that the website that will place your offer has a relevant target audience. For example, you may get in touch with the websites that educate users on sleep improvement, anxiety management, and other health and wellness practices. Such audiences are likely to be interested in one more tool for self-care.

Social media marketing

Developing social media presence is essential for staying in touch with your buyers, increasing brand awareness, and sharing customer testimonials since the latter is the strong social proof. It works especially well in such a niche as CBD since because of the relative novelty of the product, those who are at the awareness or consideration sales funnel stages are likely to listen to and believe those who have already solved their health problem with the help of CBD.

Influencer marketing

Influencer marketing is the only advertising opportunity available for CBD within the limits of social media. Since direct CBD advertising is prohibited by Facebook and Instagram, getting in touch with influencers is the best strategy to bet on. In this case, you may use UpFluence to get in touch with influencers and agree on promotion terms.

Pay attention to micro-influencers and to those, whose audiences' pain points coincide with the ones of your users. Such an approach will turn out to be more affordable but still more result-promising.

Search Engine Market for cbd shops

SEM marketing

As well as with social media, promoting CBD in Google directly is prohibited. However, most of the brands use a trick and avoid such words as CBD, hemp, and cannabis in their search engine marketing campaigns. Instead, they promote CBD as a natural health and wellness tool and use two-steps redirection since you can't redirect users to the CBD store page directly. The results of such campaigns are difficult to predict, however, some brands use it from time to time to capture new visitors and add them to their customers' database.

Conclusion

Thus, the process of CBD sales has both differences and similarities when compared to any other less specific product. What's more, the main methods of digital promotion also work well for CBD sales online. We, at CBD Local SEO, may also help you to streamline this process by creating a winning SEO promotion strategy and generating more prospective leads for your business.

If you would like us to assist you with CBD Sales - Structure, Tools, and Methods just press "Book an estimate" button and we'll reach out to you shortly.