It’s the weekend before Christmas and millions of people are hurriedly trying to finish gift shopping. They’ve probably already done their research into the products they want and have found multiple places where they’re on sale. And this year is unique because of the record amounts spent online shopping.
There are too many sales during the holidays to compete with especially in the relatively small niche of adult-use cannabis. In order to compete with the rest, you have to try more unique and creative sales promotion ideas.
And that’s only half the battle, there’s no guarantee that your customers actually find about your special holiday promotions. There’s no way to use the same marketing strategies as big-box retailers or e-commerce giants, who have access to far more communication channels than cannabis businesses due to the varied laws and regulations throughout the States regarding how dispensary loyalty software functions.
Even if you are in an area with lax regulations it will still be difficult to compete with the capital and reach they have access to. For example, building an app is pennies to them, and the fact the push notifications are often ignored doesn’t worry them. So not only is it more costly but it is also less effective than communicating with customers through SMS with dispensary loyalty software that is directly integrated into your POS.
The most effective and efficient way to counter these weaknesses is by offering your customers a more intimate user experience that actually entices them is by creating promotions centered around dispensary rewards program. This ensures you target your most loyal and valuable customers and keep them happy during one of the most frustrating shopping periods of the year.
dispensary promotion ideas (that you can text)
During the holidays many people will gather together with friends and family around the table or at a party. This provides a great opportunity for word-of-mouth marketing of your dispensary.
But with text message marketing software you don’t have to rely on the old-fashioned ways anymore. You don’t have to rely on a customer’s friend actually physically going to your location and manually signing up on a kiosk or tablet.
All you have to do is provide your current loyalty members with a text-to-join link to send their friends. They can then sign up right from their phone with one click! No usernames or passwords, no new apps to download, and notifications to allow.
Here are some tips on how to structure a referral rewards program for your dispensary loyalty program. the
- Offer a percentage of loyalty points for the first few purchases made by the referred friend as a way to ensure your existing customer signs up people they know will actually spend money at your dispensary.
- Or you could create different tiers of referral bonuses based on how much the new person spends to entice customers to sign up big spenders.
charitable promotions
It’s the season of giving, so offer your customers the opportunity to give back through charitable promotions. If your dispensary loyalty program uses a points-based system (if you are using a visits-based system check out this article on why that might actually be lowering the ROI) offer increased loyalty points for holiday purchases with a percentage of proceeds going to your charity of choice.
Another option is to send coupons that offer a percentage of the proceeds to charity. There are brands that donate a portion of their income during the holidays to the needy. With springbig’s dispensary loyalty program you can send brand-specific coupons to drive purchases towards those brands that support the less fortunate.
use smart automation to cater to events to customer interest
Another charitable promotion could be to hold a gift or food drive at your location. Cannabis culture is all about spreading good vibes to everyone. So current members of your dispensary loyalty program are likely to respond well to this kind of text, especially if you offer discounts or deals to those who bring a donation.
Educational events are also very popular in the Cannabis community. The world is learning more and more about the uses of the Cannabis plant every day and potential consumers are created every second.
Using the customer persona segments you’ve created by your dispensary loyalty software you can brainstorm events or seminars catered to those interests. Educational events aren’t necessarily specific to the holidays, but a greater turnout for charity drives can be expected. And using springbig analytics you can create a list of people interested in events and target them automatically
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To see previous a case study Click here for one from our partners at Foottraffik on our mutual client, Clear Choice Cannabis.
CEO and Co-founder of springbig
Jeffrey Harris