Many new dispensaries are opening up all over the country, and it can be challenging to compete for new customers. Everyone wants their dispensary to stand out from the rest, but how? There are a few simple steps that you can take to increase traffic to your dispensary and generate more revenue for the business. In this post we will explore some of the best ways that you can attract more cannabis customers to your dispensary without spending a ton of money.
Local Business Partnerships
Partnering with local businesses is a great way to reach out and grab new customers without breaking the bank. It’s important that your business partners are in line with what you do, so if you’re working at a medical dispensary, we would recommend partnering up with doctors offices or other health care providers.
However, if you’re operating on the recreational side of things then it might be beneficial to partner up with some bars and nightclubs since they usually get pretty busy during certain times of the day (e.g., happy hour).
Whatever partnership opportunities arise make sure to take advantage because this can really increase new customers for both parties!
Cannabis Tours
Cannabis tours are a great way to get more new customers into your dispensary. There’s actually quite a few cannabis tour companies that do this today, and the best part is that you can promote their services on your website or social media channels!
These sorts of partnerships come with many benefits for all parties involved because it gives everyone exposure while also increasing revenue at the same time. When searching for these sorts of partners make sure they bring value to the table as well by offering special discounts or deals through them for cannabis consumers – otherwise don’t waste your time!
The nice part about partnering with these cannabis tours is that they usually conduct their tours in the morning or afternoon when there aren’t a lot of other attractions going on. This means that people will be much more likely to make time for your dispensary, and it doesn’t involve any effort from them since someone else is doing all the work! For a full guide on how to leverage cannabis tours to help drive more sales in your dispensary, check out this article!
Delivery Service
A delivery service is another great way to get more new customers coming through your dispensary. This is especially important if you’re not located in a very busy area, or don’t have enough space on the outside of your building for people to wait while they are getting their order filled up.
Many dispensaries choose to use marijuana delivery services because it can increase customer traffic by 30 – 40% and helps to build loyal customers! Not only that but this sort of business model also takes some work off of your plate as well since someone else will be doing all the driving around delivering cannabis products.
However, there are two things that you need to keep an eye out for when deciding whether or not this would be good for your dispensary:
The first thing is making sure that whoever you partner with has a good reputation. You don’t want to be associated with a bad company, so always do your research before signing any contracts!
The second thing you need to watch out for is making sure that they have enough delivery drivers around the area already. If not then it might not be worth promoting their services at all since there will simply just be too much downtime between deliveries.
One other added benefit of partnering up with these businesses is that they usually offer discounts and free products as well which can help drive more traffic and new customers into your dispensary or club!
Read more on how adding a cannabis delivery service can help boost sales and customer retention in your dispensary by clicking here.
On Site Cannabis Consumption
On site cannabis consumption is another great way to get more new customers at your dispensary. If you’re a medical dispensary then this isn’t really an option for you since onsite consumption laws vary from state to state and wont help with the right target customers – it’s usually only recreational cannabis dispensaries that can do this.
In some states like Colorado, California & Alaska, there are special areas within the industry where people can consume their purchases after they have been purchased by a customer! This means that they don’t have to go anywhere else if they want to use it right away instead of waiting until later in the day or week when they get home and this also helps to build more satisfied customers.
For those of you who live in Alaska looking for some of the best dispensaries and ones with On Site Consumption, see our relevant blog post, 10 Best Dispensaries In Anchorage, AK
This sort of thing will increase new customers and overall traffic because most people who visit these businesses tend not be too worried about discretion – especially if anyone sees them smoking weed in the parking lot or on the sidewalk!
There are a few things that you need to watch out for if your dispensary wants to offer this sort of thing though:
The first is making sure that there’s enough space within your building to accommodate these types of industry events. Not having an area where people can actually consume their purchase will make it very hard for them to take advantage and may even discourage customers from coming in at all (especially if they live in states where public consumption is illegal).
Secondly, make sure you check with local laws before setting up any kind of designated legal cannabis use areas within your building. There might be some restrictions in this sales process when it comes down to how much signage you’re allowed put up as well – so always make sure you double check with your local authorities before doing anything!
Lastly, remember to always be courteous and respectful about this sort of thing. If people are smoking weed outside or inside the dispensary then make sure they aren’t bothering anyone else around them – especially if there’s a line forming for customers who want their order filled up as soon as possible by staff members instead of standing in another one that is just for smokers!
This can also turn into an added bonus because it does show some trust between the customer and the business which will help build good rapport among both parties over time.
Open 24 Hours
Last but not least, another option that you have is to simply just stay open later at night. Most dispensaries are actually closed by the time dinner time comes around – which means if someone wants to use it after they’ve been out for a nice evening or on their way home from work then they’d otherwise be unable to get access without having to go elsewhere!
If you can afford staying open an hour late during certain days of the week (such as Friday and Saturday nights) then this will help increase new customers because many people tend do things like eat dinner in groups instead of alone – especially when there’s cannabis involved!
Mobile Marijuana Apps
If you want even more ways to get new customers to come in and buy their weed from your dispensary, the best thing that you can do is stay up to date on what’s new in this industry.
There are plenty of mobile marijuana apps out there that will help increase traffic at your store! Check these things out when they’re available for download because it might end up being something very beneficial down the road if other businesses start offering them as well – which means getting ahead of the game now could be a very good idea too!
A few popular mobile marijuana apps include: WeedMaps, Leafly, Vana & Potbot
Make sure you check with your dispensary’s legal team about the use of these apps because again, there might be some restrictions when it comes down to how much information and signage they are allowed put up on them – so always make sure you double check whenever something new or different is released!
As a side note: if any app offers advertising opportunities then take advantage of this as well. It doesn’t cost anything at all for dispensaries to add themselves onto such sites (as long as their current location has been verified) and can end up bringing in more foot traffic than most other things that we’ve talked about today! Just remember not to get carried away with putting too many locations into one map area either since users will eventually start getting annoyed if it becomes cluttered with options.
Lastly, make sure you don’t forget to put your own personal touch on these apps too! There are plenty of dispensary specific features that can be added onto any mobile marijuana app (such as deals and coupons) which will help get new customers coming in faster than ever before if they see something like this when they’re looking at listings – so take advantage of them whenever possible!
Online Social Influencers
Another thing you might want to consider is working with some online influencers too! These are people who have large followings on sites like YouTube and Instagram – so their fans will be more than happy to try out anything that they’ve reviewed or posted photos of.
Since many dispensaries do offer cannabis tours (or can arrange them if needed) then there’s no reason why these sorts of things shouldn’t be able to work together though this does require a lot more up front time & effort in order to make sure everything goes off without any problems whatsoever (which means additional costs could come into play as well).
However, it’s definitely something worth looking into because the payoff at the end could very well be much bigger and better than you might expect and will be able to bring in a lot more customers from all over the world – so it’s certainly worth considering if your dispensary can afford doing this at least once.
Social Media Content
As a final note: always make sure you’re posting fresh content to your social media pages! Even if it’s only every few months, there should at least be something put up whenever possible in order to keep people coming back for more – and don’t forget about the high resolution photos that go with them either.
In fact, some dispensaries have been able to get their orders increased by 20% or even 30%, just because of this one simple thing too which is pretty amazing all on its own since most other methods might bring in an extra customer or two here and there (if lucky) but never anything compared to what social media content can do when they’re done right!
We have a great article that answers the question “Can Dispensaries Advertise on Facebook?“. It’s worth a read if you’re looking into paid advertising routes.
SEO
Be sure to work on your SEO too! This is a bunch of different tasks that all tie into each other and can help improve the rankings for websites in search engines like Google.
It’s not going to happen overnight by any means but if you’re willing to put some time & effort into doing this right then it should pay off within a few months or so – which could bring in plenty more new customers from outside sources rather than just through word of mouth alone (which helps save money as well).
In fact, one dispensary was able to increase their revenue by an extra $20k per month thanks to being focused on getting ahead with what they did here too – so it really does make a difference when everything comes together at the end of the day!
User Friendly & Targeted Website
Don’t forget about making sure your dispensary website is user friendly as well! If you want to get more new customers in the door and keep your current customers happy then it should be easy for them to find what they’re looking for rather than having a bunch of text on each page that people will never read through.
Be sure to target specific keywords too which can help improve where your site comes up when someone does an internet search – just remember not to go overboard with this part since it could have negative effects instead if done wrong (which would almost definitely kill off any chance at all of getting new business).
SMS Texting
Last but not least: work on your SMS text marketing! If people can sign up to get updates whenever you post new content then they’re more than likely going to want the same thing when it comes time for them to check out and order – which means having a pre-programmed text sent out immediately so this happens as soon as possible.
This way, you’ll set yourself apart from other dispensaries in your area who might only be using word of mouth or social media (which usually takes much longer) by getting something like this done within mere seconds after someone decides that they’re ready to purchase some cannabis right away.
Dispensary Technology (POS, Self Checkout)
On the topic of technology, another thing your dispensary should have is a level two POS system that will help you keep track of inventory & sales.
It’s not easy to do but it can be done if you’re willing to put in some effort – and this could lead to more customers coming into the store as well since they’ll feel safer with knowing what everything costs ahead of time (so there are no surprises) plus being able to make their purchase without having anyone else involved either.
In fact, most people would rather go up against an automated machine than deal with somebody face-to-face for something like buying marijuana instead!
Hosting Growing Classes/ Events For Beginners
If you want to get more customers, why not host a growing class for beginners? This way they can learn everything from the basics on up so by the time their first harvest comes around then they’ll have all of this knowledge under their belt already and will be ready to try it out as well.
The best part about these kinds of events is that people (especially those outside your area) are going to spread word-of-mouth like crazy – which means plenty more new faces coming in who might end up becoming regular customers too since they now feel comfortable with what’s going on here thanks to having taken one of these classes before spending any money at all!
Conclusion
Now that we’ve talked about the process of getting more customers to your dispensary, it’s time for you to put what was just covered into action!
If you’d like to learn more about how Rank Rise Marketing can help you attract and retain more new customers at your dispensary, click below!
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